Answers.Body: <p>I used handbrake to re-encode the video as .MOV, and then it worked just fine.</p>
  
  <p>I suspect ffmpeg would work too, but I couldn't find the output so I can't be sure.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T15:55:12.013Z
Answers.Text: The output will be in the same folder as where you unpacked the ffmpeg binary or the same folder as the input (depending on whether the ffmpeg is in the Mac equivalent of the path variable).
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T14:33:46.710Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-11-29T14:33:46.710Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ryan Krage
Answers.Body: <p>You probably have to install or update Pro Video Formats on your mac. <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202252" rel="nofollow">https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202252</a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-01-30T07:58:35.977Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-01-30T07:58:35.977Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: screaming drills
Body: <p>I have an MP4 file, and I've tried importing it into Windows Movie Maker, iMovie and Final Cut Pro. In all three programs, the video seems to import just fine, but I can't preview it. It appears in a black bar in the timeline, and the preview window stays black even while it 'playing'.</p>
  
  <p>The video was shot on a Sony PMW-EX1R, and I transferred the contents of the SD card straight to my computer, and I am now attempting to work with the MP4 file that was on the card.</p>
  
  <p>I understand that this is not the correct way to do it and the camera probably uses a codec not supported by the programs mentioned above, but the MP4 file plays just fine in VLC, and all three video editors work with .MP4 and .MOV video shot on my Nikon D3100.</p>
  
  <p>So, how can I get the files to play nice with my editor? Do I need to convert them? Change a setting somewhere?</p>
  
  <p>EDIT:</p>
  
  <p>Under the 'more info' option in finder, where the dimensions of the video would normally be, there's nothing.</p>
  
  <p>EDIT 2:</p>
  
  <p>Here's the results of mediainfo:</p>
  
  <pre><code>General
  Complete name                            : Documents/Removable Disk/BPAV/CLPR/184_0028_01/184_0028_01.MP4
  Format                                   : MPEG-4
  Commercial name                          : XDCAM EX 35
  Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
  Codec ID                                 : mp42
  File size                                : 923 MiB
  Duration                                 : 3mn 31s
  Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
  Overall bit rate                         : 36.5 Mbps
  Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  
  Video
  ID                                       : 1
  Format                                   : MPEG Video
  Commercial name                          : XDCAM EX 35
  Format version                           : Version 2
  Format profile                           : Main@High
  Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes
  Format settings, Matrix                  : Custom
  Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=12
  Codec ID                                 : 61
  Duration                                 : 3mn 31s
  Bit rate mode                            : Variable
  Bit rate                                 : 35.0 Mbps
  Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
  Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
  Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
  Frame rate mode                          : Constant
  Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
  Standard                                 : Component
  Color space                              : YUV
  Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
  Bit depth                                : 8 bits
  Scan type                                : Progressive
  Compression mode                         : Lossy
  Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.675
  Stream size                              : 884 MiB (96%)
  Language                                 : English
  Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Color primaries                          : BT.709
  Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
  Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
  
  Audio
  ID                                       : 2
  Format                                   : PCM
  Format settings, Endianness              : Big
  Format settings, Sign                    : Signed
  Codec ID                                 : twos
  Duration                                 : 3mn 31s
  Bit rate mode                            : Constant
  Bit rate                                 : 1 536 Kbps
  Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
  Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
  Bit depth                                : 16 bits
  Stream size                              : 38.8 MiB (4%)
  Language                                 : English
  Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  </code></pre>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T13:49:59.583Z
Comments.Text: Paste the results of [Mediainfo](https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo) for the file. Use View -> Text mode and edit it into your question using the code formatting.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T14:09:50.423Z
Comments.Text: Transcode your MP4 to MOV and try. Download 32-bit static build of [ffmpeg](http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/) for Windows. Run ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mov from a command line where 'input' is the filename of your MP4.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T14:12:47.847Z
Comments.Text: @Mulvya I have a Mac. Are there any similar utilities for Mac?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ryan Krage
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T14:13:47.920Z
Comments.Text: Try the Mac version: https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T14:19:56.953Z
Comments.Text: @Mulvya How long should ffmpeg take? There's just a '>' prompt in my terminal and the process doesn't seem to be using any system resources as I imagine a file conversion would.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ryan Krage
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-11-29T14:22:56.513Z
Comments.Text: Hardly any time. The command won't re-encode the file, only copy the audio/video streams to a Quicktime MOV container.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Tags: <video-editor><file-formats>
Title: No video editor will work with my MP4 file
UserDisplayName: Ryan Krage
ThreadText: # No video editor will work with my MP4 file
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-29)
  
  I have an MP4 file, and I've tried importing it into Windows Movie Maker, iMovie and Final Cut Pro. In all three programs, the video seems to import just fine, but I can't preview it. It appears in a black bar in the timeline, and the preview window stays black even while it 'playing'.
  
  The video was shot on a Sony PMW-EX1R, and I transferred the contents of the SD card straight to my computer, and I am now attempting to work with the MP4 file that was on the card.
  
  I understand that this is not the correct way to do it and the camera probably uses a codec not supported by the programs mentioned above, but the MP4 file plays just fine in VLC, and all three video editors work with .MP4 and .MOV video shot on my Nikon D3100.
  
  So, how can I get the files to play nice with my editor? Do I need to convert them? Change a setting somewhere?
  
  EDIT:
  
  Under the 'more info' option in finder, where the dimensions of the video would normally be, there's nothing.
  
  EDIT 2:
  
  Here's the results of mediainfo:
  
  ```
  General
  Complete name                            : Documents/Removable Disk/BPAV/CLPR/184_0028_01/184_0028_01.MP4
  Format                                   : MPEG-4
  Commercial name                          : XDCAM EX 35
  Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
  Codec ID                                 : mp42
  File size                                : 923 MiB
  Duration                                 : 3mn 31s
  Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
  Overall bit rate                         : 36.5 Mbps
  Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  
  Video
  ID                                       : 1
  Format                                   : MPEG Video
  Commercial name                          : XDCAM EX 35
  Format version                           : Version 2
  Format profile                           : Main@High
  Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes
  Format settings, Matrix                  : Custom
  Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=12
  Codec ID                                 : 61
  Duration                                 : 3mn 31s
  Bit rate mode                            : Variable
  Bit rate                                 : 35.0 Mbps
  Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
  Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
  Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
  Frame rate mode                          : Constant
  Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
  Standard                                 : Component
  Color space                              : YUV
  Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
  Bit depth                                : 8 bits
  Scan type                                : Progressive
  Compression mode                         : Lossy
  Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.675
  Stream size                              : 884 MiB (96%)
  Language                                 : English
  Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Color primaries                          : BT.709
  Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
  Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
  
  Audio
  ID                                       : 2
  Format                                   : PCM
  Format settings, Endianness              : Big
  Format settings, Sign                    : Signed
  Codec ID                                 : twos
  Duration                                 : 3mn 31s
  Bit rate mode                            : Constant
  Bit rate                                 : 1 536 Kbps
  Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
  Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
  Bit depth                                : 16 bits
  Stream size                              : 38.8 MiB (4%)
  Language                                 : English
  Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-06-19 18:52:18
  
  ```
  
  **Tags:** video-editor, file-formats
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Paste the results of [Mediainfo](https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo) for the file. Use View -> Text mode and edit it into your question using the code formatting.  
  > **username_1**: Transcode your MP4 to MOV and try. Download 32-bit static build of [ffmpeg](http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/) for Windows. Run ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mov from a command line where 'input' is the filename of your MP4.  
  > **username_0**: @Mulvya I have a Mac. Are there any similar utilities for Mac?  
  > **username_1**: Try the Mac version: https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/  
  > **username_0**: @Mulvya How long should ffmpeg take? There's just a '>' prompt in my terminal and the process doesn't seem to be using any system resources as I imagine a file conversion would.  
  > **username_1**: Hardly any time. The command won't re-encode the file, only copy the audio/video streams to a Quicktime MOV container.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2015-11-29. Score: 2
  
  I used handbrake to re-encode the video as .MOV, and then it worked just fine.
  
  I suspect ffmpeg would work too, but I couldn't find the output so I can't be sure.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: The output will be in the same folder as where you unpacked the ffmpeg binary or the same folder as the input (depending on whether the ffmpeg is in the Mac equivalent of the path variable).  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2016-01-30. Score: 1
  
  You probably have to install or update Pro Video Formats on your mac. <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202252>
  
  
  ---
  
  