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Media won't import

PostPosted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:01 am
by Jarod997
Hello, I'm familiar with Lightworks and I'm trying Resolve.

I can't seem to add media to my Media Pool. Some media shows up, other media does not. If I import the "bad" media (and click on "Open") nothing happens (the dialog goes away and there was no import). If I drag and drop the media I want, nothing happens (it doesn't import). There's not even any dialog box which pops up and tells the user why.

Is it because the file isn't saved in a constant framerate format, or is it something else. If that's the case, I would have thought a product like Resolve would have asked me to convert the file, or at least told me that was the issue. :P

I scoured the (impressively long) PDF help file with no mention of supported import file formats. I even scoured Google, but alas there's a lack of information on this topic, let alone with Resolve 14.

So far I'm not impressed with this product.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 1:16 pm
by Frank Wylie

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:34 pm
by Jarod997
Frank Wylie wrote:https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=69837

*snip*

That took about 0.5 seconds to find...


Thanks for the list. While it is somewhat helpful it both didn't answer my question and is 1.5 versions out of date. Perhaps I'll rephrase my question.

In Resolve 14, why do some video files of the same file type show up and import while others do not? Eg, I can see and import some of my mp4/mkv files (h.264) and others I can't. By see I mean if I'm using the built-in media/file browser some show up and some do not. If I use the "Import Media" function and it pops up a Windows Open File dialog box, then it will show all my media, but if I try to select a file I know doesn't show up using the built-in media browser, it doesn't import and doesn't pop up any message.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:52 pm
by Frank Wylie
Because it's not a supported file.

Just because Windows will recognize the file it, and Resolve does hook into the Windows file browser to locate files, doesn't mean Resolve can use it.

MKV is not supported in Resolve. You'll probably need to transcode your footage before using.

Try reading this:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=56379

Resolve was not designed as a web-centric software platform for making youtube videos, but comes from a long history of professional video production which never supported the proliferation of codecs available to casual users on the web.

This is not a slam, but a simple truth; only certain files have the proper data structure to be manipulated by Resolve. More are being added, that's for sure, but I doubt it will ever be totally compatible with all known video formats.

There are answers to your questions on this forum; you just have to dig a bit to find them.

Oh, and you really should read and follow the first link I posted: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=69837

"As this is a user forum, the majority of your support questions will be answered by other users in the community. In order to assist you with your queries they will need the same detailed description of your issue that any support team would.

For example, which specific version of Resolve. v14 is not enough detail. You need to provide the exact version string, such as 14.3.12. This can be found from the DaVinci Resolve menu in the ‘About DaVinci Resolve’ window.

You should also report the exact OS version, hardware platform, number of and type of GPUs being used, storage type and other setup specific details. Many users add this information to their forum signature. This can be done in the Forum’s ‘User Control Panel’.

When reporting your issue, be as detailed as you can with steps to reproduce the problem. Post online a screen shot or phone video of the issue if that helps explain..." and so on...


This is not asked of you to torment or waste your time, it is done to provide people information upon which to make an educated guess as to how to help you solve your problem.

Jumping in with incomplete information and claiming to be not impressed with a program that routinely grades a large portion of all professional video and DCinema imagery around the World really doesn't gain you allies in attempting to help you solve your problems.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 2:19 am
by Jarod997
Thank you again for your reply.

Because Resolve is a more professionally made piece of software I was expecting more out of it as compared to other software. For example, I was expecting some sort of meaningful feedback when I tried to do something in the program that it couldn't handle, but that didn't happen. When I tried to read the manual, and search various online resources I came up short thus culminating in my frustrations.

I apologize if my opinion of the program in the heat of that moment has upset or offended you, that was not my intent.

I've attached my system specs in my sig per your request. I am unable to put links in my messages yet per the forums user rules, and I don't wish to attach a 19 Mb file directly to this post so I regret I am unable to provide this information.

So, I accept that MKV is not supported. I will see if there is a problem between any of the MP4's (h.264) I'm working with. One of my other programs I'm using is writing bad header information to my video files as compared to the actual content, so I'll have to watch for that too.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:55 pm
by Frank Wylie
I can only assume Resolve isn't as user friendly as pure video production software, because it is basically a software package that emulates a massively complex, dedicated software/hardware "appliance". That "appliance" originated around two decades ago to manipulate video data during a telecine transfer sessions; nothing else.

Even though it is many, many times more user friendly than it used to be (just ask a few old timers here on the forum), it is miles above what it used to be and BM is rapidly making it more accessible as they develop new versions.

It is a great program, and in learning how to use it properly, you will also get a real education in video/digital imaging manipulation; the color space, the file formats, etc. because you have to know these things to make it work properly.

I know I have learned a huge amount in just trying to get a good product and will continue to learn, as the variables and interactions between data and hardware never seem to end.

Anyway, your machine looks like it should probably work up to HD quality IF configured properly and to higher resolutions IF you explore using proxies and/or optimized media. Read the manual; its there...

Some things to check:

As we have discussed (and you are checking), are the files you are attempting to import supported? You might have to get some file metadata examination tools to peek into your codecs to see how they are encoded, but there are many freeware programs out there that will do just this.

Is your nVidia card supported and is it running the proper version of CUDA?

Carefully read the manual on system configuration and on how to set up a project; this is critical.

You must first set up your machine to run at maximum throughput and performance and then craft the proper project settings for the end-product.

Again, read the manual. Do it. Yes, it's 1200 pages +, but it's worth it.

Watch tutorials on Youtube. I especially like the Goat's Eye tutorials on version 12.5. No, it's not Version 14, but there's enough similarity to be valuable.

There are tons of free resources online; an embarrassment of riches, so to speak.

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them or attempt to find someone who can answer them.

Good luck.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:25 am
by ZyriBlackwood
Sorry, I couldn't help but find your issue. and also find this smart ass who seems to like being really petty to people who don't know as much as he does, and apparently thinks sending you on a hunt is helping; Other than .. you know actually helping you get an answer. I was looking to find the answer to a similar problem but this guy pissed me off so much with how he's treating you that I decided to actually create an account to help you when this jerk wouldn't.

From what I see, you have a compatibility issue. Well, he gave you something to show you what it IS Compatible within the first response. so let's use that to our advantage since he only wants to make you work for your answer.. wether than actually help a fellow human being who wants to learn about something.

I have a quick simple and easy solution that might be a tad bit, what the kids would say as.. "Ghetto"

There's a quick fast easy program I found in.. what.. 0.4 Seconds
All you have to do is google "Video Converters" the one I used was the first result My-self had with a url of movavi.com/support/how-to/how-to-convert-video.html


Use the list to determine what film format you want to change it to then use this program to convert it. Infact.. you could just google your self to find other video converters if this doesn't do it for you. if the material won't fit.. then let's Change it so it will.

THIS PART IS IMPORTANT

Assuming you don't exactly know how the video is going to come out when you convert it.. I warn you loss of quality is possible. so Do your self a favor and make a COPY of the video store it elsewhere and keep experimenting till you find the correct format and quality.

You don't wanna lose that precious film <3

I really hope this helps you, it's a silly ducktape fix but I hope it helps.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 5:22 pm
by Zottelmonster0802
Hello,
I know I might be too late for you. But since I had the same problem I stumbled onto this Forum. But unfortunately the info didn't help me. So it took me about 5 more seconds (wink, wink) on the web to find the solution for my problem.

I had downloaded Davinci Resolve through the App Store and couldn't import Media of any kind. This guy on YouTube explained he had the same problem until he download the program from the Original site.

And tadaaa! It works!

So if you don't need any help anymore, I hope it helps the next person with the same problem we had.

All the best

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 4:41 pm
by pnudupa
If your photos, videos and audio files are in /Users/<username>/Movies/Davinci Resolve/ folder, then you can import anything. In the recent times I have noticed macOS forcing applications to ask permission before it allows it to access user's Desktop, Documents, Music, Movies & Pictures folder. When Davinci Resolve is installed, a folder for it is created in Movies; access to which is I guess implicitly provided to Davinci Resolve.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 8:29 pm
by wired00
pnudupa wrote:If your photos, videos and audio files are in /Users/<username>/Movies/Davinci Resolve/ folder, then you can import anything. In the recent times I have noticed macOS forcing applications to ask permission before it allows it to access user's Desktop, Documents, Music, Movies & Pictures folder. When Davinci Resolve is installed, a folder for it is created in Movies; access to which is I guess implicitly provided to Davinci Resolve.


I created an account specifically to say my thanks and confirm this method worked on MBP 16" MacOS Catalina with Divinci resolve 16 installed via app store. Seems crazy this doesn't work. I even tried granting Divinci complete full file access to my machine because i was sure that was the issue.

Anyway, yeah the hack for now is to simply copy your media directly to the divinci resolve movies folder - `/Users/<username>/Movies/Davinci Resolve/`

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 2:51 pm
by _artfilm_
I am having an issue with a similar problem...

I have some mp4 videos I want to import and some of them do but some of them don't, however I try. I have checked the details and codec of these files and the only difference I can find is that the files that don't import don't have audio. Surely this shouldn't be an issue? those same files got imported properly in Adobe Premiere Pro for some reason. I don't know what to do!

I would appreciate some help, thank you!

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:11 pm
by olei_the_hutt
I had the same issue with the video my drone recorded. These videos do not have an audio track and do not show up in the media gallery of Davinci Resolve (my version is 16.1.2.026). If an audio track is added to the videos, then Resolve imports the files properly.
To add an audio track, I used the VLC player. It's a bit tricky and I hope, I can explain it in English good enough for you guys as my VLC player is in German. Ok, let's go:
  • In VLC player, hit <CTRL>-<R> to come to the "Convert/Save" dialog
  • Add the video file using the "add" button
  • Tick the "more options" checkbox at the bottom
  • Enter the duration of the video
  • Hit the large "Convert / Save" button at the bottom
  • In the next dialog, pick "Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4)" as the profile of your choice
  • Select the output target using the file picker at the bottom
  • Hit "Start" and wait until the conversion finished
This worked out for me like a charm :)

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2020 4:39 am
by raging marshmellow
Had this problem too. Shifted the file out of the download section, into a nominated C drive folder and it worked.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Sun May 10, 2020 3:17 pm
by partypoliticalpuffin
Hi there,

I am really responding to ZyriBlackwood to say thank you. You were spot on...about everything!

I too came across this thread and took exception to the very smart person that was amazing at letting the OP know that they supposedly knew more than they did.

I know that this type of person and attitude is not exclusive to this site.

I also know that ZyriBlackwood's response is from 2018 but I just wanted to pass on thanks for giving some good advice/direction to resolve a problem but mostly for pointing out that the people asking questions are stuck. They are not lazy and they maybe have a life the precludes them from spending hundreds or thousands of hours learning a piece of software.

Bravo Sir/Madam. I hope you are well during this very challenging time.

Take care :)

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:15 pm
by uuillis
I followed a very similar process to olei_the_hutt in VLC, however after selecting the transcode profile I clicked the little spanner/wrench/screwdriver symbol and under Video Codec I selected "Keep original video track".

In my case re-writing just the container (mp4) data without lossily transcoding the h264 was enough. This might help some people to avoid introducing unnecessary compression artifacts from converting from h264 back to h264.

This also suggests that Resolve's MP4 parsing is not very robust, which I think it would be hard to claim is anything but disappointing. But professional software often takes these shortcuts as professionals are often happy to workaround quirks in a tool that performs one thing exceptionally.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 1:46 pm
by dougiechalmers
Hi, I think I'm quite late to the party but will feel bad for not imparting this very easy fix.

I was having this issue today. I wanted to import a load of files that I thought all had exactly the same codec and for some reason about half of them just wouldn't appear in the media pool.

When I created the files I renamed some of them before import so I could more easily map them out. However, I had accidentally used "\" in place of "|" in some of the names. I noticed that the files with a "\" instead of an "|" were the ones not importing. Once I changed the names of all the files featuring "\", they imported the same as normal.

I'm sure this won't work for everyone as some issues will be much more complicated but hopefully this will help a few like me where the fix is relatively simple.

Cheers,

Doug

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:26 am
by Uli Plank
I still keep my habit from the old UNIX days to use only underline as a separator in names, no fancy character or umlaut or anything like that, and never had a problem related to file names.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 5:11 pm
by sharkixx
Hello ! I've just recently downloaded DaVinci Resolve 17, about yesterday, and I'm having a huge problem when it comes to importing video files. (videos are mp.4)


When I get into my media pool and try to import media. It will import it for me automatically, however, the video has no cover. It's simply just grey, and when I drag it into my timeline and try to play it, It does absolutely nothing. I've been waiting for about 30 minutes now, waiting for it to load, as I thought It was simply just going to take a bit longer to load.

Please fix this as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 2:47 am
by NickFe
SHarkixx, I am having the same issue... did you find a resolution?

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2022 1:49 am
by Matthew Boulter
Try unchecking "Use GPU for Blackmagic RAW decode" in Preferences. Had the same issue.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:48 pm
by Diegop
I have this issue that seems to happen with random files. My file is H.262 (free mobile sofware can edit this format, why wouldn't DR), tried converting audio to mpeg and AAC, it is 29,997 progressive, reencoded several times. I check the community and I find arrogant "veterans" that jump to blame the users are in every single thread, and they seem to rush to be the first reply.

I said when I had a previous issue that I won't do hacker stuff just to make DR work. I'm an editor, not an IT. So for now I will just do it in Adobe Premiere and wait for the next update.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 4:54 pm
by Uli Plank
The pragmatic way is using what works. If it's Premiere, why not?
H.262 is obviously not supported by DR.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 3:54 am
by DoPinLA
I had this problem too.
I eventually figured it out, but wanted to post here, as it is a different answer than has been previously stated.

I was trying to edit from an external hard drive and nothing was importing into Resolve. I was trying to keep extra space on computer's internal hard drive, as the DaVinci cache always grinds it to a halt. I'm using a M1 Pro laptop btw.

My solution was to delete a bunch of stuff off my hard drive and load all the video files. It only left me with 130GB space on my computer's hard drive, which filled up fast, and I thus, had to delete the cache file several times to finish the edit.
My next solution, for my next edit, was to get an external SSD with a USB C cable and put all the edit files on there. This worked great!
I'm about to try a third solution; I ordered a micro usb to usb c cable for my desktop external hard drive, western dig, at 10Gbps, it seems like I should be able to edit from there as well.

I'm editing Braw, ProRes and h.264 files together from 5 cameras; it's a lot.

Hope this helps.

Re: Media won't import

PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 4:57 pm
by Uli Plank
If you are referring to a spinning disk, well, it may work if the sustained data rate suffices. But since access times are much, much slower, SSDs are giving you the better editing experience. I use spinners only for backups these days. NVMe drives connected by Thunderbolt are very fast. Great for cache, if needed.