Da Vinci Won't Accept Any Video Format

Hello,

I have just installed DaVinci Resolve 12.5 on a Mac and to my surprise no video format I try to import is accepted.

I'm sure there's some kind of bug because isn't this software supposed to take virtually any file format?

I first tried importing a screen capture done with Quicktime (which is the primary kind of video I need to edit right now, so if there's a quick way to do it without needing to convert the video please let me know).

Didn't work, so I converted to mp4.

Didn't work, so I converted to AVI.

Didn't work.

What an I missing?

Thanks!

Quicktime screen captures are recorded in variable framerate, which does not work in Resolve. I recommend OBS for screen captures, since you can record in constant framerate.

Hello Jack,

Thanks a lot!

But what about converting the video after capturing with Quicktime?

What really puzzles me is that no format will work.

Thanks again!

Hello Jack,

Thanks a lot!

But what about converting the video after capturing with Quicktime?

What really puzzles me is that no format will work.

Thanks again!

I think Handbrake will convert VFR video into CFR.

When you say something doesn't work, it's usually helpful to say exactly what happened so that people can work out what the problem is.

Thanks, Jack!

Hello Simon, I didn't say what happens because... nothing happens : ) .

It just won't import. No error messages, nothing. As if I hadn't done any action.

I have tried using OBS as Jack has suggested so that I wouldn't need to convert, but it still amazes me that such a powerful software as DaVinci would require going through so much trouble to do something really, really, really simple.

Couldn't quite figure out how to set up OBS to do a simple screen capture without wasting tons of time going through several tutorials (something that also amazes me, I mean, how hard should it be to set up a screen capture?).

Quicktime is simple, fast, seamless to use, so I would much, much rather, stick to Quicktime, convert and just bring it into DaVinci.

No luck yet, though.

Thanks!

I have tried using OBS as Jack has suggested so that I wouldn't need to convert, but it still amazes me that such a powerful software as DaVinci would require going through so much trouble to do something really, really, really simple.

It may seem like a simple task, but you have to consider the audience Resolve was developed for. Variable framerate media of this kind simply doesn't exist in the professional video world, and NLEs are designed around working on a frame-by-frame basis. You may have better luck with something like Sony Vegas if you don't want to change your workflow.

Can we change the title of this thread to:

"DaVinci won't accept any amateur bulls**t video formats" ?

Yeah, my current task is pretty simple and doesn´t really require DaVinci, but that´s not the only kinda work I do, so I thought I´d start using DaVinci and maybe switch to it for my feature films.

What amazes me is not the fact that it won´t import the files, but that it won´t say what was the problem.

If it did, I would immediately know what was going on, know how to fix it, and wouldn´t have needed to come here and bother you guys : )

Look how much trouble it could have avoided : )

without being rude to the op (lendro), one of the reasons i gave up on the vegas forum, and a number of other ones was the influx of questions, complaints, rages, etc., that the relevant software wouldn't natively ingest whatever (usually proprietary) codec they were trying to feed it.
this led to the various nle's trying to incorporate every codec in order to attract more customers. sometimes these codecs were never meant for editing in the first place, or if they could be, were ill-suited to the task - the main offender being various mp4 codecs. of course, when nearly every camera churns out some form of mp4, the market had to respond (incl resolve), BUT when it comes to screen capture progam codecs there has to be a limit.

if you want to use a professional nle, feed it file formats it's designed to use and don't expect the maker to try and incorporate codecs that have no professional value to serious editors.

like many others, i'm very grateful for bm offering resolve for free, their maintenance of it, and their continued development of it. it is becoming a one-stop-shop for many indies like myself whilst obviously still maintaining its dedicated professional user base. i only hope bm DOESN'T try and follow the populist path to mass consumerism that has led to the downfall of many other once popular nle's.

btw - i haven't used avid for many, many years - is it still as picky about the codecs it supports?

[Peter Chamberlain]

Leandro, please let us know about your Mac. The range of hardware processing power is so great its really impossible to tell if your system could or not ever run Resolve.

At the risk of sounding like a snob to the original poster, do you know how to use resolve?

I ask this simply because you didn't describe your workflow. I have seen posts in the past where people had trouble importing footage into Resolve because they were actually trying a "file -import" workflow.

This is of course not how resolve works.

Just making sure the obvious is not being missed here.

Nice little thread but...
I have no problem using and directly editing quicktime screen captures.
Use it to create demonstration videos for my custom controller. Zero problems in old resolve and in 14.
So definately a user/system/setup problem . Not resolve

Yeah, my current task is pretty simple and doesn´t really require DaVinci, but that´s not the only kinda work I do, so I thought I´d start using DaVinci and maybe switch to it for my feature films. What amazes me is not the fact that it won't import the files, but that it won´t say what was the problem.

You'll find many pro editing programs won't accept variable-framerate video formats like this. Convert it to a constant-framerate format and it will work just fine.

Feature films and screen capture are very, very different things.

Feature films and screen capture are very, very different things.

Not for a generation watching them on the same screen

Not for a generation watching them on the same screen

unfortunately, that is a very sad fact indeed. i can probably understand watching a 'dialogue' driven movie on a laptop (i've done so when other alternatives were not available), but to watch, say, dunkirk or any other 'spectacle' movie on less than a large panel is an insult to those connected with creating it, and to your own senses.

of course, once you're past 70 you're a confirmed old fart with reactionary opinions...

Feature films and screen capture are very, very different things.

Not for a generation watching them on the same screen

Not only on the same screen, but through the murderously low quality (imo) encodes of streaming platforms.

I am going to post in the forum of the constructor of my car:
It does not accept all fuels.

That analogy has been tried before. If cars would have developed like computers did, we'd have cars running or rather flying 10,000 miles an hour with a gallon once a year.
Unfortunately they might also drop all of a sudden for no obvious reason.

Hello Peter and everybody who was kind enough to post on this thread,

The current system I'm trying to run DaVinci on is a MacBook Pro, 2GHz Intel Core i7 Graphics Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB. Not as sturdy as my real desktop editing bench, but is what I have to temporarily work with on the go.

I understand the frame rate issue and it's ok to convert the footage, but in fact I have done it and it didn't work.

Plus, I have also tried importing a 2k mp4 video shot in 30fps and DaVinci didn't take it either and again didn't say what the problem was. I went ahead and converted it anyways to make sure I had a constant frame rate and, again, DaVinci didn't take it and said nothing.

I see that mentioning that I wanted to import "amateur" footage into a pro software generated a lot of reactions, but please note that the point I was trying to make is that DaVinci could show a dialog box indicating what the problem was, and what te solution would be, and that would make life easier for everybody. But that might just be an irrelevant thought : )

On the other hand, it's great to see so many people taking the stand for DaVinci, which is a great piece of software I'm considering to switch to from the Adobe family.

Thanks a lot for all of your comments. In case someone has an idea on how to actually solve this issue, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks a lot!

So, you drag and drop the footage into the media bin, and nothing happens? Is that correct?

So, just a bit more information:

I did a test importing a wav audio file recorded with my Zoom H4N at 24 fps and, again, DaVinci didn't accept it and didn't say what's wrong.

I think that file format should be easily imported, am I wrong?

So I really think that something besides the fps issue is happening.

Any hints?

Thanks!

Yes Simon, that is correct, thanks a lot.

Hi leandro,

I think there is something realy wierd going on with your system as everything you mentioned should all work fine in resolve.
As i sad, i am on mac as well , record screencaptures in standard quicktime (did not change any setting) . The open resolve on the media page , drag it from the desktop straight into the bottom parts of resolves media page and its it. Plays fine. No need to convert anything.

So question, how are you trying to import all this stuff ?
You can even drag and drop these files, as well as the zoom audio file etc , straight on the timeline.
Maybe it is just something very simpel and basic you do wrong, as i can just drop about everything in resolve and it plays without a problem. (Sierra, resolve 14).

Maybe you can show us a little video capturen with your phone on what you do and how, and where you then see that there is a problem.
And also a small test file that does not work in your demonstration, so we can try and see if its the file or your method/system.

It seems likely that something's broken with your install of Resolve, and we can probably confirm that with a comparison test. I downloaded the video from here https://videos.pexels.com/videos/drone- ... orest-3641 which is 8MB in size, dragged it and dropped it into the media pool, it imported fine. If that doesn't work for you, I'd say try reinstalling Resolve.

Maybe do a small clip PRORES 1080p 422 HQ test to be certain that this is not an installation problem?

FWIW, I just did a QuickTime screen capture and saved it without changing any settings.

In the Media page of a new project in Resolve 12.5.6 I found the file and did a right-click 'Add into Media Pool'. It showed right up, after the usual change frame rate message (the file is 59.94). It plays just fine. I'm on a cheese grater Mac Pro under Sierra.

I would suggest that there is something wrong with your Resolve installation.

Hello Simon, Glenn, Jean, Stephen and all of you guys who have kindly been trying to help,

Yep, problem fixed with reinstallation.

Did a test importing the video suggested by Simon and when it didn't work, bingo.

And the Quicktime screen capture is accepted without conversion : )

Thank you guys so much!