Question

Picasa does no longer recognize AVCHD video files (mts and m2ts)

Asked by: jossmeele

Picasa2 used to play AVCHD video files (mts and m2ts) beautifully but suddenly it does not recognize them anymore. I get a black icon instead of the first frame nad Picasa crashed when trying to play them.
I did instaled Picasa on a new Windows XP Professional Dell XPS630i.
After the Picasa install and cataloging photos and videos it played the AVCHD files perfectly.
I then installed some more programs and such as Ulead Videostudio 11.5plus and Quicktime which will also play and access video files.
I have no clue as to where to look for any relation between Picasa and any other programs that were installed. Can anyone help as this is a great undocumented Picasa feature which I hate to loose?

PS. Neither Quicktime nor Windows Mediaplayer can play mts or m2ts-files, only Ulead Videostudio 11.5Plus can play and edit these files.
Thanks, Jos.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2008-09-03 at 12:13:46ID23700419
Tags

Google

,

Picasa 2

,

Version 2

,

Quicktime Player

Topics

Streaming Media Players

,

Video Editing

,

General Multi-Media Software

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
9

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Quicktime Codecs
    I'm upgrading my web page and want to add a lot animation content which can be viewed by both windows and Mac users. For this reason I've chosen Quicktime as the aniamtion formate, but when I opened save in my graphics app (3ds max) I was given a list of quicktime formats/cod...
  2. Offset QuickTime audio/video?
    Hi guys, I'm after some way of offsetting audio that's out of sync (but constantly out of sync) in a QuickTime file, without editing the video and re-aligning the audio. Is there a plug-in/alternative viewer? (or does QuickTime Pro do it? I can't see anything that obviously...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: molernerPosted on 2008-09-04 at 17:25:57ID: 22394177

Perhaps you need the actual codecs installed on the computer in question?

Are you talking about the SAME computer (and not a fresh install) that it used to work on?

If not, you may need to install the mts and m2ts codecs.


P.S. I've seen Super C recommended tons and tons of times, that it recognizes and plays ANYTHING, etc. etc., though I've never tried it myself. I'm not sure what you need to accomplish, but it might help you. It's free, by the way.

You can find it at: http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

 

by: jossmeelePosted on 2008-09-04 at 18:55:25ID: 22394561

Yes it is the SAME computer, actually it was a new Dell XPS630i onto which I installed Picasa then ran Picasa to catalog my photos and video files. It did all that and found and cataloged the m2ts video files.  I also was able to play the m2ts files from within Picasa.
I then continued installing other programs such as Videostudio 11.5, Quicktime etc. and next time I started Picasa no more playing of m2ts-files.

I am very inexperienced with codecs. Please explain how do I find them and install them so that Picasa or any other program for that mater can find and use them.
Thank you, Jos.

PS downloaded Super but again I get lost in what-is-what in terms of video codecs etc. Tried to convert m2ts to avi but failed....

 

by: molernerPosted on 2008-09-05 at 04:46:55ID: 22397566

Actually, it seems that the INSTALLING and overwriting of a particular codec messed things up for you.

I'm not sure if it's Ulead, QT, etc., but one of those installed a new library that defined how your computer decodes files and Picasa didn't like the new way.

Annonyingly, the only way to test such a theory is to uninstall the two programs (AND hope that it completely sets your computer to how it was) or move the files to a different computer that just has Picasa.

I'll try to return here for a longer explanation when I have time. Got to go!

 

by: jossmeelePosted on 2008-09-05 at 09:10:47ID: 22400559

Would appreciate your longer explanation, especially so I understand how video codecs and where they are loaded.
I'll try Picasa on a "clean" PC.
Thanks, Jos

 

by: molernerPosted on 2008-09-05 at 12:46:54ID: 22403004

Codecs are contained inside of special files. A program, every time it detects a certain codec "style" (e.g., Xvid, H.264, Quicktime.mov), it (most of the time) looks to the Windows registry to see what file it should use to decode the video content. The registry will return the location of the files that the program should use to decode, and the program grabs them and attempts to decode it.

Sometimes, different codecs can used to decode the same kind of codec "style". Sometimes it's just a matter of money, other times there are technical differences between the codecs, such as compatibility--sometimes, a codec is made to support certain kinds of programs but doesn't work well with other programs.

I would *guess* that what happened was that whatever codec was being used before got replaced when you installed QT and/or Ulead. Those codecs might not play well with Picasa, and Picasa can't decode the files that use that codec style using the new codec.

 

by: jossmeelePosted on 2008-09-05 at 12:55:50ID: 22403107

Thank you, that at least explains my problems.
Any idea how and where I can reload codecs without having to un-install and re-install programs?

 

by: jossmeelePosted on 2008-09-05 at 12:57:07ID: 31492908

Thank you, that at least explains my problem.
Is there a way to reload codecs without having to un-install and re-install programs?

 

by: molernerPosted on 2008-09-05 at 13:15:38ID: 22403331

Not sure. I know there are programs out there that do it for MPEG-2 (which won't help you), but for everything? I haven't found one (not that that means it doesn't exist).

Try installing the XP Codec Pack:

http://www.xpcodecpack.com/

It may reinstall the correct codec that will work with Picasa.

At least you can install and, if it doesn't work, uninstalling it won't make things worse.

Then again, installing and uninstalling is what you're trying to avoid.

That's all I know. Sorry I couldn't be more of a help!

 

by: jossmeelePosted on 2008-09-05 at 14:26:03ID: 22403981

That definitely helps me quite a bit further!
Thanks for your help!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...