YouTube: Failed (unable to convert video file)

[DeadEye]

I'm trying to upload two wmv. files that were produced by a friend using MS PhotoStory and I get this message after they upload: Failed (unable to convert video file)

What am I doing wrong? How can I get these uploaded correctly? I'm new to the video upload so please help an old fart old.

[Patonb]

Youre using the wrong format I believe:

http://www.webvideozone.com/public/308.cfm

YouTube video requirements and recommendations
YouTube accepts video files from most newer digital cameras, camcorders, and cell phones in either an .AVI, .MOV, or .MPG file format. According to their site, videos saved with the following settings convert and display the best:


MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format
320x240 resolution
MP3 audio
30 FPS

[DeadEye]

Thanks paton. Sounds like I need to find a free wmv to mp4 conversion program. Any suggestions?

[Patonb]

I had one, i think it was called Kates video converter.... It worked so i was happy...

Hopefully someone else chimes in, as i found that by scrolling through downloads.com

[jonlu28]

You might want to try to re-encode it with Windows Movie Maker. That is the program I use to make videos for youtube. Also, maybe size is the issue. There are size limits to how much you can upload.

[bob clark]

Thanks paton. Sounds like I need to find a free wmv to mp4 conversion program. Any suggestions?

Hi DeadEye,

It took me a few days to finally upload a small portion of a DVD that I have here of some old home movies. It was quite a task when you're clueless about such things.

But I think what you need is MediaCoder (http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/index.htm). It will convert WMP to MP4 and other formats. You may need to download the Firefox web browser as part of the deal... I kinda forget all the details. But the free program worked great. Of course it takes a little screwing around with it, as with any new program that you're unfamiliar with, but it got the job done.

I think I downloaded and installed a half dozen so-called "free" encoders/decoders/whatever the hell they're called/ before stumbling upon MediaCoder, the one that finally worked.

Sometimes at YouTube you'll get an error or warning that your video didn't upload correctly but you'll find out the next day that it actually did. I believe that's what happened to me.

Oh, here's my masterpiece. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkJZbFqQzys)

Good luck,

Bob.

[DeadEye]

Oh, here's my masterpiece. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkJZbFqQzys)

Good luck,

Bob.

Thanks guys. And oh Bob, what a masterpiece it is! Great old footage.

I'll talk to the puter gurus at work tomorrow and they may have an immediate fix. Otherwise I'll trial-and-error it until I get it TCO.

[texmas49]

Thanks guys. And oh Bob, what a masterpiece it is! Great old footage.

I'll talk to the puter gurus at work tomorrow and they may have an immediate fix. Otherwise I'll trial-and-error it until I get it TCO.

Here is my two cents: Microsoft's video formats (AVI, WMV) are completely accepted by youtube.com. What may have happened is that the original file was corrupted, hence, recapturing the video file in a good format would be the way to go. The person who posted the suggestion of recapturing the video file in Windows Movie Maker format, was a good one. Take your time and youtube supports up to 100mb of data to upload, so file size in .wmv format shouldnt be a problem. As a rule of thumb, I do try and upload .avi files. They are video in its rawest form and every upload service accepts them. Hope this helps.:)

[cvelusc]

Oh, here's my masterpiece. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkJZbFqQzys)
Although I'm not a fan of weapons, I find the footage you posted intriguing as the time period seems incredibly alien.

P.S., a quick Google search about a free video encoder may be helpful: http://www.google.com/search?q=free+video+encoder

[adi chicago]

i use total video converter.is one of the best and easy to use.

[DeadEye]

Here is my two cents: Microsoft's video formats (AVI, WMV) are completely accepted by youtube.com. What may have happened is that the original file was corrupted, hence, recapturing the video file in a good format would be the way to go. The person who posted the suggestion of recapturing the video file in Windows Movie Maker format, was a good one. Take your time and youtube supports up to 100mb of data to upload, so file size in .wmv format shouldnt be a problem. As a rule of thumb, I do try and upload .avi files. They are video in its rawest form and every upload service accepts them. Hope this helps.:)

I owe you something extra. I just saw this thread again today and had also forgotten about my failure to get them uploaded. I'd uploaded both of them successfully onto google video but they rejected them because I'd "violated copyright" by using music in the background. Screw them, there were videos on there using the same damn songs as background.

I didn't do anything differently than last time, but they worked fine this time. :D

I'll post them shortly.