FAQ/Codecs
From VFXPedia
Codecs act as a layer between the file and the application. If you have a file or file type that one application can read and another can not, this is the generally the cause. A codec can decode a specific file type (HDV vs MPG2 etc.) and provide any arbitrary data to the application. In the case of Fusion, it can only utilize RGB 24 or 32 bit data, and not YUV, UYUV, YUV2 etc.
Unfortunately there is no easy way to diagnose such problems as codecs can be installed in numerous locations on the computer. To complicate things further, each codec has a merit (or priority) in which it loads. If a new codec is installed and has a higher merit, then files that used to work may no longer function.
Direct show is an operating system function that streams images to a device to be displayed. In the case of Fusion's use of Direct Show is to translate the images from a compressed format to an uncompressed image for manipulation.
Generally if Windows Media Player can play the requested file, Fusion should be able to as well. There are instances where a specific codec may not support the conversion from it's compressed format to RGB or decompresses to an overlay which will prevent the file from coming into Fusion.
- A codec may only support YUV or some other form of decoding, hence Fusion's RGB handles are not compatible
- A codec may decompress the image to an area of the video card as an overlay, and the relocation of the image to the player is handled via the video card. In this case, there is no way for Fusion to recall the image from the video card.
You can try one of the applications below to edit the codecs in your system to find one that will work with Fusion.
- http://codecs.freeforums.org/codec-toolbox-rs-t3233.html (Codec Toolbox RS)
- http://avicodec.duby.info/ (AviCodec 1.2.113)
