Why Can't I Insert a Media Item on My New Install?

bongolation

bongolation

New member
Insert>Media-Item just gets me errors on my new installation of v4.78 on my new computer. I'm trying to stick an .MP4 into a track, which I was able to do with the previous installation and can do with the dummy default installation of an older version on my laptop.

You're supposed to be able to just drag and drop it into the work area or double-click. Does it work for you?

Any thoughts? Should I uninstall and start rolling back versions?
 
Strange!

I just checked it out. I have Reaper 4.78.

I inserted an MP4 file by using 'Insert/Media File'.

I also inserted an MP4 by dragging and dropping into Reaper.

However, I am still using XP for music stuff.

As a matter of curiosity, I installed Reaper 4.78 on a Win7 machine, and tried to do the same. This time I could drop an MP4 into Reaper, but Reaper wasn't recognising it. It gave me a 1 sec file with nothing in it.
 
gecko zzed said:
Strange!

I just checked it out. I have Reaper 4.78.

I inserted an MP4 file by using 'Insert/Media File'.

I also inserted an MP4 by dragging and dropping into Reaper.

However, I am still using XP for music stuff.

As a matter of curiosity, I installed Reaper 4.78 on a Win7 machine, and tried to do the same. This time I could drop an MP4 into Reaper, but Reaper wasn't recognising it. It gave me a 1 sec file with nothing in it.
Click to expand...

This is 100% what's going on with me. I had forgotten that I'd had XP on the previous box.

The new box has W7 and the MP4 file either errors out or it shows a 1-second file with the right file name and no content.

However, the W7 laptop with a dummy install of Reaper 4.6-something will load the file.

Thanks for proving to me I'm not going crazy...though Reaper is getting me there. :(
 
Interestingly, I uninstalled R 4.78 from the Win7 machine, and installed Reaper 4.62. But I had no luck in getting an MP4 to work
 
gecko zzed said:
Interestingly, I uninstalled R 4.78 from the Win7 machine, and installed Reaper 4.62. But I had no luck in getting an MP4 to work
Click to expand...
Well, if you can figure this out, I'd be grateful for a solution. The official Reaper forum seems stumped and I've spent about the last sixteen hours on it with no luck. :(
 
I've never done any video stuff with Reaper (MP4 is video + audio) - is there some Reaper extension needed, or you need to set up a video (not audio) production?
 
It is quite likely a missing codec or something, but I really don't know how to help beyond that. If you double click the file in Windows Explorer, does it know how to play it? Sometimes just installing a program that includes that codec will fix things. Is QuickTime installed on this machine? That or VLC might just do it.
 
gecko zzed said:
Possibly. But what I don't understand is why Reaper and MP4 is no problem in XP, but is in Win7.
Click to expand...

I can only speculate. See if this helps explain: Video Support - CockosWiki

I didn't go in depth, but from the scan, Reaper uses some of the OS supported Codecs. XP and Win7 I assume handle codecs differently Maybe Win7 lets each application handle it verses XP providing the service.
 
The "missing codec" of course seems to be the obvious answer, but I can't imagine how, because all of these installations that work and don't work are running VLC, and I've done absolutely nothing to manually mess with with the codec on any of them.

The .MP4 file plays perfectly well on all media players on all boxes -- just not in Reaper. I've downloaded a fresh version of it with no change in anything. As seen above, this problem is not limited to my box or my media file in any case. :confused:

The current video card and monitors in the new box are the ones from the old box, so there's no chance of some obscure vidcard gremlin.

The new box that doesn't import is using Win7/64 Home, just like the laptop whose dummy Reaper installation does import.

I exported the Reaper configuration from the old box that effortlessly imported the media file, and imported it into the new installation -- and the media file won't import.

I uninstalled Reaper, reinstalled it with no configuration file and it still won't import the .MP4 file.

This is supposed to be a bone-simple operation with no preparatory rigmarole (see around page 403 in the manual).

Just save some little test video file from Youtube and see if your installation can or can't import it.
 
bongolation said:
The "missing codec" of course seems to be the obvious answer, but I can't imagine how, because all of these installations that work and don't work are running VLC, and I've done absolutely nothing to manually mess with with the codec on any of them.

The .MP4 file plays perfectly well on all media players on all boxes -- just not in Reaper. I've downloaded a fresh version of it with no change in anything. As seen above, this problem is not limited to my box or my media file in any case. :confused:

The current video card and monitors in the new box are the ones from the old box, so there's no chance of some obscure vidcard gremlin.

The new box that doesn't import is using Win7/64 Home, just like the laptop whose dummy Reaper installation does import.

I exported the Reaper configuration from the old box that effortlessly imported the media file, and imported it into the new installation -- and the media file won't import.

I uninstalled Reaper, reinstalled it with no configuration file and it still won't import the .MP4 file.

This is supposed to be a bone-simple operation with no preparatory rigmarole (see around page 403 in the manual).

Just save some little test video file from Youtube and see if your installation can or can't import it.
Click to expand...

If you reinstall Reaper, delete the folder in program files. Uninstallers always leave a little bit behind and also use something like CCleaner to remove any unwanted OS pointers. Try that first, if that fails, then ...
 
I can get mine to start, but I think I am having some buffer issues. I am trying this on a knock around computer that doesn't have much resources.
 
DM60 said:
If you reinstall Reaper, delete the folder in program files. Uninstallers always leave a little bit behind and also use something like CCleaner to remove any unwanted OS pointers. Try that first, if that fails, then ...
Click to expand...
Those are good points.

I'll try.
 
bongolation said:
Where is that in the menu?
Click to expand...

It's in the install process. When you run the install exe, you get a dialog box that allows you to specify assorted components.

I have just tested. I re-installed Reaper 4.78 on the Win7 machine. 'video file support' was checked. ANd still no luck.

I am interested in the outcome of this, because my music computers are all still on XP. One day I'm going to have to leave XP behind.
 
According to a power user and one of the authors of the program, this mess is supposedly due to there being a default program for opening the media file type. I haven't tried to work this out yet (because it's simply too hot this afternoon to fire up an 8-core space heater mess with it), but it's supposedly correctable by clearing the default program setting for the file type. I'm intensely skeptical, as this W7 laptop loads .MP4 files in Reaper and a quick look shows that Windows Media Player is the default program for those files, as it is in every routine install of Windows 7.

But there must be an answer to this... :confused:
 
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