Mini Camcorders

I have a little mini RCA digital camcorder that I fit in my purse. It records in .AVI format. How can I get Vegas to read those files as usable media? It won’t allow me to use them.

Alishaw,

It sounds like we need to find the proper codec in order for Vegas to read your video files. Think of a codec as a “Rosetta Stone” for the language your particular camera writes its files in. Yes it writes a .AVI file, which is very common, but to keep with my language analogy, .AVI files come in many different dialects.

Tell me the full name and model number of your camera and I will try to find what codec you need and where to get it.

Your other option is to go to this link, http://www.headbands.com/gspot/v26x/index.htm (copy and past into your browser) and download GSpot v2.70a. After downloading and unzipping the file, double click the GSpot program. When it opens, the very first box on the top left asks you for a file path. Choose one of your .AVI files from your camera. This program will analyze your file and then in the top right corner, it will tell you what codec is needed to play that file and if it is installed or not. If not, then do a Google search for the name of the codec and download and install it.

I am told it is good to avoid so called “codec packs” so if you can, try and only download and install the specific codec you are looking for.

Once you have the codec installed Vegas should happily read and edit your files.