Video Engine AVE black in PT12.8

[dickrson]

Seeking help to get the Avid Video Engine (AVE) to work in Pro Tools 12.8.2.

I have installed the latest Apple Quicktime player (free version).
I have installed other video editing programs: VLC, Avid Media Composer First, MS MovieMaker, etc...

I have enabled the video engine within the Settings/Playback dialog.
I import the video via "Import Video" in Pro Tools 12.8.2

Audio gets converted and appears in stereo track which plays fine and the video (playback) window appears. However,
NO VIDEO APPEARS -- the AVE window remains black and there is no thumbnail for the video within the timeline of the video track in the edit window. ProTools does not crash, but neither does it play any video. The AVE window is responsive in that it responds to resizing, moving, and has a context menu.



I am an "occasional" PT user with an older DIGI003 rack. I am attempting to do some post-type audio work on an older (live) video. I'd like to re-EQ, do some noise reduction, etc... The video footage is older (640x480 .wmv, mpeg encoding H264 codec) which I can play in most video software (movie maker, avid media creator, windows media player, vlc).

I have been thru the recommended PT optimizations for Windows 10 (http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/t...ndows-10-Guide), and also the workarounds for the video engine that are recommended (http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...ine-Windows-10). All steps performed except:

* I was unable to revert the Firewire driver to legacy. When downloading/installing the (hard-to-find) legacy "1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)" it seems to fail to install, and is not available as a selection when updating the IEEE1394 driver via the recommended procedure.

* I did remove anti-virus software (AVG Free), but no behavior change; therefore, re-installed AVG Free.

* I have NOT disable ALL startup items yet


I HAVE downloaded 720p DNxHD-encoded sample video from external sources to ensure that the video source was not the problem. The "black screen" behavior remains the same regardless of source.

I HAVE updated all drivers (with the Firewire driver exception mention above): Network, Graphics, Digi003, USB, etc...

All optical media have been removed before starting PT.

From what I've found in searches of Avid and the PT Forums (and elsewhere) Windows 10 and the video playback engine are problematic. Is this a black hole of time and energy?

Please see Sandra report below for system details.

Thanks,

Bill D.

==================
SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Bill-XPS8700
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : Dell XPS 8700
Serial Number : BQ1****
Chassis : Dell Desktop
Mainboard : Dell 0KWVT8
Serial Number : ..CN7220*********
BIOS : Dell A08 04/16/2014
Intel vPro : 9.01.00.1120
Total Memory : 16GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz (4C 8T 3.59GHz, 3.6GHz IMC/4GHz, 4x 256kB L2, 8MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1150

Chipset
Memory Controller : Dell Core (Haswell) DRAM Controller 100MHz, 2x 8GB DIMM DDR3 1.6GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMT451U6AFR8C-PB 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMT451U6AFR8C-PB 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMT451U6AFR8C-PB 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMT451U6AFR8C-PB 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Hewlett Packard HP w2408
(1920x1200, 24.0")
Monitor/Panel : Hewlett Packard HP w2408
(1920x1200, 24.0")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 (3CU 384SP SM5.0 1GHz, 48kB L2, 4GB 1.8GHz, PCIe 3.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 (3CU 384SP SM5.0 1GHz, 48kB L2, 4GB 1.8GHz, PCIe 3.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 (384SP 3C 1GHz, 48kB L2, 4GB 1.8GHz)
D3D 11 : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 (384SP 3C 1GHz, 48kB L2, 4GB 1.8GHz)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 745/PCIe/SSE2 (4GB)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 745/PCIe/SSE2 (4GB)

Storage Devices
WDC WD10EZEX-75M2NA0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 932GB (D:) (E:)
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, OPAL) : 466GB (F:)
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB mSATA (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, OPAL) : 466GB (C:) (Y:)
Lexar USB Flash Drive (128GB, USB2) : 119GB (M:)
Compact Flash (USB2/NVMe) : N/A (H:)
SM/xD-Picture (USB2/NVMe) : N/A (I:)
SD/MMC (USB2/NVMe) : N/A (J:)
M.S./M.S.Pro/HG (USB2/NVMe) : N/A (K:)
Ultra (62.2GB, USB3/NVMe) : 58GB (L:)
TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW SH-216DB (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : N/A (G:)

Logical Storage Devices
RECOVERY (D:) : 24GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD10EZEX-75M2NA0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Audio (F:) : 466GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, OPAL)
Data (Y:) : 100MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB mSATA (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, OPAL)
Lexar (M:) : 119GB (FAT32, 32kB) @ Lexar USB Flash Drive (128GB, USB2)
Removable Drive (L:) : 58GB (FAT32, 32kB) @ Ultra (62.2GB, USB3/NVMe)
Storage (E:) : 907GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD10EZEX-75M2NA0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
OS-SSD (C:) : 465GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB mSATA (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, OPAL)
Hard Disk : 862MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB mSATA (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, OPAL)
Removable Drive (H:) : N/A @ Compact Flash (USB2/NVMe)
Removable Drive (I:) : N/A @ SM/xD-Picture (USB2/NVMe)
Removable Drive (J:) : N/A @ SD/MMC (USB2/NVMe)
Removable Drive (K:) : N/A @ M.S./M.S.Pro/HG (USB2/NVMe)
Optical Drive (G:) : N/A @ TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW SH-216DB (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller #1 : Dell Lynx Point LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller #1 : T2 87-72
Audio Device : Dell Lynx Point HD Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : nVidia High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia nForce2 ISA Bridge
Disk Controller : Dell Lynx Point 6-Port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller #1 : Dell Lynx Point USB xHCI Host Controller
USB Controller #2 : Dell Lynx Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller #3 : Dell Lynx Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
FireWire/1394 Controller #1 : Avlab Technology XIO2200(A) IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
SMBus/i2c Controller #1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send to Microsoft OneNote 16 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Print To PDF (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Brother Laser Type1 Class Driver (600x600)
Printer : Brother DCP-L2540DW series (600x600)

Scanners and Cameras
Scanner : Microsoft Brother DCP-L2540DW series [30055c9aae35] (Scanner, USB)
Scanner : Brother DCP-L2540DW LAN (Scanner, 600x2400, USB)

Peripherals
Media Player : Lexar USB Flash Drive (119.21GB)
Media Player : SanDisk Ultra (57.87GB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 100Mbps)
Network Adapter : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter (Ethernet, 1Gbps)
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b|g|n (2.4GHz)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 10.00.14393
Platform Compliance : x64

Performance Enhancing Tips
Warning 2513 : TPM not detected. Some security features are unavailable.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

[dickrson]

Bump. I'm following up on this post to see if there is any advice.

I installed the latest ProTools update (12.8.3) along with updates to Avid Cloud Services (2.4.0), Avid App Manager (17.12.0), and Codecs PE (2.7.3). After re-enabling AVE in PT and importing video, the same black screen behavior occurs, but now I get a message window (upon attempting playback) from PT saying:

"The Video Engine reported an error. More information is in the Video Engine log file."

When I navigate to the logfile at:

C:\Users\Bill\AppData\Local\Avid\Pro Tools\Cookies\VideoEngineLog.txt

(note: NOT the location specified by http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...indows-AVE-Log)


the following message is reported in the VideoEngineLog.txt

12/20/2017 3:21:33 PM Message: Cannot start playback. The network clock is not locked. Please try again.

I am running a DIGI003 rack via FireWire. Is the "network clock" part of the DIGI003?
----------------------------------------------

Revision: ProTools had somehow reverted to using Windows Audio Device for audio engine during update....
Now that it's been switched back over to the Digidesign FW 003 Rack, I get the same black screen AVE window, but now no VideoEngineLog message about the network clock.

Thanks for any advice on next steps....

Bill

[dickrson]

Following up on this thread. After a somewhat involved series of email with Avid Tech Support, this issue was resolved by:

Get rid of old AMA plug-ins by complete uninstall of PT2018.3 (including manual deletion of program folder), followed by re-boot and re-installation of PT2018.4.

Here are the pertinent bits (after I submitted the Video Engine Log files)

Tech Support:

Good day! Just got the update from our Engineering. AVE logs show really old versions of certain files, e.g. AMA plug-ins. Most likely the update to PT did not update these files (maybe they are locked, or some other problem).

The best solution here is to uninstall Pro Tools using the Windows "Programs & Features" control panel (as usual) but then manually DELETE the "Pro Tools" folder from within C:\Program Files\Avid. Reboot, then install PT 2018.3 (or 2018.4 which is available now) which will install the correct, latest versions of all the Avid Video Engine files.

My response:

It took me a few days, but I did completely uninstall PT2018.3 via control panel, delete the program folder, and reinstall PT2018.4 (via Avid App Manager).

After testing with a few different (video) sessions, it appears that the AVE is finally playing nicely with PT2018.4.

Thanks for your assistance. It is good to finally have this feature working in ProTools.