Hi everyone. I recently recorded a video with my Macbook (.mov file). I use my work computer for data transcription / analysis, which runs Windows 7. Anyways, whenever I import the video into ELAN, it won’t play the sound. So far, I’ve tried (1) to re-install ELAN, make sure it’s the latest version, (2) update Quick time player, so it is the latest version, too. (3) Converted the video itself from .mov into a mp4 format, and tried to import this into ELAN, which didn’t work, as ELAN would not recognize it. I’m running out of time and ideas, can anyone please help?
Thanks
Stefan
In principle mp4 on Windows 7 shouldn’t be a problem. Does the file play (with sound) in Windows Media Player?
What did you use to convert the file? I would guess that converting with Handbrake with even the default settings should result in a usable mp4 file with sound?
-Han
Hi Stefan, I suspect the issue may be due to the fact that a mov file can contain multichannel audio. ELAN will only play the first audio-stream, so you would need to convert the MOV to an mp4 and donwnmix the audio.
To do so, download Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr/) and load the MOV file. Set the container to mp4 under output & set a destination. video codec should be set to H.264 and under ‘optimise video’ set the slider to ‘ultrafast’.
Under the Audio Tab, next to ‘source’ you can add and remove tracks and select from 1 or multiple sources (depending on your file). There should only be one audio track! You can remove other remaining tracks by clicking the red cross icon on the right. Next, you will set the source for the track.
If there is only 1 source to choose from, set the codec to AAC, 320k and mixdown to stereo. Press ‘Start’ and you will get a playable file in ELAN.
However, if there are 2 (or more) sources you can select, you must figure out what source contains the audio. A simple way to do that is to open the file in VLC (leave handbrake open), and while its playing, click ‘Audio’ from the menubar. There should be a submenu ‘Audio Track’ which will show ‘Track 1’ and ‘Track 2’. you can toggle which track you want to hear, and determine which one has the actual audio.
Back in Handbrake, select the proper audio source, make sure to select mixdown to ‘stereo’ and press ‘Start’.
After this, you should end up with a playable file in ELAN, containing the right audio-track.
If this is not the case, you may have another issue, which may be harder to resolve.
Jeroen
HI both,
You guys are AWESOME!
It worked. I used handbrake and followed Jeroen’s steps. Thanks a lot guys. Whenever you’re in Leeds, pints are on me 
Cheers
Stefan
