Why are my sony handicam video files incompatible with windows movie maker/wmp?

Question

Hi, I recently bought a Sony Handycam DCR-SR42E. I've taken almost 20 hours of video recently and want to edit it properly onto a dvd. I imported the files onto my computer (the files are in mpeg format but also each have a .modd file of the same name next to each one, e.g the mpeg file called "20071229204251" has a .modd file next to it called "20071229204251.modd") from my handicam but the files cannot be played on wmp and when i try to import them into windows movie maker it either says the file "does not contain any information" or the file is "not valid or corrupted". I desperately need to edit this video so any help anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Thanx

Answer 1

The .modd files don't contain any video - you can ignore them for the time being.  It's well known that WMM can't edit MPEG-2 files though I don't know exactly why - probably a combination of  commercial and technical reasons.  I'm not sure whether WMP can play MPEG-2 straight out of the box - it may need an MPEG-2 plugin.  If you've installed the software that came with the camera I'd have expected it to include one, though.

This may all be academic though! Since you want to create your own DVD(s), and WMM can't do this, you need to get a decent editor that can.  I'd have a look at Sony's Vegas Movie Studio - you can download a trial version at the link.  VMS is a very powerful editor for its price, but the learning curve is a bit steeper than some - allow yourself an hour or so to get the feel of it - it's well worth it!