VLC media player won't play "av01"

Hi.
Some of my downloads from Youtube won't play. I get a window with: Codec not supported: VLC could not decode the format "av01" (AOMedia's AV1 Video).
This, according to some searching I've done, is not an uncommon problem but not being versed in video, I don't make much sense of the solutions folks out there are offering. I've even had video that played fine for weeks, suddenly refuse to open. I get audio, but no visuals.
I seem to be missing a Codec.
I did try reinstalling a snap version of VLC which was supposed to solve the problem, but no...
Anyone have a simple answer for getting VLC to play everything?
Big load of thanks,
Katie

According to VLC's bug page, VLC has set this to not be fixed.
https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/20325
The reason given is that AV1 is an unfinished project that was released way too early. I love the way they put it referring to Youtube and uploaders using the format:
"Wontfix. People using AV1 are insane."
LOL

The only suggestion is try dav1d
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/dav1d

First I've heard of such a format. I stick to the tried and trusted methods that work.

Interesting article here:

https://www.videoproc.com/media-convert ... s-hevc.htm

Thanks guys, I think:
If I follow this right, YouTube is releasing av01 videos that VLC can’t play. At least not yet. av01 is still under development?
And, Aravisian, dav1d is a decoder fix? But is that a download? I don’t see what I’m suppose to do with dav1d…
A little confused over here, but still learning
Katie

FFmpeg is in the Zorin software repo and should be able to convert av01, possibly Handbrake too. Worth having a look!

I prefer to use the graphical frontend of ffmpeg - winff - it might just need some sort of script?:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/792200/ ... nial-xerus

Thanks guys, I think:
If I follow this right, YouTube is releasing av01 videos that VLC can’t play. At least not yet. av01 is still under development?
And, Aravisian, dav1d is a decoder fix? But is that a download? I don’t see what I’m suppose to do with dav1d…
A little confused over here, but still learning
Katie

It's a patch that you compile into VLC- but before I go writing a walkthrough on that, let's see of the other suggestions in thread help you out.

Thank you, tambler.
I installed FFmpeg but it didn't seem to do anything. It's in my menu but doesn't show up under "Launch in different application" when I right click on the video. I only see VLC. Maybe I'm not using it right?
Katie

Hi Katie,

Install WinFF - that has the GUI (front end) for ffmpeg. See my previous post where you may need to make a specific script for what you are trying to achieve - I'm no coder/script kiddy!

Okay. I now have Ffmpeg and WinFF installed on my machine.
I click on a video and get the same message: VLC media player won't play "av01"
Right clicking on the video does not bring up another option, only VLC.
But what am I missing here? av01 is an unsupported format, right? So why are YouTuber’s using the format to produce and post videos on YouTube that no one can watch? Something doesn’t jive. Why are these video producers wasting their time? Please someone… an explanation?
Katie

Okay. I now have Ffmpeg and WinFF installed on my machine.
I click on a video and get the same message: VLC media player won't play "av01"
Right clicking on the video does not bring up another option, only VLC.
But what am I missing here? av01 is an unsupported format, right? So why are YouTuber’s using the format to produce and post videos on YouTube that no one can watch? Something doesn’t jive. Why are these video producers wasting their time? Please someone… an explanation?
Katie

Speculatively,I can see why YouTube would have a good reason to want to use something that is not easily supported in a third party video player.
Are all Youtube videos in that format?
Are you able to watch the video (Does it play) on the YouTube website, but it does not work in VLC?
Also, different uploaders may choose different formats based on what they believe to be best. If they have been hearing about a new format that is supposed to be better (AV01), they may start using it with high hopes. This doesn't mean a downloader will enjoy it, though.

Doing some more searching, I found this:
http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/201 ... -decoding/
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1789715

I am not sure if AV1 and AV01 is basically the same. I am not sure which version of VLC you are currently using.

Code:

vlc --version

I am on 3.0.8

https://aomedia.org/av1-features/

https://bitmovin.com/av1-multi-codec-dash-dataset/

https://bitmovin.com/av1/

So it's Open Source - at a price - and aimed at streaming providers not streaming viewers 'per se'!

https://bitmovin.com/video-player/

I have VLC 3.0.8 installed (from the repository). I tried the snap package version as well but that made no difference. Last night, having a look at the problem again, I noticed that WinFF has decided to show up when choosing an alternative video player. But playing a video in WinFF, I once again only get the audio. With VLC I still get: VLC could not decode the format “av01” (AOMedia’s AV1 Video). This does not affect all videos from YouTube; maybe one out of every five that I want to keep.
YouTube.mkv is the extention I am seeing. And yes, the videos stream correctly, but I can’t download and play back. And why would a video that I have watched for weeks suddenly decide it was av01 and stop playing?
Thanks Aravisian. This was an interesting thread: “VLC is only built with AV1 support in 19.04 and newer. With 18.04, you're out of luck.” So what is 3.0.8? And more importantly, where does it fit in?
Or maybe Extreme Download Manager isn’t as good as I thought it was.
And Swarf, are you suggesting I install the bitmovin free trail?
Thanks everyone,
Katie

@Katie

I was investigating the codec situation and here's someone with the same problem....and a solution:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1202531 ... ag-convert

Thanks tambler:
Sorry for the delay. Everything closed here yesterday so no wifi access.
Tried the snap package once again. Deleted everything, including the VLC files in Home. Then installed snap package vlc 3.0.8 using the command in the terminal and then the same snap package from the repository. No luck with either. I get the audio but no visuals.
Any other ideas much appreciated.
Katie

https://convertio.co/av1-hevc/ ?

I have VLC 3.0.8 installed (from the repository). I tried the snap package version as well but that made no difference. Last night, having a look at the problem again, I noticed that WinFF has decided to show up when choosing an alternative video player. But playing a video in WinFF, I once again only get the audio. With VLC I still get: VLC could not decode the format “av01” (AOMedia’s AV1 Video). This does not affect all videos from YouTube; maybe one out of every five that I want to keep.
YouTube.mkv is the extention I am seeing. And yes, the videos stream correctly, but I can’t download and play back. And why would a video that I have watched for weeks suddenly decide it was av01 and stop playing?
Thanks Aravisian. This was an interesting thread: “VLC is only built with AV1 support in 19.04 and newer. With 18.04, you're out of luck.” So what is 3.0.8? And more importantly, where does it fit in?

VLC latest version should be 3.0.8, which makes it odd that the quote above says it is only available on 19.04. We are both using 3.0.8 and it is available in the bionic repo- I think that quote is Out of Date.
Why it would suddenly stop working? The only thing i can think of is an 'update' caused it.

I wonder, would a video conversion tool help? If you download the content, then use a converter to alter its format to one playable in VLC?

EDIT: I just noticed that Swarf made the same suggestion about a converter.

Well that Convertio tool looks pretty nifty. But when I try to convert the files I have, I get "Error Occurred. Something went wrong." I'm guessing it's my files that are the problem. Anyway I'm prepared to give up on this one. Maybe when a new version of VLC comes out, things will change. Or maybe I need to re-download those YouTube files with a different download manager. If I stumble across a solution for this, I'll post it. Like I said, I'm not the only one having this problem.
Thanks to all...
Katie