Transana supports MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and most AVI video, as well as MP3 and WAV audio. Starting with version 2.20, Transana also supports QuickTime MOV and MP4 formats on both Windows and OS X, as well as WMV video and WMA audio on Windows only. Transana 2.20 and later may support additional formats; it's difficult to tell without trying them.

If you are using a version of Transana prior to version 2.20, your first step should be to upgrade Transana. We replaced both the media player code and the audio extraction code for version 2.20.

There are two issues involved in whether a format is supported.

First, the file must work with the media player Transana uses on the computer Transana will be used on. On Windows, Transana uses Windows Media Player for most media, though it can use the QuickTime player for MOV and MP4 videos. On OS X, Transana uses the QuickTime player. So the first thing to do is to open your media file in the appropriate player without Transana running and make sure the file plays appropriately. If it doesn't, you may need to install a codec for that format, or you may need to convert your file to another format.

Second is the issue of audio extraction. Transana attempts to extract the audio stream from media files so that it can create a waveform diagram. If Transana is able to play your media file but not extract the audio and create the waveform, it is still possible to work with your media file.

Working with Unsupported Formats

One solution is to convert your video from its current format to one of the supported formats. There are a number of free or inexpensive programs available on the internet that can accomplish this task. See the User Forums for more discussion of this issue.

When you're working with a format other than the supported ones, you can do the extraction manually. In essence, you can use video manipulation software to extract the audio from your video, and place the resulting *.wav file in the location where Transana expects it to be. Then, when you load your video in Transana, Transana thinks it has already completed waveform extraction, and it creates the waveform diagram as if you were using a supported format.

If you are a Windows user, the process has not been formally documented yet. Essentially, you can use a program such as VirtualDub to manually extract the audio from your video. You need to give the resulting WAV file the same root filename the video file has (MyVideo.mpg would lead to MyVideo.wav) and save it in the Transana Waveforms folder. Transana will then think it has already performed the waveform extraction.

If you are a Macintosh user, you can see a detailed description of the process using iMovie 3.03. (The process is fairly similar with later versions of iMovie.) I also understand that using QuickTime Pro allows you to export the audio from many video files as a wave file very quickly. I've heard that using the specifications of 8khz, mono, 8 bits works very well.

Your other option is to decline Transana's offer to create a Waveform and simply work without a waveform diagram.