Only audio and black screen

[cold-hot-coffee]

Hello,

I used auto-editor to delete silent sections.

However, after rendering, I only get the audio and no visibility.
I briefly see the video for less than a second and it goes black.
I do see the video again in the middle but less for a second.

I tried changing the bitrate, margin, video length.
Also, I installed brew, ffmpeg and asked ChatGPT but nothing.

It doesn't seem that there is a problem with auto-editor or my laptop.
Just looks like I have to change a setting.
current python version: Python 3.13.7

I would appreciate it if you could help me.

Thanks.

[erenyenigul]

I am also having the same issue

[masinag]

Same issue here.
As a workaround, I exported it to Kdenlive with --export kdenlive option, and then rendered the video from Kdenlive.

[Cfomodz]

1. Codec Compatibility Issues

The most common cause is codec incompatibility between the input video and the output container format.

Solution:

# Specify a compatible video codec explicitly
auto-editor input.mp4 --video-codec h264

# Or use libx264 for better compatibility
auto-editor input.mp4 --video-codec libx264

2. FFmpeg Version or Installation Issues

Auto-editor relies on FFmpeg for video processing. Outdated or improperly installed FFmpeg can cause rendering problems.

Solution:

# Check FFmpeg version
ffmpeg -version

# Ensure you have a recent version (4.4+ recommended)
# On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg

# On macOS (using Homebrew):
brew install ffmpeg

# On Windows:
# Download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html

3. Hardware Acceleration Conflicts

Hardware-accelerated encoding can sometimes cause black screen issues on certain systems.

Solution:

# Disable hardware acceleration
auto-editor input.mp4 --video-codec libx264 --preset medium

# Force software encoding
auto-editor input.mp4 --no-hwaccel

4. Container Format Issues

Some video formats may not preserve all streams correctly during editing.

Solution:

# Try a different output format
auto-editor input.mp4 --output-format mkv

# Or explicitly set the output file extension
auto-editor input.mp4 -o output.mkv

5. Pixel Format Problems

Incorrect pixel format can cause playback issues in some media players.

Solution:

# Specify pixel format explicitly
auto-editor input.mp4 --video-codec libx264 --extra-args "-pix_fmt yuv420p"

---

Diagnostic Steps

Step 1: Test with Minimal Processing

# Test without any editing to isolate the issue
auto-editor input.mp4 --edit none -o test_output.mp4

Step 2: Check the Input File

# Verify input file integrity
ffprobe input.mp4

# Check for multiple video streams
ffmpeg -i input.mp4

Step 3: Enable Verbose Output

# Run with debug information
auto-editor input.mp4 --debug

# Or with FFmpeg verbose output
auto-editor input.mp4 --show-ffmpeg-commands

Step 4: Try Different Export Options

# Export to an editor timeline instead of rendering
auto-editor input.mp4 --export premiere

# This can help identify if the issue is with cutting logic or rendering

[nailz420]

Error! Unknown option: --extra-args
Error! Unknown option: --show-ffmpeg-commands
Error! Unknown option: --preset

Did AI suggest this and you did not validate its output?

[Moltkex]

I'm having the same issue with some files, like some do fine, some have this issue, and notice that the ones with the issue have a way smaller size, for example, original file is 2gb, but then the "corrupted" one is 200mb. I tried the solutions/troubleshooting steps shared by @Cfomodz but that didn't help. The only thing that works is the tip shared by @masinag of exporting to kdenlive. It's just so weird, I don't understand, like I said, it doesn't happen with every file, which btw are all .mp4, but only randomly with some files. The last couple of weeks I had it happened twice from around 10 files, meaning 8 did fine, but 2 did not.

[WyattBlue]

What version are you using

[Moltkex]

What version are you using

I'm using 29.3.1, cause pip won't upgrade it, no idea why, already tried removing virtual env and "re-do it", but didn't work, still won't upgrade. I downloaded 29.4.0 from the releases page (which I just noticed 29.5 is available) but the same thing happened, so this happens in both versions, for me. I'm on CachyOS, by the way.

EDIT: Just downloaded 29.5 and tried with one of the videos that the "altered" version was corrupted, and it worked! 😁

[nailz420]

I'm using 30.1.2 version and it's still not working for me

[nailz420]

Nope. I after I cut it with ffmpeg, auto-edit processes it fine. I even tried with the full uncut video after I ran ffmpeg copy on it and still fixed it.

[WyattBlue]

If you don't have a sample video you feel comfortable sharing. There's nothing on my end that I can do. I'm just going to mark this as done.

[Us5rName]

I also got this issue.
It happens to me when the audio stream is located before the video stream

(e.g the output of ffprobe input.mp4 has:
Stream #0:00x1: Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 87 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
creation_time : 2025-12-03T09:16:52.000000Z
handler_name : AAC audio
vendor_id : [0][0][0][0]
Stream #0:10x2: Video: h264 (Baseline) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p(tv, bt470bg/bt470bg/bt709, progressive), 1920x1080, 207 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 30k tbn (default)
Metadata:
creation_time : 2025-12-03T09:16:52.000000Z
handler_name : H.264/AVC video
vendor_id : [0][0][0][0]
encoder : AVC Coding
)

When I run auto-editor input.mp4 I get the black screen.

To work around it, I run the command
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0 -c copy output.mp4, which puts the video stream before the audio stream. I then run auto-editor output.mp4 and the edited video comes out fine

To reproduce the bug, you can take any video (e.g input.mp4),
run
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:a:0 -map 0:v:0 -c copy bad-output.mp4 (puts the audio stream before the video stream)

and then run auto-editor bad-output.mp4

[WyattBlue]

Thank you for sharing this. I’ve fixed this issue in the latest release

[Us5rName]

Tested the latest release (30.1.4) and it solved the issue!
Thanks for the quick fix!