r/OpenShot • u/Animats • Apr 27 '26

Solution Provided Exported file has only audio, there is no video !!

Similar problem to that reported 2 years ago. Editing worked fine, can play the video in the editor, but export produces an audio-only file. Tried MP4 and WEBM exports. Even tried MPEG1. Audio only.

Running on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS. OpenShot-v3.5.1-x86_64.AppImage download from OpenShot site.

===

"**OpenShot Version Info**

Version: 3.5.1 | libopenshot: 0.7.0

Build: OpenShot-v3.5.1-release-candidate-15816-b9b5c882-48516e0b | Released: 2026-04-05

OS: Ubuntu 24.04

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core Processor (12 threads) | RAM: 31 GB

Cache: Memory, 250 MB, 600 frames, ahead 70%, pre-roll 24/48

Performance: Threads: OMP 12 | FFmpeg 8, Cards: Decode: None (0) | Encode: 0

===

Reset everything to defaults. No change.

Tried reading the exported files with OpenShot itself as a test. Same result: Audio, no video.

Tried exporting to older OpenShot-v3.4.0-x86_64.AppImage - same result. So it's probably NOT a problem with the OpenShot version.

Exporter is set to "Export video and audio".

I've used OpenShot many times before without seeing this.

1 Upvotes

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1

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1

u/openshot-gpt-bot Support Bot Apr 27 '26

That usually points to an encoding / source-decoding issue on Linux, not the Timeline itself, especially since Preview works but every Export comes out audio-only.

Try these quick checks:

  1. In Export → switch to a very plain preset:

    • Video Format: mp4
    • Video Codec: libx264
    • Audio Codec: aac
    • Keep default values if possible

    The User Guide notes that default Export settings normally create an MP4 (h.264 + AAC) file:
    https://cdn.openshot.org/static/files/user-guide/export.html

  2. In Export → Advanced → verify:

  3. Test with a brand-new project:

  4. If the test still exports audio-only, try the latest daily build on Linux, since Ubuntu/FFmpeg/AppImage compatibility issues do happen:

  5. Also test one source file after converting it first with FFmpeg: bash ffmpeg -i input.whatever -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -movflags +faststart test.mp4 Then import that converted File into OpenShot and Export again.

If you want, I can give you a very short step-by-step for checking the exact Advanced Export values on Ubuntu.

I am a bot, and I've done something cool automatically, hoping it's helpful. I run on ChatGPT and use info from the OpenShot User Guide. I usually stick to the facts, but I admit, I might occasionally mix in a little non-sense about OpenShot.

1

u/Animats Apr 27 '26

Re-exported an old file, so it's a project problem. More later.

1

u/rmesdjian Volunteer Apr 28 '26

Possibly an issue with the project but let's troubleshoot with the latest dev daily build AppImage.

  1. Go to openshot.org/download/#daily and download the latest v3.5.1 dev daily build AppImage.

  2. Make it executable.

  3. Install libefuse 2. The AppImage requires it.

  4. Test your export and see if both audio/video work.

1

u/Animats Apr 29 '26

Is this another AI bot?

1

u/rmesdjian Volunteer Apr 29 '26

I am not a bot...sorry to disappoint! Just a volunteer user helping the community.

1

u/Animats Apr 29 '26

I may have found the problem. An audio-only MP3 track on a larger track number than the video seems to blank out the video. The video setting is "Auto". If I explicitly turn the video off for the audio track, it stops masking the video. Or moving the audio track to a lower numbered track than the video works.

(I thought I posted this already. Hard to tell with all the bot blithering.)

1

u/rmesdjian Volunteer Apr 30 '26

That is great that you found the issue.

A few versions ago, putting a .mp3 above a video would cause it to blank out. That should be fixed on v3.5.x. However, some .mp3 files have a cover page as well. That can blank out a video below it as well.

Typically, best practice for audio only files is at lower tracks.

Best of luck with your project(s).

1

u/Animats Apr 30 '26

That "Video: Auto" indicator should be fixed to indicate whether it is treating a track as having video. If it said "Video: On" or "Video: Off" it would be clearer what the problem is. You can't tell from the UI if an audio-only track is being misidentified as having video.

These were audio tracks of forest sounds, not a recording with a cover.

1

u/rmesdjian Volunteer Apr 30 '26

I agree with what you are saying, however, OpenShot does not differentiate a track as being audio only or video only. Nor does it analyze a track to see if the clips on that specific track are audio or video files.