The Windows Shell Media Engine that is provided out of the box with ADAM can also create previews of video-files. For many video formats there's nothing special that you have to do to make this work, but this isn't always the case. For certain video formats or codecs there's some configuration that needs to be done on the server that was supposed to create the preview.

The first thing that you should always verify when attempting to troubleshoot missing previews is to ensure that the correct media engine is used when processing files of this File Type. In this case, it should be the WindowsShell MediaEngine .

Next step is to set the File Catalog Log Detail setting to Verbose and catalog the file again. Verify the Catalog Log of the file and you may see a log entry with the following message:

Media action CreatePreviews failed to execute using WindowsShellGraphicEngine

The following more detailed information will be in the Additional Info of this log:

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Exception: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80040217): Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040217 at Adam.Core.MediaEngines.WindowsShellMediaEngine.a.e.a(IntPtr& A_0) at Adam.Core.MediaEngines.WindowsShellMediaEngine.a(String A_0, Int32 A_1, Int32 A_2, Int32 A_3) at Adam.Core.MediaEngines.WindowsShellMediaEngine.Run(MediaAction action) at Adam.Core.MediaEngines.MediaManager.Run(ICollection`1 engines, ICollection`1 actions)
ElapsedTime: 00:00:01.6212501Successful: False
IsCritical: False
Path: C:\AdamTest\Temporary Files\bb77ebf0-5441-42af-aa2b-58c0d8b73468_1\07-05-20\0c39c6ca-ca3a-44b6-96f3-e295123668fe\MDX Office 2007 Retail Demo Attach Video Compressed WMV.wmv
EngineFormat: WMV
MaximumWidth: 640
MaximumHeight: 480
Resolution: 72
PreviewFormat: Jpg

If you see an entry like this, this means that the Windows Shell Media Engine failed to create a preview of this file. To troubleshoot this, there are a few things that you should realize. First of all, the Windows Shell Media Engine doesn't actually create a preview itself; instead it simply asks Windows (the Windows Shell to be exact) for the preview. This means that if Windows Explorer is unable to create a preview of this file, the Windows Shell Media Engine will not be able either.

The simplest way to know if the Windows Shell is able to create a preview of this file is to go to Windows Explorer on the server and switch to the Thumbnail View:

In the screenshot above, Windows does not display a thumbnail of the WebinarIII.mp4 file. In this case the Windows Shell Media Engine will not be able to create a preview either.

Possibly, there's only a video codec missing which may be easy to install on the server. To prove this, double click on the video so that it opens in the Windows Media Player. If there's a codec missing, Windows Media Player may ask to install it:

After you install this codec, Windows will probably be able to create a preview of this file. So at this point, the Windows Shell Media Engine will be able to as well. You may have to reboot the server for this to work though.

Don't forget to always do these steps on the server that is supposed to create the preview! A different server may have other codecs installed. Also, not all codecs work on all platforms so it's not because a codec works on 32-bit that it will also work on 64-bit.