user3204: All of these converted, but Premiere Pro only loads the audio.  I use Ctrl-I to import the videos, and they come up as waveforms, and can only be placed on audio tracks.
These examples use avconv, but I also have ffmpeg, and don't really care which as long as it works  :-)
avconv -i v1raw.AVI  -c:a copy -c:v mpeg2video  v1conv.mpeg
avconv -i v1raw.AVI  -c:a copy -c:v mpeg2video  v1conv.avi
avconv -i v1raw.AVI  -c:a copy -c:v mpeg4  v1conv.m4v
avconv -i v1conv.avi  -c:a copy -c:v copy  v1conv_copy.mpeg

Here's the data for my input file (incase it helps).
Input #0, avi, from 'v1raw.AVI':
  Duration: 00:05:28.53, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 9592 kb/s
    Stream #0.0: Video: h264 (Main), yuv420p, 1920x1080, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 30 tbn, 60 tbc
    Stream #0.1: Audio: adpcm_ms, 44100 Hz, 1 channels, s16, 176 kb/s

And my available video encoding formats from avconv.
a64multi, a64multi5, asv1, asv2, bmp, cljr, dnxhd, dpx, 
dvvideo, ffv1, ffvhuff, flashsv, flv, gif, h261, h263, h263p, 
huffyuv, jpegls, libdirac, libschroedinger, libtheora, libvpx, 
libx264, libxvid, ljpeg, mjpeg, mpeg1video, mpeg2video, 
mpeg4, msmpeg4, msmpeg4v2, pam, pbm, pcx, pgm, pgmyuv, png, 
ppm, qtrle, rawvideo, roqvideo, rv10, rv20, sgi, snow, svq1

see full codec info
I'd be happy to post anything else that has the slightest chance of helping.

user1760: Premiere Pro CS5 should be able to import H.264 video, IIRC, however it may be having trouble with the audio and/or container format. With ffmpeg try re-muxing the video stream without the audio:
ffmpeg -i input -an -codec:v copy output.mp4 -an -codec:v copy output.avi

If both output.mp4 and output.avi work then we know that the issue lies with the audio (although H.264 with b-frames in AVI probably isn't a great idea). You can re-encode the audio and keep the video:
ffmpeg -i input -codec:v copy -codec:a pcm_s16le output.avi

If the first command does not work with Premiere, then you may need to re-encode. This is a good use case for an editor friendly, lossless intermediate file:
ffmpeg -i input -codec:v utvideo -codec:a pcm_s16le output.avi

Close Premiere, install Ut Video (scroll to the bottom of the page), open Premiere, and import your video. You can do your editing, and then export to your final format using the crappy Adobe Media Encoder, or export to another lossless file, and then use ffmpeg to provide whatever you need. Alternatively, if you're using Windows you can use Debugmode FrameServer and encode directly with ffmpeg from Premiere. See How to encode with ffmpeg from Adobe Premiere Pro for instructions.
If you need a recent ffmpeg for Windows see Zeranoe FFmpeg builds.

3204: <p>All of these converted, but Premiere Pro only loads the audio.  I use Ctrl-I to import the videos, and they come up as waveforms, and can only be placed on audio tracks.</p>

<p>These examples use avconv, but I also have ffmpeg, and don't really care which as long as it works  :-)</p>

<pre><code>avconv -i v1raw.AVI  -c:a copy -c:v mpeg2video  v1conv.mpeg
avconv -i v1raw.AVI  -c:a copy -c:v mpeg2video  v1conv.avi
avconv -i v1raw.AVI  -c:a copy -c:v mpeg4  v1conv.m4v
avconv -i v1conv.avi  -c:a copy -c:v copy  v1conv_copy.mpeg
</code></pre>

<p>Here's the data for my input file (incase it helps).</p>

<pre><code>Input #0, avi, from 'v1raw.AVI':
  Duration: 00:05:28.53, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 9592 kb/s
    Stream #0.0: Video: h264 (Main), yuv420p, 1920x1080, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 30 tbn, 60 tbc
    Stream #0.1: Audio: adpcm_ms, 44100 Hz, 1 channels, s16, 176 kb/s
</code></pre>

<p>And my available video encoding formats from avconv.</p>

<pre><code>a64multi, a64multi5, asv1, asv2, bmp, cljr, dnxhd, dpx, 
dvvideo, ffv1, ffvhuff, flashsv, flv, gif, h261, h263, h263p, 
huffyuv, jpegls, libdirac, libschroedinger, libtheora, libvpx, 
libx264, libxvid, ljpeg, mjpeg, mpeg1video, mpeg2video, 
mpeg4, msmpeg4, msmpeg4v2, pam, pbm, pcx, pgm, pgmyuv, png, 
ppm, qtrle, rawvideo, roqvideo, rv10, rv20, sgi, snow, svq1
</code></pre>

<p><sup><a href="http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=z4qsWpdh" rel="nofollow">see full codec info</a></sup></p>

<p>I'd be happy to post anything else that has the slightest chance of helping.</p>
 1760: <p>Premiere Pro CS5 should be able to import H.264 video, IIRC, however it may be having trouble with the audio and/or container format. With ffmpeg try re-muxing the video stream without the audio:</p>

<pre><code>ffmpeg -i input -an -codec:v copy output.mp4 -an -codec:v copy output.avi
</code></pre>

<p>If both <code>output.mp4</code> and <code>output.avi</code> work then we know that the issue lies with the audio (although H.264 with b-frames in AVI probably isn't a great idea). You can re-encode the audio and keep the video:</p>

<pre><code>ffmpeg -i input -codec:v copy -codec:a pcm_s16le output.avi
</code></pre>

<p>If the first command does not work with Premiere, then you may need to re-encode. This is a good use case for an editor friendly, lossless intermediate file:</p>

<pre><code>ffmpeg -i input -codec:v utvideo -codec:a pcm_s16le output.avi
</code></pre>

<p>Close Premiere, install <a href="http://umezawa.dyndns.info/archive/utvideo/" rel="nofollow">Ut Video</a> (scroll to the bottom of the page), open Premiere, and import your video. You can do your editing, and then export to your final format using the crappy Adobe Media Encoder, or export to another lossless file, and then use ffmpeg to provide whatever you need. Alternatively, if you're using Windows you can use <a href="http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/" rel="nofollow">Debugmode FrameServer</a> and encode directly with ffmpeg from Premiere. See <a href="https://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/wiki/FFmpegPremierePro" rel="nofollow">How to encode with ffmpeg from Adobe Premiere Pro</a> for instructions.</p>

<p>If you need a recent ffmpeg for Windows see <a href="http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/" rel="nofollow">Zeranoe FFmpeg builds</a>.</p>
