Converting WTV/DVR-MS to edit in Windows Movie Maker

[abw1987]

I'm sure this has been asked many, many times, but a few searches of the forums yielded no answers, so here goes:

I'm running Windows 7 RC on my Dell XPS M2010. I've got a Dell Angel USB capture device that I use to record SD cable, and a KWorld ASTC USB stick that I use to record broadcast shows in HD.

Media Center saves the video recordings as .WTV format. I'm trying to find a way to convert these recordings to a common format (mpeg, avi, whatever) so I that I can edit them in Windows Movie Maker. (I know, I'm a simpleton in video editing.)

I have tried a ton of ways over the last few days - including various combinations of DVRMSToolbox, VirtualDub, DVR2WMV, and TMPGEnc - all to no avail. All of these methods have either yielded complete failure, or leave me with corrupted, low-quality, or out-of-sync videos.

So far the closest I have gotten has actually been this:
- Convert .wtv file to .dvr-ms by right clicking in Explorer and selecting "Convert to dvr-ms format"
- Import new .dvr-ms file into Windows Live Movie Maker Beta (included in Win7 RC)
- Export as .wmv - yielding a reduced-quality and slightly out-of-sync video
- Import new .wmv into Windows Movie Maker 2.6 (Vista version downloaded from MS)
- Chop up, edit, and export as .wmv - yielding an even more out-of-sync video

So I'm a bit frustrated.

Does anyone have a solid, proven method for converting Windows 7 RC Media Center .wtv files into a common format that I can edit in Windows Movie Maker?

Thanks in advance. As a forum owner myself I realize how lame it is to ask for help on a first post, but it looks like this is the best place to get advice.

[guns1inger]

I foudn this : http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20938235-Vista-Vista-Media-Center-DVRMS-vs-WTV which describes a method using graphedit, and someone else posted this in another forum

was able to convert the new .wtv recorded files to mpeg using DVRMSToolboxGUI. It will report that the input file is not a DVR-MS file but it continues and once completed I had a .mpg file that played in Windows Media Player and also opened in my MPEG video editor.

[abw1987]

Thanks for the quick response, gunslinger.

All seemed to work up until the very end.

I followed the steps outlined in the link you provided. I let the graphedit app run for the full half hour of the show, and I was left with an .mpeg file. So far so good. When I tried to play the video in WMP, it appeared to be a good video file, but it would only play a few seconds at a time because it was taxing my system so much. Very high CPU usage, and my system is not low end by any means. The same was true when I tried to edit the video in WMM. It seemed as if it would work, but it was almost unusable because it was slowing down the computer so much. And finally after I had chopped down the video and inserted titles, I tried to export the movie, and it said it couldn't save the movie, and I should check the source file, disk space, etc.

Rats.

Edit:
Well I figured out that it was DirectVobSub was slowing my system down. For some reason it was opening like hundreds of instances of DirectVobSub whenever I loaded the mpeg output video. So I uninstalled the Codec Pack and the video now plays fine. However I still can't export it after editing it in WMM.

[guns1inger]

Codecs packs are bad news, as you have discovered. Use a tool like mediainfo to determine what codec you might need when something doesn't play, and install just that codec.

Not sure what is going on with WMM, but you might also try the free videopad (http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/index.html) to see if that works better.

[abw1987]

Yeah I avoided the codec pack but I couldn't find the Moonlight Muxer/Dumpos stuff separately.

I was able to edit and export the video using Videopad, but the audio was all out of sync. Didn't really like Videopad anyway.

I am so incredibly frustrated. I am at a loss for words as to how difficult it is to convert a stupid video. And I'm good with computers - I work in IT and run two websites that I wrote from the ground up. So why is it so hard?!

Any other ideas?

Thanks again.

[lacywest]

I'm sure this has been asked many, many times, but a few searches of the forums yielded no answers, so here goes:

I'm running Windows 7 RC on my Dell XPS M2010. I've got a Dell Angel USB capture device that I use to record SD cable, and a KWorld ASTC USB stick that I use to record broadcast shows in HD.

Media Center saves the video recordings as .WTV format. I'm trying to find a way to convert these recordings to a common format (mpeg, avi, whatever) so I that I can edit them in Windows Movie Maker. (I know, I'm a simpleton in video editing.)

I have tried a ton of ways over the last few days - including various combinations of DVRMSToolbox, VirtualDub, DVR2WMV, and TMPGEnc - all to no avail. All of these methods have either yielded complete failure, or leave me with corrupted, low-quality, or out-of-sync videos.

So far the closest I have gotten has actually been this:
- Convert .wtv file to .dvr-ms by right clicking in Explorer and selecting "Convert to dvr-ms format"
- Import new .dvr-ms file into Windows Live Movie Maker Beta (included in Win7 RC)
- Export as .wmv - yielding a reduced-quality and slightly out-of-sync video
- Import new .wmv into Windows Movie Maker 2.6 (Vista version downloaded from MS)
- Chop up, edit, and export as .wmv - yielding an even more out-of-sync video

So I'm a bit frustrated.

Does anyone have a solid, proven method for converting Windows 7 RC Media Center .wtv files into a common format that I can edit in Windows Movie Maker?

Thanks in advance. As a forum owner myself I realize how lame it is to ask for help on a first post, but it looks like this is the best place to get advice.

Yes ... I'm not happy either with the support for this new format ... I have a dual boot ... WINXP MCE 2005 and WIN7 ... so I can convert the wtv to dvr-ms in a folder and then reboot into XP and then monkey around with the dvr-ms video file.

Divx Author 1.5 ... does a great job of converting DVR-MS videos to Mpg [mpg-2] and if you want to convert to divx.

and ConvertXtoDVD 3 ... will also process DVR-MS videos.

If you have the right Windows 7 ... one of the more newer builds ... a wtv video file can be converted to ... dvr-ms ... by right click mouse click ... the drop down menu will have a option there to convert your video to dvr-ms.

Im using WIN 7 Build 7600 RTM and it is there and it does work ... I used it on ...

The 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards_KGPEDT_2009_04_05_21_01_16.wtv and it converted it to DVR-MS

It was a very large file ... 12.8 Gigs ... well ... actually it still is ... I haven't processed it to something smaller ... the dvr-ms version ... is same size ... minus 51 megs.

There is a couple of programs on the internet that want you pay $30 bucks ... I tried the trial version ... results were crap.

Good thing I didn't buy it.

[abw1987]

Well it looks like my problems have been solved, now that Microsoft has released the full version of Windows Live Movie Maker.

All I need to do is:
- Right click the .WTV file (in Windows 7) and select "Convert to DVR-MS"
- Import the newly-created DVR-MS into Windows Live Movie Maker, edit, and export as desired

Thanks to all who helped.

[lacywest]

Well it looks like my problems have been solved, now that Microsoft has released the full version of Windows Live Movie Maker.

All I need to do is:
- Right click the .WTV file (in Windows 7) and select "Convert to DVR-MS"
- Import the newly-created DVR-MS into Windows Live Movie Maker, edit, and export as desired

Thanks to all who helped.

Divx Author 1.5 ... edits ... DVR-MS ... converts it to Mpg2 ... also

[robbynaish]

Hi guys,

but with Seven is it possible convert .wtv HD to Dvr-ms HD? I read that it can be done only with no HD video.... am i wrong?

I need save HD video from .wts and convert in something that can be read gromth WD TV

Thanks

Ale