WMV-HD Disc files (*T2:JD:EE/Coral Reef Adventures)

[steelahlive]

OK---Disclaimer time--
I know this is a VERY Old topic and I've been searching but have been unable to come up with answers here for 2 hrs now on google and many sites- so I apologize if it's been asked already.

I'm looking for the exact files that are on a TRUE pressed WMV-HD disc. I want to basically take a WMV-HD disc such as lets say - T2:EE and mimic it to use any files I provide *menu system and all if possible. This is for shits and giggles but it is important. Right now my backup strategy is taking my own blu-rays and turning them into wmv-hd (yes I like the format no flames please) and they have no problems playing back on my PC's or Xbox360, but there are times when kids can't run the players properly and I would like to let them just put the movie in their PC and play em. They can do that if it where to auto run and load up. I don't even know if this is possible with latest WMP 12 or whatever version we're on now, but I would like to try. Please if anyone could share with me exactly what is on the disc and the contents of said files *i.e if there's an xml file it does me NO good to know, there's an xml file. I need to know there's an xml file and it looks like this.xxxx..... so again, sorry for an old post if it's been answered before by you geniuses but I'm just recently getting back into this and also doing a bit of "re-edumacating" myself.

Thanks,
Steel

[steelahlive]

Anyone?

[usually_quiet]

WMV-HD discs never became popular as a commercial distribution format, and was only around for 2-3 years. Apparently even Microsoft no longer cares about it. I encountered a few links which would have taken me to a page at Microsoft's website with some kind of formal specification for authored discs, but the links no longer work, and searching at Microsoft's website did not turn up anything useful

Without a formal specification or authoring software you probably won't be able to make a playable disc, and as far as I know, you can't find authoring software for WMV-HD discs. I think it is time to settle on a different format to use for entertaining your kids that is easier to replicate .

[jman98]

It's a decent enough question, but you need a reality check here.

Sometimes we get posts where people ask for something really out of the Bizarro World, like (just making this up but it's not too far from a real example) someone will ask if a program exists that will randomly rearrange subtitles so that the time codes get preserved, but the subtitles themselves are mixed up. For example, the original subtitle that ran from say 00:02:00 to 00:02:05 might be replaced with the sub that ran at 00:15:13 to 00:15:16. I will sometimes tell people "You want to do something that nobody else in the world wants to do" and almost every time those morons reply with a post saying that they cannot believe that nobody else in the world wants to do this, so why oh why doesn't a program exist that can do it? No programs exist to do it because nobody else wants to do it.

I actually have a commercial WMV-HD disc and I took a look. It's pretty bizarre and I sure don't understand how it was made. The menus are all HTML based, which is probably useless for your needs. There were a large number of JPGs and such that were used by the menus and code to build the menus themselves. Or to put it another way, the menus are essentially web pages that need to opened with a browser. For the curious, my disc is "Bulletproof Monk" which was sold in Germany as a WMV-HD disc. I also have the WMV-HD version of "Terminator 2" but that disc is a bitch because damn Microsoft made you get a license for that to play it. I'm not sure that you can even get a license any more for it.

Some years ago before I got an HDTV, I had a single core AMD CPU and while it was one of the best single core CPUs, it couldn't handle HD video above 720p. So I briefly got into the WMV-HD world as I could actually play those. I've got to tell you that even the hard core Xbox guys who used to encode all kinds of HD movies into WMV-HD (movies only - no menus) have basically given up on it. The format is a major bitch to work with and support is poor on all kinds of playback devices, although some media streamers can handle them OK if the audio isn't too crazy (WMA is the biggest problem in dealing with WMV, in my experience). Nobody answered because, again, you're the only guy on the planet who wants to do this.

[steelahlive]

WMV-HD discs never became popular as a commercial distribution format, and was only around for 2-3 years. Apparently even Microsoft no longer cares about it. I encountered a few links which would have taken me to a page at Microsoft's website with some kind of formal specification for authored discs, but the links no longer work, and searching at Microsoft's website did not turn up anything useful

Without a formal specification or authoring software you probably won't be able to make a playable disc, and as far as I know, you can't find authoring software for WMV-HD discs. I think it is time to settle on a different format to use for entertaining your kids that is easier to replicate .

Thanks - I am well aware of the history behind WMV-HD - And I googled all that stuff too to find out that the www.wmvhd.com site no longer exists. I'm really only looking for someone that's got a disc that can make sense out of it and show me what's on the disc. It was popular enough of a format that a few movie companies put out decent videos, and it become popular over seas as an alternate solution.

As for my use, I am only wanting to use the current WMV's I make now, I like the format and it works great, just looking at alternative ways of archiving those WMV files vs a hard disk.

Thanks!
Steel

[steelahlive]

It's a decent enough question, but you need a reality check here.

Sometimes we get posts where people ask for something really out of the Bizarro World, like (just making this up but it's not too far from a real example) someone will ask if a program exists that will randomly rearrange subtitles so that the time codes get preserved, but the subtitles themselves are mixed up. For example, the original subtitle that ran from say 00:02:00 to 00:02:05 might be replaced with the sub that ran at 00:15:13 to 00:15:16. I will sometimes tell people "You want to do something that nobody else in the world wants to do" and almost every time those morons reply with a post saying that they cannot believe that nobody else in the world wants to do this, so why oh why doesn't a program exist that can do it? No programs exist to do it because nobody else wants to do it.

I actually have a commercial WMV-HD disc and I took a look. It's pretty bizarre and I sure don't understand how it was made. The menus are all HTML based, which is probably useless for your needs. There were a large number of JPGs and such that were used by the menus and code to build the menus themselves. Or to put it another way, the menus are essentially web pages that need to opened with a browser. For the curious, my disc is "Bulletproof Monk" which was sold in Germany as a WMV-HD disc. I also have the WMV-HD version of "Terminator 2" but that disc is a bitch because damn Microsoft made you get a license for that to play it. I'm not sure that you can even get a license any more for it.

Some years ago before I got an HDTV, I had a single core AMD CPU and while it was one of the best single core CPUs, it couldn't handle HD video above 720p. So I briefly got into the WMV-HD world as I could actually play those. I've got to tell you that even the hard core Xbox guys who used to encode all kinds of HD movies into WMV-HD (movies only - no menus) have basically given up on it. The format is a major bitch to work with and support is poor on all kinds of playback devices, although some media streamers can handle them OK if the audio isn't too crazy (WMA is the biggest problem in dealing with WMV, in my experience). Nobody answered because, again, you're the only guy on the planet who wants to do this.

Why the reality check? I take all my Blu-rays and convert them to VC1 encoded WMV HD's with 5.1 or 7.1 Audio and at 6-8 mbps ? It's still a very viable format that is used to this day - and ON bluray discs' just in a different container, DTS Master audio, and bitrates are huge. I appreciate the time you spent looking at your WMVHD disc's but - you gave me exactly what I didn't wan't - I know the files are in html / jpgs / wmv format on the disc - I am looking for EXACT information such as...

E:/DvDDrive:
..
..
Folders/
HTML/
E:/Drive/HTML/Main Movie.html and what those contents are from an html editor....
JPG's (file sizes / dimensions)

Authoring the disc isn't a problem I know it will be burned as a data disc more than likely. As for licenses again this is a mute point - as I am not going to have a DRM file.

Either way thanks for the "info" it just didn't really tell me anymore than I already know - Guess I'll just go purchase one on amazon and find out for myself what's on the disc - I only hoped someone had already taken the disc structure and posted online somewhere and that it would be known around here.

I don't know about the Hardcore XBOX guys (maybe the ones on here) but I still see them posting up illegal DL's all the time in the format. Plus - it is the only format that will play on the xbox 360 with 5.1 or 7.1 audio - MP4 and AVI's will not unless the AVI is put together in a way that the AC3 audio is of the right spec for the console to interpret.

PS - I am not the only one in the world that likes WMV-HD's =P

Thanks!
Steel

[El Heggunte]

......

Thanks - I am well aware of the history behind WMV-HD - And I googled all that stuff too to find out that the www.wmvhd.com site no longer exists.

You can give a try to:

http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.wmvhd.com

Not sure if those archived pages will be helpful though, since Microsoft has always been very-good at meaning nothing and at complicating everything as well.

[jman98]

A more logical approach would be to just buy a modern media player like a Western Digital or similar one and get on with your life instead of desperately trying to make 10 year old technology work for you. But it's clear from your post that logic left your building a LONG time ago, so good luck in your quest. The Xbox and PS3 were rendered obsolete as media players about 5 years ago when the first Western Digital players hit the US market. Continuing to live in the past and playing the "I'm to cheap to use anything but my ancient Xbox" card isn't a great way to go, but it's your life. Every ancient technology has its hard core fans who refuse to abandon it.

By the way, you might consider the fact that nobody here knows how to do this as an indication that you may not be able to find anyone, anywhere who does this anymore.

[usually_quiet]

WMV-HD discs never became popular as a commercial distribution format, and was only around for 2-3 years. Apparently even Microsoft no longer cares about it. I encountered a few links which would have taken me to a page at Microsoft's website with some kind of formal specification for authored discs, but the links no longer work, and searching at Microsoft's website did not turn up anything useful

Without a formal specification or authoring software you probably won't be able to make a playable disc, and as far as I know, you can't find authoring software for WMV-HD discs. I think it is time to settle on a different format to use for entertaining your kids that is easier to replicate .

Thanks - I am well aware of the history behind WMV-HD - And I googled all that stuff too to find out that the www.wmvhd.com site no longer exists. I'm really only looking for someone that's got a disc that can make sense out of it and show me what's on the disc. It was popular enough of a format that a few movie companies put out decent videos, and it become popular over seas as an alternate solution.

As for my use, I am only wanting to use the current WMV's I make now, I like the format and it works great, just looking at alternative ways of archiving those WMV files vs a hard disk.

Thanks!
Steel

I spent considerable time looking for them, and some of the links I found were not to pages at www.wmvhd.com.
Although it no longer works, here's one that is supposed to contain specifications for WMV-HD DVD: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/content_provider/wmvhddvd/default.aspx

A formal specification for the WMV-HD DVD is needed for what you want to do. Nobody is going to be able to explain how to create the necessary files and folders used for a playable WMV-HD DVD disc with menus to you off the top of their heads just by looking at what is on a disc. jman98's post confirms that. He looked, and has a programming background. Even if someone could tell you what you want to know, they probably would not want to take the time to write it all down for you. Since the formal specification isn't readily available anymore, and is protected by copyright, I suggest that you write to Microsoft and ask how to obtain a copy of the spec.

Authoring software creates the files and/or folders, including the menus, that you want. Burning the discs is a separate step. There is no current software that authors WMV-HD DVD. All I could find were references to a Sonic product, DVD Producer – WMV HD Edition, which supposedly was beta software intended for professional facilities.

I meant authoring WMV-HD DVD discs or or manually writing the files and file structure doesn't seem like a feasible solution for making playable discs to entertain your children. You can burn all the WMV-HD files you want as data if you like the WMV-HD format, but hand authoring a playable disc with menus is going to be very difficult at best.

[Edit]I used the Wayback Machine to find a copy of http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/content_provider/wmvhddvd/default.aspx

Here it is: http://web.archive.org/web/20060820192113/http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedi...d/default.aspx The download links for the spec do not work. Unless someone is willing to email you a copy of the downloaded specs that they saved for some reason, you will need to contact Microsoft.

[steelahlive]

WMV-HD discs never became popular as a commercial distribution format, and was only around for 2-3 years. Apparently even Microsoft no longer cares about it. I encountered a few links which would have taken me to a page at Microsoft's website with some kind of formal specification for authored discs, but the links no longer work, and searching at Microsoft's website did not turn up anything useful

Without a formal specification or authoring software you probably won't be able to make a playable disc, and as far as I know, you can't find authoring software for WMV-HD discs. I think it is time to settle on a different format to use for entertaining your kids that is easier to replicate .

Thanks - I am well aware of the history behind WMV-HD - And I googled all that stuff too to find out that the www.wmvhd.com site no longer exists. I'm really only looking for someone that's got a disc that can make sense out of it and show me what's on the disc. It was popular enough of a format that a few movie companies put out decent videos, and it become popular over seas as an alternate solution.

As for my use, I am only wanting to use the current WMV's I make now, I like the format and it works great, just looking at alternative ways of archiving those WMV files vs a hard disk.

Thanks!
Steel

I spent considerable time looking for them, and some of the links I found were not to pages at www.wmvhd.com.
Although it no longer works, here's one that is supposed to contain specifications for WMV-HD DVD: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/content_provider/wmvhddvd/default.aspx

A formal specification for the WMV-HD DVD is needed for what you want to do. Nobody is going to be able to explain how to create the necessary files and folders used for a playable WMV-HD DVD disc with menus to you off the top of their heads just by looking at what is on a disc. jman98's post confirms that. He looked, and has a programming background. Even if someone could tell you what you want to know, they probably would not want to take the time to write it all down for you. Since the formal specification isn't readily available anymore, and is protected by copyright, I suggest that you write to Microsoft and ask how to obtain a copy of the spec.

Authoring software creates the files and/or folders, including the menus, that you want. Burning the discs is a separate step. There is no current software that authors WMV-HD DVD. All I could find were references to a Sonic product, DVD Producer – WMV HD Edition, which supposedly was beta software intended for professional facilities.

I meant authoring WMV-HD DVD discs or or manually writing the files and file structure doesn't seem like a feasible solution for making playable discs to entertain your children. You can burn all the WMV-HD files you want as data if you like the WMV-HD format, but hand authoring a playable disc with menus is going to be very difficult at best.

Thanks Quiet - I do appreciate the info - don't take my candor as argumentive - I just wasn't sure if my request was clear. Again I do appreciate jman98 and your insight into this matter.

Thanks,
Steel

[steelahlive]

A more logical approach would be to just buy a modern media player like a Western Digital or similar one and get on with your life instead of desperately trying to make 10 year old technology work for you. But it's clear from your post that logic left your building a LONG time ago, so good luck in your quest. The Xbox and PS3 were rendered obsolete as media players about 5 years ago when the first Western Digital players hit the US market. Continuing to live in the past and playing the "I'm to cheap to use anything but my ancient Xbox" card isn't a great way to go, but it's your life. Every ancient technology has its hard core fans who refuse to abandon it.

By the way, you might consider the fact that nobody here knows how to do this as an indication that you may not be able to find anyone, anywhere who does this anymore.

jman98 - I wasn't trying to stir up an argument over the pro's and con's of the format - I have a viable solution I create VC1 compliant WMVHD's already and back them up to Dual layer DVD-R's or BD-R's. The Xbox360 is a very competent and still in use solution - Additionally, PC's running a windows operating system or HTPC's will always play them for my solution. I'm not to cheap do something - on the contrary - I'm only looking to expand on my already tried and true methodology that I have in place now. This request was an intelligence gathering query that I thought may have been covered once or twice before. No need to get nasty about it.

Thanks,
Steel