Mpgs to wmv?

[trashbin]

Hi all, is there a conversion tool out there that I can use to convert a couple of mpeg files for use on the web - that means I think that I should be converting to wmv. Am I right in thinking that wmv are simply compressed mpegs??

[David K]

Wmv means Windows Media Video, and this is its own codec (type of video encoding format).
Microsoft offers a free program, Windows Media Encoder, for encoding into this format. It is a rather elaborate program with a lot of options. I cannot remember off-hand if it accepts mpeg files directly. You may have to convert them to uncompressed AVI first.
For "use on the web," do you mean produce streaming video, or do you simply want highly compressed files for sharing. If it is the later, then there are other video encoding options. If you want to produce streaming video, then yes you should take the time to mess around with Windows Media Encoder.

[fingernailX]

In addition to WME, if you are running XP you can download MovieMaker 2 for free which will convert mpgs to wmv in a variety of profiles via a wizard. It is also faster, in my experience, than the February version of WME 9. WME9 sucked in the speed category in doom9 's latest, definitive codec comparison http://www.doom9.org/codecs-103-1.htm#setup It faired well in other categories.

Good Luck!