WMV conversion help

[shook_up]

Hello I'm new here and I'm just trying to figure out this whole world of converting videos, but I can't seem get anything by myself - so I turn to the experts. :P Here is my story:

I purchased a baseball game from mlb.com (Red Sox vs Yankees - the one with the brawl this past summer) and saved it to my computer once it finished downloading. I can watch it fine with audio and video straight from the player (the icon on my desktop is in Windows Media and it says that it's a WMV file). It is 513 MB and approx. 3 hours and 20 minutes. (Would that even fit onto a single disc? Do I have to compress it? Split it up into parts? LoL...I'm clueless!)

So anyway, I was trying to figure out how to save it onto a CD-R (since I don't have a DVD burner on my computer) so I can watch it on a standalone DVD player. I first tried to do it straight from the Windows Media Player but it said that my file was too large. Then I talked to a friend and he said I'd want to convert it to a VCD or SVCD first and then try to burn it again. Of course I have no idea how to do that. But after reading around on the boards, I downloaded two programs on a trial basis...WinAVI Video Converter and X Video Converter. (Are these even right?)

From looking at the programs manuals and reading the FAQ's, it seems that I have to convert it first to AVI and THEN to (S)VCD on the WinAVI program. So I tried, but an error message always pops up saying, "information failing no usable video stream, please make sure the video player can correctly play both the video and audio of the file" - that's roadblock #1. Then I tried to used the Advanced X Video Converter, but once it starts, it never gets past "video frame 0/0" and "percent: (-1%)" I thought it was just taking longer to start since it's a big file, so I left it on all day with no progress at all. (I tried a smaller video and that one worked fine, starting up instantly).

Is there anyone out there familiar with either of these programs that can figure out why it doesn't want to convert? Or does anybody know any other programs I could give a shot? Am I doing something wrong? (As an aside, at first I thought it was a copyright issue with mlb.com but on the website it says "save it onto cd's and build your own collection" so I know it's possible).

So in short, I just want to find a way to convert my baseball game from the WMV it came in to ANYTHING else that will burn onto a CD-R so I can watch on a standalone DVD player. Any ideas, links, step-by-step instructions, or suggestions would be so greatly appreciated. Sorry for writing a novel up there and thanks SO MUCH!!!

[daamon]

Hi shook_up,

Welcome to the site and the forums...

I haven't done this personally, but am fairly comfortable with the theory - enough so that (hopefully) it'll point you in the right direction.

First of all, a basic summary of what you need to do:

1. Use something to capture the streaming media. A WMV file just facilitates the display of the streaming media, I don't believe it actually stores it. And, even if it does, you've found you can't work with it.

2. Once captured, you're best creating a VCD (based on the length of the footage) - even then, you'll need to split it over 3 x 74/80 minute CDs (because 1 or 2 CDs will give you too low a bitrate - VCDs are 1,150 kbps).

You can see why if you put in the time on the VideoHelp Bitrate Calculator and select SVCD (same as a VCD, but the bitrate max is higher - ignore that for this purpose).

To get info on the specs of a VCD, see the "What Is... VCD" link in the top left of the page.

It'll be helpful for you to know that the final filesize is only dependent on the running time and the bitrate. The higher either or both of these is, the bigger the resultant filesize, and hence the more CDs you'll need.

So, here's the detail.

1. Use a tool like Stoik Video Converter or Streambox VCR Suite to capture your streaming media. There may be other tools... You're best aiming for an AVI file. You may need to use a codec as uncompressed AVI is huge. Check out the "Codecs" category in the "Tools" section for AVI codecs. I think that you'll want either the huffyuv or the MJPEG codecs - but that's a vague understanding...

2. Encode the AVI to MPEG1 - this is VCD standard. You can use TMPGEnc - it's free for MPEG1 encodes, and a very good tool. Just use the wizard and the VCD template (NTSC I'd guess for you).

3. This will produce a file: footage.mpg - This will contain both your video and audio. Use something like VCDEasy (there are others) to create your VCD.

As you'll need 3 disks, you'll want to cut and re-start at sensible points. Make sure you don't go over 74 / 80 mins (depending on the capacity of your CDs). You can tell TMPGEnc where in the AVI file to stop encoding.

There's plenty of guides for "AVI to VCD using TMPGEnc", so I won't go into detail on that.

Hope that helps some. Good luck...

P.S....

Sorry for writing a novel up there and thanks SO MUCH!!!

More info is better than no info... And no problem.

[shook_up]

Thank you so much for the response! I'm going to try to do this all tomorrow (on a nice day off) and hopefully I'll be able to figure it all out! Thanks again!

[nelson133]

Another way to do it is with AVSvideo Converter. You can go directly from WMV to VCD compliant mpg1 in one step. It will even make thw vcd for you, tho I haven't tried this step. I recommend it highly as a video converter as I have used it extensively. Nyah Levi

[daamon]

Thank you so much for the response! I'm going to try to do this all tomorrow (on a nice day off) and hopefully I'll be able to figure it all out! Thanks again!

No problem, and good luck.

The tool that nelson133 suggested sounds promising (having had a quick read of the website), as well as being an "all-in-one" effort. Normally (for DVD production) I recommend people steer clear, but for a VCD I don't think you can go wrong.

So, give that one a go to start with and see how you like the results. It'd be good if you could report back so others in a similar position can benefit. Maybe even write a comment on the tool(s) you use...

[shook_up]

Hey guys! Thanks for replying...I've been trying this all day but I can't seem to get past the first step of just plain converting it. I've downloaded every program suggested, but everytime I go to convert, it says (in slighty different lingo) that it cannot read my imput file!! I must be doing something wrong or else the video is protected...I have no idea how or why. LoL! It is late (nearing 2:45 here) so I'll get some rest and try again in the morning. Any ideas as to why I can't get it to work in the meantime? Thanks for all of your help...at the very least it's been great at least getting my feet wet in all of this!

[shook_up]

Still no luck! I can't seem to figure this whole thing out!! I don't understand why none of the programs I use is able to read the file. Maybe it's too large? Copyrighted? (Though that seems unlikely...but I can't think of any other logical reason!) Gah! Any ideas or suggestions on what I could try to do to get this to work?

[jimmalenko]

Try loading the file into TMPGEnc. If you get errors, try the fixes listed at https://www.videohelp.com/tmpgenc.htm#problems and if you still don't have any luck, note the rror message and either post it back as a screenshot or just quote the text.

[shook_up]

Okay I'll give it another shot when I head home for Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks so much for the help!

[shook_up]

Hey guys! I gave this whole converting thing another shot today - this time I downloaded myBatchConverter (anyone heard of this? I just picked one form a list...) I could get about halfway through but I had a question about what an output file is. What do I select? (The help buttom doesn't seem to work right in this program). It also says I'm missing one or more codecs, and when it took me to the Windows Media page I couldn't find a place that I could download new ones.

Any info on this program or general information about output files would be greatly appreciated! I'll keep trying over this holiday weekend!!!

[daamon]

Hi shook_up,

A+ for tenacity... Credit to you mate!

You should choose an output file type that best suits what you're going to do next - if anything.

I've had a thought - you're having these problems with WMV files - have you tried a different source file? (i.e. a WMV file from a different site?) Go to the tutorials at www.wrigleyvideo.com and you'll see that there are loads of them - these are all WMV files. Use any one of these to see how you go...

Also, I've just remembered that I had problems playing WMV files a while ago and this thread has the solution I found. It may help you...

Beyond that...

[shook_up]

Thanks! I tried and tried over the weekend but still no luck. lol I'll be home from school in a few weeks and will have lots of time to try it again. One day...it will work for me!!!

[daamon]

I'm impressed - You're still and .

Most people by now would be or or

[shook_up]

I know, sometimes it surprises me too! I like challenges and hopefully when I get it all hammered out one day, it'll be that much more satisfying!