ASF HELP!!

[GregPfeff]

I downloaded a few ASF movies the other day, and I cant get them to convert no matter what I try. Virtual Dub doesnt support ASFs , and so I installed version 1.3 and whenever I open one of them it gives me an error message that it cant. TMPGEnc says it will take around 100 hours to encode this... anyone have any suggestions?[/b]

[baz00ie]

Hey mon, your ASF files are most likely "wmv1" and "wmv2" format. go to my website to find out how to convert those type of files. It's a very simple process - a three step method. go here:

http://www.angelfire.com/film/baz00ie/

good luck
baz

[GregPfeff]

Nope, it says the file format is invaild

[buzzinhornets]

How to convert ASF/WMV files to AVI.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK, first let me say that this method is a bit of a pain in the butt, is not user friendly, and does require that you have the registered version of at least one program. Having said that, this method will allow you to make a flawless( as much as possible ) conversion from an asf/wmv directly to avi even if the file is encoded with the WMV1 or WMV2 codec.

First we'll start with what you'll need.

1)GraphEdit : get it here http://www.dvd-digest.net/downloads/files/encode/graphedit.zip
2)Imedia AVI_renderer : http://www.divx-digest.com/software/mpeg2avi_imedia.html
3)AsfTools : www.geocities.com/myasftools/
4)A video to work with, for this example I'll use the movie trailer of Black Hawk Down. I used StreamBoxVCR and downloaded it from here mms://agency2wm.fplive.net/agency/2/2/film/blackhawkdown/trailer_2/bhd_trailer2_300k.asf
5)Registered version of MotionPerfect : http://www.motionperfect.com/

OR YOU COULD GET THEM AT THIS YAHOO GROUP (and any necessary patches) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzzinhornetz2002_2/files

First we're going to need to get some essential information from the asf file. Namely, the frame rate and the number of frames in the file. Open your downloaded file in asftools and click on the Advanced button. Click on the "Convert to AVI" tab, make sure timing method is set to Minimum extra frames, and click on Convert. When the conversion is finished, note the "frame rate" which can be read at the field: "Frame/Sec".
and number of frames in asf/wmv file which is: (Total frames shown in message window) minus (number of frames added for sync. also shown in message window)
Our example has 4491 frames and runs at 29.966fps. You can now delete the avi file.

Before we go any further, you will need to have a registered version Motion Perfect installed, and you will need to install the AVI_renderer filter. You should have downloaded a file called i-media_mpeg2avi.zip, in this zip is a file called AVI_Renderer.ax, extract it to the directory of your choice, just rember where you extracted it to. Now click on Start->Run, in the box type in regsvr32 and then the path to AVI_Renderer.ax in quotes. So, if you extracted it to c:\filters, you should type in : regsvr32 "c:\filters\AVI_Renderer.ax" . Click OK and you should get a message that the filter registation succeded.

Now we are ready to build our filter graph and start out conversion. Open GraphEdit, click on File->Render Media File, and select your downloaded asf file ( bhd_trailer2_300k.asf in our example ). Once the file is loaded, you will see the filter graph that GraphEdit created. Delete both the Video Renderer, and Default Directsound Device filters. Next, click on Graph->Insert Filters, when the window comes up, expand the DirectShow Filters category. Add a Mediamend ( you will not see this if you do not have motion perfect installed ) filter and an I-Media AVI Renderer filter. In the dialog that appears choose custom for frame rate. To get a frame rate of 29.966fps set the rate to 29966 and the scale to 1000. Click OK then choose an output file name. Now Right-click on the Mediamend filter and select properties, set playback time to 1, set frame rate to 29.966 and set interpolation mode to 0. Now connect the output of Windows Media Video Decoder to the Mediamend filter. Connect the Mediamend filter to the video input of the AVI_Renderer. Connect the Windows Media Audio Decoder to the Audio input of the AVI_Renderer. Check the Show frames box on the AVI_Renderer window. Finally press the play button on the toolbar. A dialog will appear letting you choose the codec you want to use. Your AVI should now be encoding. Once you see in the AVI_Renderer status box that your video is done encoding close graphedit.

You're done. Yeah. You should now be able to play your new avi file.

Just a couple of final word here: When VirtualDub 2 is released, this will probably all be a mute point in that VirtualDub 2 will be DirectShow based and should therefore be able to open and convert asf/wmv files natively. Also I should point out that there are probably several other methods for doing this with GraphEdit. This is just my method. It works for me.

by CHICKEN SCROTUM
edited by BUZZINHORNETS

[baz00ie]

Which program is telling you that the file format is invalid?

If it's WME 7.1 - Does the ASF/WMV file have both a video and audio stream?

If it's Virtual Dub - are you certain that both the video AND audio are FULLY UNCOMPRESSED?

Is it the codec - if you're using Windows 2000 check my website again for the NT version of the codec that should work with Win2000.

Whazzup?
baz

[GregPfeff]

Its Virtual Dub, and Im not sure how to tell if they are fully uncompressed

[baz00ie]

OK, when you're in WME 7.1, start up the New Session Wizard and select the file that you want to convert to uncompressed. As you go through the Wizard you'll come across a window called "Profile Selection" At the bottom of the window you'll see a button called "Create and Manage Profiles". this is where you create a profile for making an uncompressed video file.

Follow the steps carefully, if Virtual dub doesn't accept the video then it isn't uncompressed.

good luck
baz

[GregPfeff]

WME Doesnt let me open the file, saying its invailed or corrupted. Its 500 megs for a whole movie so it might not be fully uncompressed, how do you uncompress it?

[baz00ie]

Sorry man, If WME 7.1 can't load in the file, then my method won't work for you.

You might try ASF Tools - it won't convert WMV1 and WMV2 format yet, but it might be able to repair your video file. you'll find it here:

http://www.geocities.com/myasftools/index.html

(be warned that if you uncompress a two hour movie, the file size will be HUGE!!! on the order of Several Gigs. I don't know how many - i'm afraid to guess.)

note:
An ASF file or WMV file is a form of compression similar to MPEG4, however, it's a more secure codec - thus it's tough to convert to anything else. Inorder to work with such a file you have to do something to it like uncompress it (remove the compression codec) or attack it using Buzzinhornets method listed above.

(I believe that Windows XP can edit WMV1 and WMV2 codecs as well)

Give Buzzinhornets' solution a shot - if that doesn't work, track down someone with Windows XP.

If everything fails (ARGH!!!!) then there is one last resort....

Using a computer with a TV out, you can videotape the playback and re-capture it back into an AVI. - I know that not everyone has a video card that can do this, but, it may get to the point where that is the ONLY solution.

There may be good news on the horizon, however. The guy who wrote the program ASF Tools has informed me that he is working on a new version that can convert WMV1 and WMV2 formats to AVI format. No word on when that will be ready, but you can keep track of the updates at his website.

good luck
baz