Replace first frame of WMV file?

[HiTechHiTouch]

I'm looking for an automated process to replace the first frame in a WMV file with a picture.

I have a lot of wmv's which have a totally black first frame. This means (among other things) that any thumbnails produced for the files are also black.

The problem here is NOT how to make Windows explorer display thumbnails. I need the first frame to have meaningful information (i.e. another frame I've already captured) when I hand the wmv file to other users/applications.

At present, all I can see is to 1) convert images to wmv (consisting of a single frame), 2) edit the wmv to clip the 1st (black) frame, and 3) join the two wmv files. This is very labor intensive, and I want to automate the process.

So assume I have a folder full of wmvs, and a folder full of jpgs or pngs obtained by a frame cutting program. What's a "one button" solution to process all?

Thanks for any pointers you may have about 1) tools or 2) where to re-post this question!

[PuzZLeR]

There is no one-button solution other than preparing your own batch file calling out CLI utilities/tools. One such tool for edits and joins is ASFBin.

As for the encoding, you can look into running Windows Media Encoder 9 from the command line:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/AutomatingEncoding.aspx#link3

But as for encoding JPG -> WMV, not so sure though. (Other than for PPT I have little experience with WMV.)

Regardless, you'd need to put together your own solutions for this, but it may be worth it if indeed it is laborious for you (I'm thinking hundreds of files or much more).

[jmthomas]

Thanks. I'll investigate, and if I find or end up building some tool, I'll report back.