WTV recording

[hartless]

Hi all,

Can anyone help me find out why i cannot convert recorded WTV files from Win7 Media Center. the files recorded when i put them thru MC-TV convert simply fails locks up and have to reboot PC. Thru TMPGENC Video Mastering Works consistantly says NO audio, why is this as i cannot alter any settings in win7 mc and the default recording is in WTV format.

thanks in advance

[jagabo]

What are you recording from? And what with? My guess is your recordings are encrypted.

[jman98]

1) It could be what jagabo says, that your recordings are encrypted. There is no way to remove the encryption if this is true.
2) I have seen unencrypted WTV files that are just difficult to convert. If you search there are several different free programs that can convert WTV files. I no longer make WTV recordings but the last time I did, I remember having to find another conversion program because the one I was using couldn't finish the conversion without crashing. I'm sorry, but I don't remember the name of what I used.

[usually_quiet]

Hi all,

Can anyone help me find out why i cannot convert recorded WTV files from Win7 Media Center. the files recorded when i put them thru MC-TV convert simply fails locks up and have to reboot PC. Thru TMPGENC Video Mastering Works consistantly says NO audio, why is this as i cannot alter any settings in win7 mc and the default recording is in WTV format.

thanks in advance

Windows Media Center copy protects .wtv files if it finds the "copy once" flag in the recorded TV signal. Paid TV services often use the flag. It is rarely found in free over-the-air TV signals. Copy protected files can't be edited or converted, and will only play on the computer that made them.

If your file were copy protected then, TMPGENC Video Mastering Works would be unable to open the file. TMPGENC Video Mastering Works 5 can edit and convert .wtv files that are not copy protected, but I don't know which earlier versions of the program can do the same. Perhaps it says there is no audio because the audio is not encoded in a format it expects to find in a .wtv file.

Most of the programs that work with .wtv files seem geared towards MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio. I don't know if MC-TV Converter can handle MPEG-4 .wtv files. If MC-TV Converter will load the file, but won't convert it, try loading one of the problem files, then right-click on the file name and run "StreamInfo:MediaInfo" from the pop-up menu to see what it says about the video and audio.

[hartless]

Thanks for the reply, i recored with nano290-e from pinnacle tv systems. The programs are NOT encrypted as they are off the BBC. TMGENC will open the file(s) but there is always no audio track and this is obviously something with win7 mc itself! I personnaly cant find anyway to alter or check this but you are right the files play OK on origonal machine!

[usually_quiet]

There is an alternate way of converting unencrypted .wtv files to .ts or .mpg format. https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/325139-WTV-remux-to-MPG

I used this method before MC-TV Converter was available. Sometimes I still do.

[olyteddy]

I just now wanted an answer to the same question. I know the 'copy once' are a lost cause but if you right click a WTV file you get the option to convert to .dvr-ms, which is a little better supported. I also just discovered that VLC can play either flavor but MPC-HC can't play either out of the box. I'll investigate MPC-HC a bit later. I just tried HandBrake to encode a WTV and it worked but won't seek. I'll post more as I discover more.

[russell_t]

FWIW, I've been converting unencrypted .WTV files (OTA recordings) using static builds of ffmpeg from Zeranoe (http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/). I add the -sn option to disable subtitles due to DVBtext issues, but other than that, this method works well for me. HTH

[sambat]

There is an alternate way of converting unencrypted .wtv files to .ts or .mpg format. https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/325139-WTV-remux-to-MPG

I used this method before MC-TV Converter was available. Sometimes I still do.

I still use that method, automated and scheduled.

[olyteddy]

The dvr-ms version encoded fine in HandBrake as an MP4. Seek works too.