DRM protected WMV editing

[Waylander076]

Well I've paid for the privilage of downloading some movie clips in the WMV format that are DRM protected.

Watching them on my PC is all well and good but I'd really like to join them in to one large clip and burn them to SVCD for watching on my DVD player.

I downloaded Windows Media Encoder 9 in the vain hope that I could enter the password for the DRM, load the clips,join them and then export them to a plain AVI (or frameserve) for conversion to SVCD.

But NO...silly me of course it couldn't be that simple!

So I searched here, doom 9 and the web for a solution to converting DRM protected WMV files and it appears converting them CANNOT be done
even if you have the password/key, which I have.

Is there a way to convert these files or an app that lets you enter the password/key so you CAN convert them?

[teegee420]

I don't believe such a program exists. You have a password to view the files. That's it. What you might want to try is record part of your screen while the movie is playing. Camstudio is a good screen recorder. Windows Media Encoder can record part of your screen too.

[Waylander076]

Thanks for that, looks like i'll have to give it a try.

Seems a bit daft that I can only watch something I've paid for on my PC though....thank you Micro$haft for another brilliant idea!!!!

[teegee420]

That's just it, you only paid to watch it on your PC, not to transfer it to a different medium. My advice to you is to stick to DVD porn. Most of the time the discs are not even macrovision protected.

[Waylander076]

Ahh but this was quality german porn!!

[teegee420]

Now those are three words I never thought I'd see in the same sentence: "quality", "German" and "porn".

[Waylander076]

It's still bloody annoying that I can't convert the things to watch on my dvd player though. 8)

Ahh well.....

[teegee420]

You never know, if you like the output quality of Camstudio you can convert to DVD mpeg pretty easily. It uses its own codec but it's in an avi container. All you would need to do is drop it into to TMPGEnc.

If Camstudio dosn't look as good as you would like there are other screen recorders(not freeware) that could probably give you better quality. Stay positive, you might be enjoying your kraut-hewn porn on the big screen just yet!

[Waylander076]

I am staying positive as i rather thought i'd have to go this route based on other similar threads i've seen about DRM protected files.

I'll be trying the Camstudio method when i get home from work later...I don't mind doing all the capturing with Camstudio etc but it's just another added step and more of an inconvenience than anything else!!

Luckily the WMV's are good quality so resizing them to 1/2 D1 resolution
shouldn't reduce the quality that much.

So the procedure I'll be going through is capture with Camstudio, resize, join and framserve the clips from Avisynth and encode with CCE.

Result...watchable German porn on DVD!!! (eventually!!)

It would have been sooooo much easier without DRM!!!!!

[turbanjones]

A great way to capture those wmv files even if they are protected is with wm recorder. Its very easy to use and acts as a proxy server, so it more or less caches the video as it streams. even if the video comes down somewhat choppy, the file it records looks good. you do however, have to open it prior to opening any IE windows. And once you close it, you have to uncheck proxy server under internet options/connections. other than that, your download will be a fine wmv that is yours to mess with.

[nek nimrac]

OK, heres another Q along the same line of thinking... Is there a way to send the stream or saved movie playing on Win Mov Player through a tv card so it can be displayed on a standard TV or through a VCR? I found no settings on my Haupaugh tv card to allow me to capture the stream into the tv card but maybe you all know of a command for this, or even a better tv card that will do it.

[celtic_druid]

Once you remove the DRM you can convert like a regular wmv file.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=89243

Guess you already tried that though?

[mikiem]

If you want to send video out, several graphics cards will do it, as will a separate scan convertor, which are now pretty cheap & totally separate from windows & your PC, so no way DRM could ever effect them. In my personal opinion, a bit higher quality output vs PC cards too. Potential hassles: Have to play the video full screen, & *might* get better results temporarilly reducing screen rez depending on the convertor. Oh, & usually yet another wall wart.

[Seeker47]

That's just it, you only paid to watch it on your PC, not to transfer it to a different medium. My advice to you is to stick to DVD porn. Most of the time the discs are not even macrovision protected.

Yep. The plots get a little bit repetitive, tho'.