converting .mov to .wav

[roy134]

Hi,

I have been trying to convert .mov files to .wav format using the program Switch, and was having success. Then I'm not sure what happened, but now every video I try to convert is silent. I did not change settings. What could have caused this? How do I fix it or what other program can I use to convert (without paying or dealing with a virus)?

[yoda313]

Is there drm in the ones you can't convert?

Go back to the ones that did work and try them again. I'm going to assume they will still work. The ones you can't get to work are PROBABLY protected in some way or another.

Assuming these are yours legally than you can use an audio capture program that can record the audio while the video is being played. (tunebite and audacity are two that come to mind, tunebite is payware, audacity is freeware - nearly 100% sure audacity can record the "what u hear" soundcard sound).

[roy134]

That is possible. I did not record the videos...they are for a research project and I am working on the project with a few others (I have permission to use them). I have Audacity, but did not know it had that feature. I'll have to check, thank you!
Now that you bring that point up...the movies that DID work, I had edited/clipped them usingiMovie. The ones that do not seem to be working are ones that I did not have to clip at all so they were in the original form. Maybe I should put the others through iMovie, even if I just clip off 1sec so that they get "reformatted" (don't know the correct terminology).

[yoda313]

"reformatted" (don't know the correct terminology).

If I get what you are doing you probably mean "reencoded". Encoding is what you do when you make a video clip (or audio for that matter).

[quote="roy134"]I had edited/clipped them usingiMovie]/quote]

Those should be open source ones than. I don't have imovie (no mac) so I can't know for sure. Unless you can use itunes purchased movies with imovie? I doubt that.

Maybe I should put the others through iMovie, even if I just clip off 1sec so that they get "reformatted"

If they are drm'd you probably won't be able to get that far.

Since you have the rights to these clips use an audio recorder and record while the video plays in a player. That way you can get a wav or mp3 off of it. Your only issue might be if you need surround sound. I don't believe there are any realtime sound recorders that can record multichannel audio. I believe all that do are stereo only. But that is probably not a factor for your project.

I'll have to check, thank you!

I don't use audacity for that purpose but I believe it should do just fine. As I mentioned you should look for "what u hear" or "record sound card" or some similar phrase to record the playing movie. Of course you should do a few things first - limit background apps and don't surf while doing it - you might inadverntenly open a website that will autoplay music or a video clip and that will get recorded along with the movie. Alternatively you could open your volume control panel and mute your computer sounds - was about to say "windows" sounds but thats not your environment so nix that.

Mac might call "what u hear" something else. Whatever the mac terminology is for computer sound card playback is what you should use.

Also this should really be in the mac forum. I'll post in the report link so it will be moved for others who do have macs can give you more advice.

[AlanHK]

Recent Audacity releases use ffmpeg for input and can open just about any file and extract the audio. This will basically give you the same as the "recording" result, but much faster and with no glitches doe to pauses or other programs making sound.

See http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/FAQ:Installation_and_Plug-Ins#installffmpeg

[johns0]

Thread moved to the mac forum where you can get more help.

[roy134]

Thank you everyone for all of your help....I have not yet tried it but will do so this afternoon. Hopefully I get it figured out!