Convert wmv to mov

[formerpcgirl]

I am new to Macs, and definitely not computer savvy when it comes to formatting and such.

I have a wmv file (video and audio) that I'm trying to convert to mov, but I have no idea how to. I dragged the file to the converter and it identifies it as a asf file (??). From the Quick Preset menu, I choose MOV, and then I click on 'Encode'. A window opens up saying it's finished, but when I click on the blue circle with an i, it says:


FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
Fri Oct 17 02:19:32 EDT 2008
Seems that stream 1 comes from film source: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 29.97 (30000/1001)
Input #0, asf, from '/Users/owner1/Desktop/Arlene's 28 v2.wmv':
Duration: 00:35:51.6, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 3091 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480
Incorrect frame rate


So the only thing I understand is it says the frame rate is incorrect, but I have no idea what that is. I went to the Video section, and saw it says Framerate, so I tried choosing all options (Unspecified, NTSC Film, NTSC and PAL) but nothing works.

HEEEEELLLP...!

[Baldrick]

29.97 = NTSC. Cant you set exact framerate in ffmpegx? Then set it to 29.97. See also https://forum.videohelp.com/topic326392.html#1683154

[Case]

I am new to Macs, and definitely not computer savvy when it comes to formatting and such.

WMV is very Windows-centric, so you've chosen a less-than-easy source file to start your video journey on a Mac with.

I have a wmv file (video and audio) that I'm trying to convert to mov, but I have no idea how to.

We'll try to help you any way we can, but if you just want playback, you should give Flip4Mac a try. Flip4Mac Player is a (no-cost) software component that adds Window Media playback capability to QuickTime Player.

I dragged the file to the converter and it identifies it as a asf file (??).

ASF is the "container format" that Window Media uses (somewhat like MOV is used by QuickTime). Every WMV file will be identified by ffmpegX as an ASF type file.

Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480
Incorrect frame rate

This last line is a strange error message, that doesn't seem logical. 29.97 fps is very common and well supported. In fact, I would expect a stream mapping error here, that I didn't see.
If you will, try setting the "Invert mapping" checkbox in the Audio tab, and Encode. Is the Process Information log different this time?

I tried choosing all [framerate] options but nothing works.

"NTSC (29.97)" should be the default framerate, as the target framerate is normally automatically set to match the source file, for most presets. It shouldn't be considered "incorrect" for either source file (input) or target file (output).

[formerpcgirl]

I want to convert the file to mov so I can edit it on Mac on iMovieHD.

I tried checkin the Invert Mapping box, but this comes up:

Encoding started on Fri Oct 17 16:17:13 EDT 2008
FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
Seems that stream 1 comes from film source: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 29.97 (30000/1001)
Input #0, asf, from '/Users/owner1/Desktop/Arlene's 28 v2.wmv':
Duration: 00:35:51.6, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 3091 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480
Incorrect frame rate


Could it be I installed something wrong?

I then tried doing that and forcing the NTSC Film format (once I choose to convert t mov), and in the progress screen it says "Failed"


FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Fri Oct 17 16:26:11 EDT 2008
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
Seems that stream 1 comes from film source: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 29.97 (30000/1001)
Input #0, asf, from '/Users/owner1/Desktop/Arlene's 28 v2.wmv':
Duration: 00:35:51.6, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 3091 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480
Output #0, mov, to '/Users/owner1/Desktop/Arlene's 28 v2.wmv.ff.mov':
Stream #0.0, 29.97 fps(c): Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 640x352, q=2-9, 940 kb/s
Stream #0.1: Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, 96 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.1 -> #0.0 [sync #0.0]
Stream #0.0 -> #0.1 [sync #0.1]
Unsupported codec (id=74) for input stream #0.1


Thanks...

[tomlee59]

This may have absolutely nothing to do with the problems you're having, but I noticed that your pathname contains characters that some modules within ffmpegx may have problems with. Things like spaces, apostrophes (as in Arlene's) can cause peculiar errors. Instead of an error message like "unwanted apostrophe in filename," the response could seem to be something that does not appear to be related to this at all. So, if it's not too much trouble, I suggest eliminating spaces, apostrophes and the like, and try again. It can't hurt, and it might help.

[formerpcgirl]

This may have absolutely nothing to do with the problems you're having, but I noticed that your pathname contains characters that some modules within ffmpegx may have problems with. Things like spaces, apostrophes (as in Arlene's) can cause peculiar errors. Instead of an error message like "unwanted apostrophe in filename," the response could seem to be something that does not appear to be related to this at all. So, if it's not too much trouble, I suggest eliminating spaces, apostrophes and the like, and try again. It can't hurt, and it might help.

Thanks tomlee, but I tried changing the file name to no other characters or caps, and it still doesn't work.

[Case]

Input #0, asf, from '/Users/owner1/Desktop/Arlene's 28 v2.wmv':
Duration: 00:35:51.6, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 3091 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480

I was able to convert (what I think to be) a similar WMV to MPG, then to MOV or DV. My WMV is specified as:

Input #0, asf, from '/Volumes/Movies/test.wmv':
Duration: 00:28:12.9, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 1449 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 32000 Hz, stereo, 48 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480

The 'trick' I used was activating 'Decode with Quicktime' while having Flip4Mac help QuickTime with WMV files. For reasons that are beyond me, this doesn't work with ffmpeg presets, but it does work with mpeg2enc presets. So I converted with the DVD mpeg2enc preset. The resulting .mpg then was then converted to MOV and DV with ease.
Converting twice isn't ideal, but it did get the WMV in iMovie-ready format, without purchasing the Pro version of Flip4Mac.

[jeyi]

Input #0, asf, from '/Users/owner1/Desktop/Arlene's 28 v2.wmv':
Duration: 00:35:51.6, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 3091 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 320 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480

I was able to convert (what I think to be) a similar WMV to MPG, then to MOV or DV. My WMV is specified as:

Input #0, asf, from '/Volumes/Movies/test.wmv':
Duration: 00:28:12.9, start: 3.000000, bitrate: 1449 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Audio: wmav2, 32000 Hz, stereo, 48 kb/s
Stream #0.1, 29.97 fps(r): Video: WMV3 / 0x33564D57, 720x480

The 'trick' I used was activating 'Decode with Quicktime' while having Flip4Mac help QuickTime with WMV files. For reasons that are beyond me, this doesn't work with ffmpeg presets, but it does work with mpeg2enc presets. So I converted with the DVD mpeg2enc preset. The resulting .mpg then was then converted to MOV and DV with ease.
Converting twice isn't ideal, but it did get the WMV in iMovie-ready format, without purchasing the Pro version of Flip4Mac.

Case... I'm having the same problem as formercpgirl, trying to convert WMV to MOV. Everything looks OK but the "conversion" appears instantaneous, and the output file either doesn't show up at all, or contains zero data. I'm willing to use the twice-through approach you have had success with, but your instructions are not clear enough for my dense brain: how/where do you activate "decode with quicktime"? Where do I find the the "mpeg2enc presets". I would have thought that WMV was so super-proprietary to Microsoft that nobody would dare to mess with it. And indeed, at looking at ffmpegx.manual, it doesn't actually list ".WMV to .MOV" as one of the conversions it makes.

[Case]

Where do I find the the "mpeg2enc presets".

On the right side of the main window, there are three fields under Target format. The To: field has an arrow pointing downward (), which is a drop-down menu with access to all the presets. The most important MPEG presets have the encoder engine listed in the preset name; either mpeg2enc or ffmpeg. The preset named "DVD mpeg2enc" would thus be one of the mpeg2enc presets. (Screenshot)

how/where do you activate "decode with quicktime"?

In the Options tab, on the left side, you'll find a checkbox, if the selected preset supports alternate decoders. (Screenshot)
Keep in mind that selecting 'Decode with QuickTime' only works if QuickTime can in fact read the source file. Hence the need for Flip4Mac to process WMV files.

[wildgeese]

Hi all,

I think I may be able to contribute something to this really old discussion, which in searching through all the forum discussions I couldn't find a solid solution for.

I tried all solutions discussed to convert a WMV file to any other format- avi, mov, etc. (I had an annoying time-sync problem with the WMV and am stubborn.) Nothing worked. I downloaded the free version of VideoSpec and noticed that the Audio format is "Windows Media Audio Std v.2 - DivX audio v2" so I tried to convert one more time with:

Video Codec: DivX 3 [.AVI] (ffmpeg)
Framerate: PAL (25)
Audio: NO invert mapping
Options: Decode with QT

I'm running Tiger (10.4) with Flip4Mac Installed.

My results are bizarre yet encouraging. Two files have resulted so far: one ending in .dv and one ending in .avi (There are a long string of other ".file" endings before- I do hope that's just because I forgot to erase them in the "Save As" box.)

Now I can open the .avi file in VLC and actually see some of the movie. Note, there's no audio yet, but I can actually see something. HOWEVER. The ffmpeg Progress window shows the file is still converting... and it's currently at 1508%!! And counting. Every time I test-play the avi file in VLC, I can view a little more of the video, so I know it's working to some extent....

My question: What the heck does this mean, 1850%?? Will it ever finish, and if so... when?! And it's lovely that I've somehow managed to convert an WMV file, but will the audio kick in when it's finally done?

Anybody with more knowledge than I, I'd love to have your comments. Maybe others would too! Thanks!

[wildgeese]

Update: Conversion is "Finished". I don't know what % it stopped at because I walked away. The avi video is indeed beautiful- except that it cuts off partway through! Not really "finished." The dv file does nothing, won't open. There is also an AAC file now, but nothing can play it.

Love to anyone who can take these missing pieces and solve the puzzle!

wildgeese

[Case]

HOWEVER. The ffmpeg Progress window shows the file is still converting... and it's currently at 1508%!! And counting. Every time I test-play the avi file in VLC, I can view a little more of the video, so I know it's working to some extent....
My question: What the heck does this mean, 1850%?? Will it ever finish, and if so... when?!

ffmpegX makes a guess at how far the conversion is, based on the duration of the source file. If it reads the duration wrongly, the you may see weird percentages.
One reason for not getting the duration right might be if the source file is a combination of joined segments. Another reason might be that the file header and/or meta data is in a format that isn't supported by the decoder version in ffmpegX.

[wildgeese]

Thanks, Case! Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to solve this one. It turns out the original file was damaged- it was cut off at the end and had nothing to do with FFmpegx. I won't be able to get a hold of another copy.

At least in terms of this thread, who knows, maybe this info. will help the next person who comes along. If this is a way to get good video, you could probably also separate the audio somehow, and just rejoin them.

Nicole