Handbrake 0.9.9 to convert WMV to MP4 question

[rabbit51]

I'm new to Handbrake, I saw over the net that several people successfully converted WMV to MP4, so I downloaded it and installed. When I tried to open the WMV files, it said scanning folder/file but then nothing happened, on the screen where it should show the info for the video (title, length, etc.) are all blank. Am I missing some steps? Can Handbrake convert WMV to MP4? If so what should I do to convert?

[Baldrick]

Post the details from the wmv using mediainfo. Maybe it's vc1 video that cause problem.

Or try other converters like tencoder.

[ndjamena]

Hmmm, handbrake says it can handle anything LibAV can open:

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Sources

LibAV on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libav

I notice it doesn't mention .WMV containers on the list but it does mention a lot of Microsoft Codecs.

Just a thought, and I love saying this 'Have you tried remuxing it into a different container?' Matroska maybe...

[ndjamena]

Try this:

http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/attachments/video2mkv_convert-7z.122892/

if that doesn't do it, nothing will...

[rabbit51]

Post the details from the wmv using mediainfo. Maybe it's vc1 video that cause problem.

Or try other converters like tencoder.

Thanks for your prompt reply, here's the output of mediainfo:

General
Complete name                            : D:\Backup\Ko\travel\Destinos\Destinos_01.wmv
Format                                   : Windows Media
File size                                : 107 MiB
Duration                                 : 28mn 4s
Overall bit rate                         : 535 Kbps
Maximum Overall bit rate                 : 537 Kbps
Movie name                               : Destinos 01
Encoded date                             : UTC 2002-09-18 20:11:53.792
Copyright                                : (c) 1992 WGBH Educational Foundation.  All Rights Reserved.
Comment                                  : Destinos 01:  La Carta
Rating                                   : Educational

Video #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : WMV2
Codec ID                                 : WMV2
Codec ID/Info                            : Windows Media Video 8
Description of the codec                 : Windows Media Video V8
Bit rate                                 : 74.1 Kbps
Width                                    : 320 pixels
Height                                   : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Video #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : WMV2
Codec ID                                 : WMV2
Codec ID/Info                            : Windows Media Video 8
Description of the codec                 : Windows Media Video V8
Bit rate                                 : 144 Kbps
Width                                    : 320 pixels
Height                                   : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Video #3
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : WMV2
Codec ID                                 : WMV2
Codec ID/Info                            : Windows Media Video 8
Description of the codec                 : Windows Media Video V8
Bit rate                                 : 295 Kbps
Width                                    : 320 pixels
Height                                   : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : WMA
Format version                           : Version 2
Codec ID                                 : 161
Codec ID/Info                            : Windows Media Audio
Description of the codec                 : Windows Media Audio V8 -  22 kbps, 22 kHz, stereo
Duration                                 : 28mn 4s
Bit rate                                 : 24.3 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 22.05 KHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 4.88 MiB (5%)

[rabbit51]

Try this:

http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/attachments/video2mkv_convert-7z.122892/

if that doesn't do it, nothing will...

I've tried asfbinwin, MeGUI_2418_x86, XviD4PSP_5.10.330.0, none of them worked. MeGUI could convert some files, but there are no soud. I'll try your approach later and post back the outcome.

[ndjamena]

I think that's just WMV2 and WMA2, LibAV should be able to decode them both.

Maybe they're just not identifying them properly, I tried remuxing a WMV I made with Windows Movie Maker using VLC into an MKV but it left the codec ID blank, it may just be that it didn't know what the MKV ID for the codec was or it may be that the original file didn't have a proper ID itself. Anyway, the program I listed found an ID for all the codecs and wrote a proper MKV with it, if that doesn't work in handbrake then I'm out of ideas.

(Of course, you could probably try re-ecoding with VLC or Windows Movie Maker...)

[Hoser Rob]

I've found that avidemux works for pretty much any wmv file except those crappy old VFW format ones (which aren't even mpeg-4 compliant anyway).

If you look here ...

http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=general:input_formats

... under wmv2 there's a hint for troublesome .wmv files using mencoder.

[ndjamena]

Yeah, I just noticed the Codec ID the program I linked to gave the audio stream was just PCM, the default audio codec when the codec is unknown. I think they can play it, they just can't identify it.

Avidemux or Windows Movie Maker would be the best options then (movie maker is part of windows live essentials and can convert straight to MP4)

[rabbit51]

I've found that avidemux works for pretty much any wmv file except those crappy old VFW format ones (which aren't even mpeg-4 compliant anyway).

If you look here ...

http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=general:input_formats

... under wmv2 there's a hint for troublesome .wmv files using mencoder.

Thanks for the tip, I'll take a look and post back the result, it might be a couple of days.

[rabbit51]

Yeah, I just noticed the Codec ID the program I linked to gave the audio stream was just PCM, the default audio codec when the codec is unknown. I think they can play it, they just can't identify it.

Avidemux or Windows Movie Maker would be the best options then (movie maker is part of windows live essentials and can convert straight to MP4)

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try, I'm avoiding using MS products (too cumbersome & not very efficient), I'll give avidemux a try, I've used before, unfortunately I didn't know that it can also convert video).

[ndjamena]

I only use avidemux to find chapter positions I can write into my MKV files, unfortunately it doesn't seem to like reading the MKV's directly so I have to mux the videos into .ts files first. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the program.

[davexnet]

Why not try Staxrip? anything to mp4 - can use directshowsource (avisynth) to access the source file.

Try version 1180, the latest has a bug.

[rabbit51]

I only use avidemux to find chapter positions I can write into my MKV files, unfortunately it doesn't seem to like reading the MKV's directly so I have to mux the videos into .ts files first. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the program.

Thanks for your reply, I tried avidemux, unfortunately it crashed after I loaded WMV file. It's OK, don't worry, I tried WMP and it's working fine, I'll just use WMP to play those WMV files. But it's weird why VLC can't play WMV files.
ps: those WMV are very old, can this be the cause of the problems?

[rabbit51]

Why not try Staxrip? anything to mp4 - can use directshowsource (avisynth) to access the source file.

Try version 1180, the latest has a bug.

Thanks for this tip, but does StaxRip supports WMV as input? It's page just said support several formats, but did not say which one, will it also convert or it's just for editing, sorry for the dumb question, I'm not that familiar with video tools/technology.

[ndjamena]

VLC CAN DEFINITELY play WMV files, I watched a WMV I created with Windows Movie Maker with it. If VLC can't play it then there's definitely something weird with your file.

And he didn't say StaxRip could read WMVs, he said avisynth with directshowsource could read it, and apparently StaxRip can read avisynth scripts. If you don't want to use Windows Movie Maker and only Windows Media Player can play your file then something using avisynth is really your best shot.

[davexnet]

Yes, within Staxrip you can tell it what source filter to use,
rather than opening an avs script directly (although that works as well).

Using directshowsource, you can open any source file you have a codec installed for.

The interface sometimes bogs down a little; perhaps it's my slow PC. Despite this,
it's flexible and works well. Lets you configure (and save in a new profile) changes to the x264
command line if you are so inclined.

[hello_hello]

VirtualDubMod can automatically create a simple DirectShow script for opening files. If you have AVISynth installed and an appropriate DirectShow codec for decoding it should work.

The File/Open window (select DirectShowSource as the avisynth template):



When you open a file that way, VirtualDubMod doesn't open the file directly. It creates the script, saves it to your hard drive, then opens the script instead.
If the source video is variable frame rate (I don't know if wmv files can be variable frame rate) you can modify the script VirtualDubMod saves to convert it to a constant frame rate, then reload the script. Something like this:

#ASYNTHER DirectShowSource
DirectShowSource("E:\video.wmv", fps=23.976, convertfps=true)

Once VirtualDubMod has opened the file via DirectShow you could convert it to a lossless AVI. I use the ffdshow huffyuv encoder myself. Pretty much any program should then be able to open and re-encode the lossless AVI.
The above method is something I'd sometimes use when for some reason the desired conversion program won't open a file.

Alternatively, there's plugins which allow VirtualDub (not VirtualDubMod), to open all sorts of different file types. If successful, VirtualDub can then also convert them to a lossless AVI. The windows media plugin is listed on the VirtualDub page here. The lossless AVI could once again be re-encoded using most programs.

Alternatively again, there's several "convert anything to anything" programs which can convert wmv files, such as Video To Video Converter or AnyVideoConverter. If you don't want to use them for the final re-encoding, they can still be used to convert the original file to a lossless one for another re-encoding program to open. Video To Video Converter supports ffv1 compression, which is lossless. AnyVideoConverter does the same.

Edit: I just noticed the MediaInfo example you posted above seems to have more than one video stream. I'm not sure how programs would handle such files. I'd need to experiment with one.

For the record, MeGUI probably re-encodes wmv files via a DirectShowSource script. It should be able to re-encode the audio too. If you post a sample of a wmv file MeGUI wasn't re-encoding properly, I (or someone) could probably work out why and/or how to get MeGUI to convert it successfully.

[rabbit51]

Yes, within Staxrip you can tell it what source filter to use,
rather than opening an avs script directly (although that works as well).

Using directshowsource, you can open any source file you have a codec installed for.

The interface sometimes bogs down a little; perhaps it's my slow PC. Despite this,
it's flexible and works well. Lets you configure (and save in a new profile) changes to the x264
command line if you are so inclined.

Thanks for the tip, I'm interested in this topic, I'll have to learn a lot of stuff before start doing this, the learning curve will be steep. Let me study some more before asking any stupid question

[rabbit51]

VLC CAN DEFINITELY play WMV files, I watched a WMV I created with Windows Movie Maker with it. If VLC can't play it then there's definitely something weird with your file.

And he didn't say StaxRip could read WMVs, he said avisynth with directshowsource could read it, and apparently StaxRip can read avisynth scripts. If you don't want to use Windows Movie Maker and only Windows Media Player can play your file then something using avisynth is really your best shot.

I'm afraid you're right, it's impossible so many different apps can't play my WMV file, it's very old file!!!.
Thanks for the explanation, I'll have to learn more before asking any stupid question.

[ndjamena]

DirectShowSource("D:\Backup\Ko\travel\Destinos\Destinos_01.wmv")

Load THAT rather complicated AVISYNTH script into the real VirtualDub and you can do the same thing.

Personally, after that I'd save it as UT Video Codec and encode it with x264 but we're working within your limitations so...

[rabbit51]

VirtualDubMod can automatically create a simple DirectShow script for opening files. If you have AVISynth installed and an appropriate DirectShow codec for decoding it should work.

The File/Open window (select DirectShowSource as the avisynth template):


[Attachment 23354 - Click to enlarge]

When you open a file that way, VirtualDubMod doesn't open the file directly. It creates the script, saves it to your hard drive, then opens the script instead.
If the source video is variable frame rate (I don't know if wmv files can be variable frame rate) you can modify the script VirtualDubMod saves to convert it to a constant frame rate, then reload the script. Something like this:

#ASYNTHER DirectShowSource
DirectShowSource("E:\video.wmv", fps=23.976, convertfps=true)

Once VirtualDubMod has opened the file via DirectShow you could convert it to a lossless AVI. I use the ffdshow huffyuv encoder myself. Pretty much any program should then be able to open and re-encode the lossless AVI.
The above method is something I'd sometimes use when for some reason the desired conversion program won't open a file.

Alternatively, there's plugins which allow VirtualDub (not VirtualDubMod), to open all sorts of different file types. If successful, VirtualDub can then also convert them to a lossless AVI. The windows media plugin is listed on the VirtualDub page here. The lossless AVI could once again be re-encoded using most programs.

Alternatively again, there's several "convert anything to anything" programs which can convert wmv files, such as Video To Video Converter or AnyVideoConverter. If you don't want to use them for the final re-encoding, they can still be used to convert the original file to a lossless one for another re-encoding program to open. Video To Video Converter supports ffv1 compression, which is lossless. AnyVideoConverter does the same.

Thanks for the explanation, I'll have to learn more before asking any stupid question.

[ndjamena]

Sorry, two seconds after I posted I realised I'd neglected to add audio to the script. My exchange chose that moment to go down on me. If my internet comes back in decent time I'll try correcting but typing on an iPhone in the middle of a cafe isn't the time or place.

[rabbit51]

Sorry, two seconds after I posted I realised I'd neglected to add audio to the script. My exchange chose that moment to go down on me. If my internet comes back in decent time I'll try correcting but typing on an iPhone in the middle of a cafe isn't the time or place.

@ndjamena: thanks for your reply, don't worry about it, I'll have to take a look at those commands/apps first otherwise I'll end up making lot of mistakes and asking a bunch of stupid questions.