wmv

elbryyan · 2007-10-16, 03:58 PM

I'm fairly interested in this as well. I just got a Zune myself and have been trying to figure out how to convert some of the movies I've converted to mpg to be able to view them on it. So far I've used the transcode button in pvrx2 to convert to 700kbs wmv but the Zune software will error out trying converstion when I try an sync it with it.

taz · 2007-10-16, 05:36 PM

I have an app that uses the windows media encoder to convert shows to wmv format that the zune software does NOT need to recode when loading the file to a zune. It can be done manually but I have mine set up to run every night and convert and show that hasn't already been converted. It is something I threw together pretty quick (modified one of the examples that came with the SDk) so it isn't perfect but it works for me. There are improvements I would like to make but don't have much free time. I am at work but can post it when I get home if anyone is interested.

I also have a similar system for converting dvd's (vob files) to the zune format that does not have to be recoded by the zune software.

bogyver · 2007-10-16, 11:17 PM

Another option would be to use handbreak which makes mp4 and h.264 videos, which the zune and zune 2 support (the orginal zune will get a firmware update to be identical in functionality to the zune 2) handbreak has a command line interface that is really easy to work with, I think its a lot easier than ffmpeg
handbreak supports dvd's so it should support mpeg's since that's what dvd's are.

ranger47 · 2007-10-18, 01:12 AM

taz Wrote:I have an app that uses the windows media encoder to convert shows to wmv format that the zune software does NOT need to recode when loading the file to a zune. It can be done manually but I have mine set up to run every night and convert and show that hasn't already been converted. It is something I threw together pretty quick (modified one of the examples that came with the SDk) so it isn't perfect but it works for me. There are improvements I would like to make but don't have much free time. I am at work but can post it when I get home if anyone is interested.

I also have a similar system for converting dvd's (vob files) to the zune format that does not have to be recoded by the zune software.

A walkthrough on how you did that would be really cool. I like the idea of it running every night. We will be anxiously awaiting your response. Thanks!

taz · 2007-10-18, 01:44 AM

This is the app I use to convert all of my recorded shows for my zune. It also includes a profile that is configured so that the zune software does not need to recode the output file when syncing to your zune (a one hour show takes <1 minute to sync to my zune. The application is a modified sample that comes with the media encoder SDK so that it fits my needs. I currently run the BatchEncode.exe file as a scheduled task using an auto switch. My scheduled task is:

"C:\Program Files\Zune Batch\BatchEncode.exe" auto

The app can also be run manually where you can select which files are converted. There are 3 parameters that need to be set so that it can find your recorded files and convert them:

Source Directory: The directory where the recorded files are stored. It will search all of the sub directories in this main directory to find the recorded files.

Output Folder: The directory where the new wmv files are stored

Profile: This is the location of the profile file that is used to set all of the parameters used in the conversion ie.. bitrate, resolution.....

Once you have set these parameters according to your system, go under Tools and select Save Current as Default
When run in the auto mode, the app looks through the source directory (and subdirectories) for all of the mpg files. When it finds an mpg file, it looks in the Output directory to see if the file has already been converted. If it finds it, it justs moves on. If it does not find a matching wmv file, it adds it to the batch list. When it has gone through all of the source directory it starts converting any files that have been added to the batch list.

There are fields available to add Title, Description, Author, & Copyright information when run in the manual mode. When I did this I was in a hurry so never took the time to try and pull the data out of the gbpvr database but it can be done.

There are a lot of things that could be done to make this better but I just never seem to have much time. I have done some VB programming but this was my first crack at .Net so I still have a ways to go.

Taz

taz · 2007-10-18, 02:04 AM

These are the files I use to convert a DVD (that I own) for a zune (again with no further conversion need when syncing with a zune). The word document is something I wrote for someone else wanting to do the same thing so some of the information in it is specific to how I set up his folders. You do need to have DVD Decrypter and Microsofts Media Encoder ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows...fault.mspx ) installed in order for this to work. If you can play a DVD on the computer you probably have sufficient codecs installed for the conversion. You also must rip the DVD as a single VOB file (using DVD Decrypter). That said, all you have to do is drag and drop the VOB file on the zune.bat file. The userin.vbs is used to open a popup that asks for a name for the file that will be created (do not add the .wmv extension). The attached zune.bat file is looking for the userin.vbs file at "C:\" but can be modified for wherever it is saved.

Yes this could easily be done in VB but I did it real quick on a pc that did not have VB so this was how I did it and it works well.

brokejumper · 2007-10-24, 06:35 PM

taz Wrote:This is the app I use to convert all of my recorded shows for my zune. It also includes a profile that is configured so that the zune software does not need to recode the output file when syncing to your zune (a one hour show takes <1 minute to sync to my zune.

Thanks for this... but one question. How do you get the Zune profile enabled so that there is no need for pre-processing?

taz · 2007-10-25, 01:21 AM

There should be one profile file (zune.prx) included in the zip file. The location of the profile is one of the parameters that needs to be set (and saved) before running the application. This is the file that defines how the new file is encoded (ie. resolution, bitrate, .....). You shouldn't have to do anything to "enable" the file.

Is this what you are looking for?

Taz

brokejumper · 2007-10-25, 01:47 PM

Thanks Taz... I have no idea what changed but the first night I set it up to convert my video files it failed but last night it decided to work and seems to have done so quite nicely.

I am sure that somehow this is the computer's fault and has nothing to do with a flaky operator error or the like!

taz · 2007-10-25, 05:22 PM

Glad it decided to work for you. Wink