.wtv file conversion

When I first installed a DVB-T and a DVB-S card into Windows Media Media
Center I had no problem in converting the recorded and saved .wtv files to
..dvr, by right clicking the files I wanted to convert and then clicking
'convert to .dvr', it doesn't matter what I do now that particular option
simply doesn't appear anymore in the drop down menu.
I've checked with various .wtv files with no joy, and just in case it was my
tired old brain forgetting to do something right, I checked it out in the
help menu, which states.. "Go to the folder where your recorded TV files are
stored (usually C:\Users\Public), right-click the file that you want to
convert, and then click Convert to .dvr-ms Format. The new file will be
created and stored in the same folder with "DVRMS" appended to the file
name".. which is exactly what I have been doing, however there's now no sign
of the "Convert to .dvr-ms Format" any clues please, anyone. TIA Ivan.

My guess is that the file(s) you'e clicking on are H264 encoded. Those files
cannot be directly converted to DVR so it'd make sense that the selection be
greyed out.


"Ivan" wrote in message
om...

When I first installed a DVB-T and a DVB-S card into Windows Media Media
Center I had no problem in converting the recorded and saved .wtv files to
.dvr, by right clicking the files I wanted to convert and then clicking
'convert to .dvr', it doesn't matter what I do now that particular option
simply doesn't appear anymore in the drop down menu.
I've checked with various .wtv files with no joy, and just in case it was
my tired old brain forgetting to do something right, I checked it out in
the help menu, which states.. "Go to the folder where your recorded TV
files are stored (usually C:\Users\Public), right-click the file that you
want to convert, and then click Convert to .dvr-ms Format. The new file
will be created and stored in the same folder with "DVRMS" appended to the
file name".. which is exactly what I have been doing, however there's now
no sign of the "Convert to .dvr-ms Format" any clues please, anyone. TIA
Ivan.

"Colon Terminus" wrote in message
...

My guess is that the file(s) you'e clicking on are H264 encoded. Those
files cannot be directly converted to DVR so it'd make sense that the
selection be greyed out.



In all honesty I don't think that's it, the problem with WMC is that instead
of recording and saving files in their original (flexible) .ts/mpeg format
(as with the cards original software) in WMC they are saved and stored with
the (unchangeable) extension .wtv, which until recently I have been able to
convert to .dvr files in W7 by simply going to the 'Recorded TV' folder,
right clicking on the file I want to convert and selecting 'convert to', now
however the menu isn't even greyed out, it simply no longer even appears as
an option.




"Ivan" wrote in message
om...

When I first installed a DVB-T and a DVB-S card into Windows Media Media
Center I had no problem in converting the recorded and saved .wtv files
to .dvr, by right clicking the files I wanted to convert and then
clicking 'convert to .dvr', it doesn't matter what I do now that
particular option simply doesn't appear anymore in the drop down menu.
I've checked with various .wtv files with no joy, and just in case it was
my tired old brain forgetting to do something right, I checked it out in
the help menu, which states.. "Go to the folder where your recorded TV
files are stored (usually C:\Users\Public), right-click the file that you
want to convert, and then click Convert to .dvr-ms Format. The new file
will be created and stored in the same folder with "DVRMS" appended to
the file name".. which is exactly what I have been doing, however there's
now no sign of the "Convert to .dvr-ms Format" any clues please, anyone.
TIA Ivan.

"Ivan" wrote in message
om...


"Colon Terminus" wrote in message
...

My guess is that the file(s) you'e clicking on are H264 encoded. Those
files cannot be directly converted to DVR so it'd make sense that the
selection be greyed out.



In all honesty I don't think that's it, the problem with WMC is that
instead of recording and saving files in their original (flexible)
.ts/mpeg format (as with the cards original software) in WMC they are
saved and stored with the (unchangeable) extension .wtv, which until
recently I have been able to convert to .dvr files in W7 by simply going
to the 'Recorded TV' folder, right clicking on the file I want to convert
and selecting 'convert to', now however the menu isn't even greyed out, it
simply no longer even appears as an option.

How compatible are .wtv files with other software such as Windows Media
Player, VideoRedo, Adobe Premier etc. Is it still possible to top-and-tail
and edit the commercials out of a .wtv file without re-encoding it, and then
burn it to DVD?

"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
om...


"Colon Terminus" wrote in message
...

My guess is that the file(s) you'e clicking on are H264 encoded. Those
files cannot be directly converted to DVR so it'd make sense that the
selection be greyed out.



In all honesty I don't think that's it, the problem with WMC is that
instead of recording and saving files in their original (flexible)
.ts/mpeg format (as with the cards original software) in WMC they are
saved and stored with the (unchangeable) extension .wtv, which until
recently I have been able to convert to .dvr files in W7 by simply going
to the 'Recorded TV' folder, right clicking on the file I want to convert
and selecting 'convert to', now however the menu isn't even greyed out,
it simply no longer even appears as an option.

How compatible are .wtv files with other software such as Windows Media
Player, VideoRedo, Adobe Premier etc. Is it still possible to top-and-tail
and edit the commercials out of a .wtv file without re-encoding it, and
then burn it to DVD?

Another question: is WTV is wrapper for an MPEG stream, like DVR_MS is, or
is it a totally different format which requires a long slow process if it is
to be converted to a non-proprietary format such as MPEG?

"Ivan" wrote in message
om...

When I first installed a DVB-T and a DVB-S card into Windows Media Media
Center I had no problem in converting the recorded and saved .wtv files to
.dvr, by right clicking the files I wanted to convert and then clicking
'convert to .dvr', it doesn't matter what I do now that particular option
simply doesn't appear anymore in the drop down menu.
I've checked with various .wtv files with no joy, and just in case it was
my tired old brain forgetting to do something right, I checked it out in
the help menu, which states.. "Go to the folder where your recorded TV
files are stored (usually C:\Users\Public), right-click the file that you
want to convert, and then click Convert to .dvr-ms Format. The new file
will be created and stored in the same folder with "DVRMS" appended to the
file name".. which is exactly what I have been doing, however there's now
no sign of the "Convert to .dvr-ms Format" any clues please, anyone. TIA
Ivan.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=...0689ae246ad637

"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
om...


"Colon Terminus" wrote in message
...

My guess is that the file(s) you'e clicking on are H264 encoded. Those
files cannot be directly converted to DVR so it'd make sense that the
selection be greyed out.



In all honesty I don't think that's it, the problem with WMC is that
instead of recording and saving files in their original (flexible)
.ts/mpeg format (as with the cards original software) in WMC they are
saved and stored with the (unchangeable) extension .wtv, which until
recently I have been able to convert to .dvr files in W7 by simply going
to the 'Recorded TV' folder, right clicking on the file I want to
convert and selecting 'convert to', now however the menu isn't even
greyed out, it simply no longer even appears as an option.

How compatible are .wtv files with other software such as Windows Media
Player, VideoRedo, Adobe Premier etc. Is it still possible to
top-and-tail and edit the commercials out of a .wtv file without
re-encoding it, and then burn it to DVD?

Another question: is WTV is wrapper for an MPEG stream, like DVR_MS type
to be converted to a non-proprietary format such as MPEG?

I have to confess that you are asking the wrong person, it's the reason why
I'm enquiring on this particular NG ).. however by checking out Google
your assumption would appear to be correct.
One (albeit rather tedious) way around the problem is that WMC will directly
burn the recorded .wtv files (except HD ones) to a DVD, so what I have done
in the past is to burn them onto a DVD+RW, then cut and paste the resulting
mpeg files into a separate folder, this enables a greater degree of
flexibility to do with them what I will.
P.S. After writing the above as a long shot I wondered whether the failure
of the recorded program files to convert might have something to do with the
length of time (a couple of months) that the .wtv files have been stored on
the hard drive, I therefore decided to record a segment of the Brit awards
and burn it to DVD, only to find that it all goes as far as the burning
process and then an error message comes up telling me that they're the wrong
type of files?
It seems to me that this is probably connected to my original problem, which
would appear to indicate that something bad has happened to my copy of WMC,
this now begs the question, is there a way of repairing or reinstalling WMC
without having to completely delete it and go through the grief of losing
everything, including the rather lengthy process of setting up the DVB-T/S
cards?

"Ivan" wrote in message
m...


It seems to me that this is probably connected to my original problem,
which would appear to indicate that something bad has happened to my copy
of WMC, this now begs the question, is there a way of repairing or
reinstalling WMC without having to completely delete it and go through the
grief of losing everything, including the rather lengthy process of
setting up the DVB-T/S cards?

I've just found this explanation in a blog:

[start]
Reallango + February 10th, 2010 (#):

I think you need to have Windows Media Center set as the default program in
order for this option to be present. I have Windows 7 Ultimate and did not
have the option until I set the default program for wtv files back to
windows media center.
[end]

http://www.mediacenterblog.net/tips-...with-windows-7

Could that explain your problem?

"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
m...


It seems to me that this is probably connected to my original problem,
which would appear to indicate that something bad has happened to my copy
of WMC, this now begs the question, is there a way of repairing or
reinstalling WMC without having to completely delete it and go through
the grief of losing everything, including the rather lengthy process of
setting up the DVB-T/S cards?

I've just found this explanation in a blog:

[start]
Reallango + February 10th, 2010 (#):

I think you need to have Windows Media Center set as the default program
in order for this option to be present. I have Windows 7 Ultimate and did
not have the option until I set the default program for wtv files back to
windows media center.
[end]

http://www.mediacenterblog.net/tips-...with-windows-7

Could that explain your problem?

Certainly has, Mortimer mate you're a star, if you're ever down in darkest
Zumerset I'll buy thee a pint of scrumpy.. Problem solved, it would appear
that for some reason or another they had defaulted to' Windows Live Movie
Maker', even though I can't honestly remember actually assigning that as the
default viewer.

"Ivan" wrote in message
m...


"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
m...


It seems to me that this is probably connected to my original problem,
which would appear to indicate that something bad has happened to my
copy of WMC, this now begs the question, is there a way of repairing or
reinstalling WMC without having to completely delete it and go through
the grief of losing everything, including the rather lengthy process of
setting up the DVB-T/S cards?

I've just found this explanation in a blog:

[start]
Reallango + February 10th, 2010 (#):

I think you need to have Windows Media Center set as the default program
in order for this option to be present. I have Windows 7 Ultimate and did
not have the option until I set the default program for wtv files back to
windows media center.
[end]

http://www.mediacenterblog.net/tips-...with-windows-7

Could that explain your problem?

Certainly has, Mortimer mate you're a star, if you're ever down in darkest
Zumerset I'll buy thee a pint of scrumpy.. Problem solved, it would
appear that for some reason or another they had defaulted to' Windows Live
Movie Maker', even though I can't honestly remember actually assigning
that as the default viewer.

Glad to be of help. I've extracted the pint of scrumpy that you attached to
your posting and I'll drink it later on! ;-)

As a matter of interest, how long does it take to convert a .wtv file to
..dvr-ms format? For example, for an hour-long programme? Is it more or less
instantaneous (suggesting the both .wtv and .drv-ms contain MPEG streams and
conversion is simply changing one wrapper for another) or does it take f-ing
ages (suggesting that complete recoding is taking place)?

"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
m...


"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
m...


It seems to me that this is probably connected to my original problem,
which would appear to indicate that something bad has happened to my
copy of WMC, this now begs the question, is there a way of repairing or
reinstalling WMC without having to completely delete it and go through
the grief of losing everything, including the rather lengthy process of
setting up the DVB-T/S cards?

I've just found this explanation in a blog:

[start]
Reallango + February 10th, 2010 (#):

I think you need to have Windows Media Center set as the default program
in order for this option to be present. I have Windows 7 Ultimate and
did not have the option until I set the default program for wtv files
back to windows media center.
[end]

http://www.mediacenterblog.net/tips-...with-windows-7

Could that explain your problem?

Certainly has, Mortimer mate you're a star, if you're ever down in
darkest Zumerset I'll buy thee a pint of scrumpy.. Problem solved, it
would appear that for some reason or another they had defaulted to'
Windows Live Movie Maker', even though I can't honestly remember actually
assigning that as the default viewer.

Glad to be of help. I've extracted the pint of scrumpy that you attached
to your posting and I'll drink it later on! ;-)

As a matter of interest, how long does it take to convert a .wtv file to
.dvr-ms format? For example, for an hour-long programme? Is it more or
less instantaneous (suggesting the both .wtv and .drv-ms contain MPEG
streams and conversion is simply changing one wrapper for another) or does
it take f-ing ages (suggesting that complete recoding is taking place)?

Well I've just checked his out and it converted a 30 minute programme from
..wtv to .dvr-ms in just over a minute.
I then put it through an excellent (simple and free) little program 'DVR-MS
to MPEG Converter' which literally takes a matter of seconds
http://sites.google.com/site/dvrmstompeg/dvr-mstompegconverteryou can then
convert to almost anything you wish, such as my favourite (for flash memory)
divx.

"Ivan" wrote in message
om...


"Mortimer" wrote in message
...
"Ivan" wrote in message
om...


Well I've just checked his out and it converted a 30 minute programme
from .wtv to .dvr-ms in just over a minute.
I then put it through an excellent (simple and free) little program
'DVR-MS to MPEG Converter' which literally takes a matter of seconds
http://sites.google.com/site/dvrmstompeg/dvr-mstompegconverteryou can
then convert to almost anything you wish, such as my favourite (for
flash memory) divx.

Thanks for that.

I tend to work entirely in dvr-ms (recording on Media Centre on Vista).
Having just got Win 7 on another PC I'm wondering about using that for
doing the recording.

I use VideoRedo which can edit any MPEG stream (it can read .mpg, .dvr-ms
or .vob off a DVD), top-and-tail a recording and take out the
commercials, and then write back to those formats (producing a .vob takes
ages because of the recoding and multiplexing). I tend to write back to
.dvr-ms because that preserves any programme description and episode
title which is useful when I come to watch programmes some time later.

I always remove commercials manually. I've found that the auto-removal
capabilities of VideoRedo (and other similar programs) are very slow and
have trouble locating commercials accurately. Quicker and easier to do it
myself.

If .wtv to .dvr-ms conversion is taking about a minute, I think it's just
changing one wrapper for another, rather than re-encoding. That's good
news!

Sorry about the URL I posted, I didn't leave a space after it, so that
'you' became part of the address line, if you do want to see what it's
all about just click on it and remove 'you' in the browser address line.

That's OK. I worked out what the problem was and modified the URL. Yes, I've
used DVR-MS to MPEG and then AVS Video Re-Editor, though I found that this
didn't always produce frame-perfect cuts and you sometimes got glitches at
the joins. Video Redo is great because you can literally take out one frame
if you need to. I edited a video that I transferred from VHS; it was a short
film that a group of us made on a video workshop and it was originally
edited on VHS. The assemble edits were OK but the insert edits always had a
one- or two-frame glitch where the dropped-in segment had a couple of B&W
frames. Using VideoRedo I could chop out just those bad frames (luckily
without causing any audio glitches!) and get rid of the subliminal flash at
every edit point.

Another programme I use is Avidemux 2.5.2,
http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/ the editing and the filters are very
useful.

That looks a most intersting tool. I'll download it and see what it can do.