Converting MPEG-2 files - Part III (from Recorded TV to Movie Maker)- PapaJohn's Newsletter Archive

Last week we ended the series of newsletters about the Civil War project. This week we'll complete the 3 part series of issues about getting MPEG-2 files converted and into Movie Maker.

We're all familiar with the issue of not being able to save a movie. An interesting (I'd use a different word if it hadn't worked out successfully) case happened last week. A school in Pennsylvania was running a movie-making contest, with 4 entries in the 13-15 age bracket and 5 in the 16-20. When it was time to render and submit the movies, two of the nine ran into the issue. Cheryl, the teacher working with them, contacted me and I worked with her to quickly email project files back and forth, dividing them into parts that rendered. Karl and Emily, the two students, were able to render the parts, assemble them, add their music files, and make their submittals.... after the dust settled, they subscribed to this newsletter and I want to welcome them.

The first of a semi-monthly Movie Maker slot on www.thedvshow.com is now history. It was recorded last weekend, used for a broadcast session, and then made available as a downloadable podcast MP3 file. One of the 6 questions I responded to was to Artie from Alabama who asked "Every time I try to save a movie to CD, Windows Media Maker stops responding and just hangs there. After shutting of my computer and trying a second
time it goes to about 68% then hangs again. This is a continual process that doesn't end- what is going on?". Cheryl, Karl and Emily can relate to the question. The other 5 questions were about similarly familiar issues.

I've seen a number pointers to FlaskMPG, an open source app that can convert MPEG-2 files to AVI. I downloaded and tried it this week, and put a link to it on the Importing Source Files > Video > MPEG-2 page of the site. My first test conversion to a DV-AVI file produced a file with video and audio, but the new file didn't play smoothly...

After some research I ended up at the Green Button with links to 3 utilities to consider. Here are some brief notes about them from the website info: Not Yet Implemented

The downloaded file from the Green Button is a small zip one of 160 KB with just one file in it, the executable dvredit.exe.

The [square bracket icons] let you mark the in and out points of a video... I used them to mark a segment as shown.

The main menu > Tools has two options... DVR to MPG and MPG to DVR. Choosing DVR to MPG gives a message 'Not yet implemented'. That's the one I'm interested in.

Although it won't work today as a conversion tool, it might still be helpful as a cropping tool.

The File > Save as feature worked fine, saving the selected segment to a new DVR-MS file that played fine in WMP.

The save was quick and easy, and could save rendering time later in a conversion, when your interest is just in a short segment.

The downloaded file from the Green Button is a 1.3 MB zip file with a full installation package in it.

Extract the contents and run the DVR 2 WMV.msi package. It installs to the C:\Program Files\Griffin Composites\DVR 2 WMV folder and adds two new menu options to your XP Start menu:

It has 3 versions of a user interface... the DVR 2 WMV is a full screen one that looks and acts similar to the Media Center software itself.

Another is titled 'Standalone', and is a utility with the main working window at the left.

The third one is a command line one, which I didn't try. All 3 run the same app functions.

Each of the two I tried got me to the point of starting a conversion, but resulted in an error message when I pressed the Start button...

... and the kind of message written by programmers for geeks, not average real-world users.

The website says the app is compatible with the MCE 2004 and 2005 editions... my problem might be being on the 2003 version. The newer versions are not offered by Toshiba as upgrades to my model laptop.

The MCE version of XP is tweaked by the OEM from the Microsoft software, so upgrades have to come from the OEM, not Microsoft.

If you use a newer version of the MCE edition and try DVR2WMV, I'm interested in your experience.

As mentioned, a prerequisite to using DVR Ripper is having the Xmuxer software installed. I downloaded a shareware version in November 2003 XMuxer Menu

but I'm not finding a link to it today... its readme file says it can be freely distributed, so I put a copy on my website.. I'll be deleting it when the newsletter goes online in 6 weeks, so get it before then if you want it:

It's a zip file of 1.2 MB... with an installation package in it.. The installation goes to the c:\Program Files\Moonlight Cordless\][Muxer 2.03 folder with most of the software in it, and adds 5 .ax files to a new c:\Program Files\Common files\Moonlight folder.

You don't run Xmuxer directly... but you can if you want to use it for more features than we're using in this newsletter. The app's working window is shown at the right.

We're installing it just to get the underlying codecs that work with DVR Ripper.

The downloaded DVR Ripper file from the Green Button is a 2.8 MB zip package. In it is a setup executable and related files.

When installing DVR Ripper, I got 2 cautionary messages about files on my computer being newer than ones being installed, with a recommendation to keep the existing ones... I did.

The installation adds C:\Program Files\TVShowExport\TVShowExport.exe... when I ran it for the first time, it was searching for TVshow Export. I was a little confused but it was satisfied when I pointed it to the DVR-Ripper.exe that was just installed with it.

It opens with a note that it is for evaluation purposes only, appropriate for a beta software version. Here's the main working window with one of my saved TV shows opened in it.

I checked the option to remux into a single MPEG-2 file, and ended up with 3 MPEG-2 files. The separate m2a and m2v audio and video files, and the combined mpg. The separate audio and video files would have been deleted if I had checked that option.

The conversion process was quick and the files played well in WMP, but with a very noticeable sync issue.

Being MPEG-2 files, we still need one more conversion step to get them to a format that will work in Movie Maker.

VDubMod accepted the mpg file from DVR Ripper, and had no problems rendering it to a DV-AVI file with the Panasonic DV codec as the compressor. The video pixel size of the MPG file was 720x480, aligning with the DV-AVI file so I didn't need to use the resize filter... just picked the compression codec and saved the file as an AVI.

It took an appropriate amount of rendering time. The DV-AVI file imported and worked well in Movie Maker.

Sonic MyDVD or DV Gate Plus are DVD software apps included with a Media Center Edition computer. You can use them to make a DVD project from recorded TV files.

I had recently upgraded from the version 4.5 of MyDVD that came with my laptop to the Studio 6.1 version to handle PS3 stories, and hadn't checked its handling of recorded TV files. This is one of the key conversion steps in the method currently on my website page, so I tried it to be verify it still worked.

I created a DVD Project with 2 video source files, the first one having been made from the second...

Both imported and previewed fine in MyDVD. I then saved it as a DVD project, going through all the transcodings needed to make a DVD. It worked fine and accepted the MPG file made by DVR Ripper without transcoding.

The original FAQ document for the Media Center software said you couldn't get from a DVR-MS file to Movie Maker. That had been changed to point to my website page when I rolled out the method of using MyDVD and converting the resultant MPEG-2 files.

This newsletter adds a second method using Xmuxer, DVR Ripper and VDubMod... a method that doesn't require the MCE version of XP.

The methods of converting recorded TV files into ones that work in Movie Maker are still developing.

That seems to be the case as MyDVD made the DVD without needing to transcode it, and the DVD played in MyDVD. VDubMod also had no problems with the MPG file when converting it to an AVI.

But TMPGEnc did have problems with it, saying the video stream was illegal. I went in and used the MPEG tools of TMPGEnc to rip just the video track from the MPG file and it had no problems doing it... and the file played in WMP... but the new file still wouldn't open in TMPGEnc. I tried another MPG file in TMPGEnc to be sure it wasn't broken, and it went well.... leaving me with an issue specific to the file created by DVR Ripper.

Website Update - I'll be revising the Importing Source Files > Video > Recorded TV page of my site to reflect what's in this newsletter... and call this 3 part mini-series about MPEG-2 files complete.

I look forward to comments and discussion about this and other newsletters on the forums at:

I'm involved in many things that support users of Movie Maker and Photo Story, and adding more regularly. Here's a list of what's available. Some are free and others reasonably priced.

TheDVShow is the only weekly Podcast having more useful information about desktop video editing and production than anywhere else on the Web. Digital video editing, nonlinear editing, streaming media, software releases, tutorials, business tips, technical help, download of the day and news on the latest products to make everything easier. It's where professional and consumer desktop video users go to stay on the cutting edge.

Call the phone mail machine to get your technical question answered on the air! call (206)-203-3516

The radio broadcast is from Boston, and the website has the downloadable podcast files. The June 19th podcast included the first of the semi-monthly segments about Movie Maker 2.

Movie Maker 2 - Do Amazing Things (with its online companion on www.papajohn.org)

MaximumPC's winter 2005 quarterly special... had a 7 page tutorial 'Make a Killer Home Movie with Maker 2'. The special edition of the video made for it is now on my website as a file download.

Packt Publishing of Birmingham, U.K. issued the first book about VirtualDub. The last word I got on it was this Yahoo press release, along with a note that my copy was going in the mail.

My contribution was the introductory chapter... I'm glad to be part of any effort that helps join the worlds of Movie Maker and open source software.

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org - the site's 3 goals are: an online companion to the Do Amazing Things book, a detailed tutorial for PhotoStory 3, and helping you solve Movie Maker 2 problems.

Forums are open to all for viewing, but require registration of those who want to post. Moderators actively participate to ensure the forum discussions move forward and stay on track.

Newsgroups are wide open for all to view and post... moderation is collective by the participants.

Movie Maker 2/Photo Story newsletter. The annual subscription is $20 and the link to subscribe is on the main page of my Movie Maker website at:

Older newsletters (more than 6 issues ago) are posted by Rob Morris to an Archive Site at his Windows Movie Makers website. Links from website pages to specific newsletters make it easier for the website viewer to see the content of both while browsing a topic.

Transition Maker 2 (TM2) is a utility for the ultimate in making your own personal and custom transitions for Movie Maker 2. It's a joint product from Patrick Leabo, the programmer, and myself. Version 2 was released a week ago and I'm still working on updating the online tutorial.

I routinely beta test the Pixelan packages and think very highly of their people and products.

Managing your personal information is more of a challenge as hard drives get bigger and the internet more robust.

My personal database has been an ongoing project over many years, and is now available to others. Info is on the Managing > Personal Database page of my site, and in the database package itself.

To others it's $10. To order, use the button on the top of the Managing > Personal Database page.

An online gallery that fully aligns with the main priority of the website is the 'PapaJohn Expert Zone' at neptune.

Check it at Neptune and the Distributing > Neptune page of the website, where there's a developing tutorial about how to use the service.

in conjunction with the Portage, Michigan library, I offer two free training sessions about Movie Maker, an intro session and a workshop. The upcoming scheduled sessions are:

If you can't save a movie because your project has become too complex, e-mail a copy and I'll divide it into manageable sub-projects, and provide detailed instructions about how to render the parts and assemble them into your final movie. $49.95 - for details, see the sidebar on the Problem Solving > Can't Save a Movie page of www.papajohn.org

Movie Maker 2/Photo Story training and support services start at $50 per hour - send an email - PapaJohn@CharterMi.net and I'll help you determine your needs, and work with you to plan and implement them.

Wedding combo website/video packages - starting at $2,500 + travel expenses. See Jill-MarkWedding or the bottom branch of the Movie Maker 2 website for a sample of what you can expect for the online portion of the package.

About John 'PapaJohn' Buechler from Microsoft.com

John "PapaJohn" Buechler, of Kalamazoo, Mich., goes by PapaJohn online. An avid user of Movie Maker since its first release, and a regular supporter of the community of Movie Maker users, John received a 2003 MVP award from Microsoft for that support. In March 2003, he started a comprehensive website about Movie Maker 2 at www.PapaJohn.org. He maintains the website, writes books and articles, teaches, and provides support services - all for the community of Movie Maker 2 users. An engineer by formal education, John is a computer database and multimedia expert by business and personal experience. He co-authored the first book about Movie Maker 2 and is actively working on a second one. You can find his advice in the Windows XP Movie Maker newsgroup and in the Windows Movie Makers Forums.

This newsletter is republished with permission of John "PapaJohn" Buechler.
Please note that this is an archive of newsletters and some information may become outdated. PapaJohn, and the webmaster of this site, provides this information "AS IS" with no warranties.

Visit - PapaJohn's Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 2 Newsletter Index

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