how to convert windows movie maker format to MPEG-2

F

Frank

Can I convert Windows Movie Maker 2 (*.mswmm) format to
MPEG-2 in order to burn my video capture clips to DVD
format which should enable me to play them on DVD players.
There is no option in Windows Movie Maker to save files as
MPEG-2.

I would appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Thanks very much

Frank
 
J

John Kelly

Hi there,

mswmm is not a format, it is just the extension name of the file that
stores the instructions on how to play/create a video. Movie Maker itself
can not create files for use on a dvd machine

If your intention is to eventually put your work onto a standard DVD for
playing on domestic equipment you should click on File > Save Movie and
create a DV-AVI file.

DV-AVI is the best quality that you can get out of Movie Maker, and it is
also the most widely accepted format for importing into the necessary
software for creating a DVD for home use.

The creation of DVD's requires additional software. After first getting two
duff packages I eventually settled on Dazzle DVD Complete, it allows
creation of pretty good DVD's

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
 
G

Guest

Thanks Joh

Tried what you suggested but unfortuataley it doesn't let me select the DVI option as it doesn't highlight when I click on to it.

Frank
 
J

John Kelly

Hi Frank,

That's a pain in the rear end. I'm not sure if we are on the same page
here...you have refered to it as DVI previously. I'm talking DV-AVI an
option in "Save Movie " If we are on the same page then my guess would be
that something about the project you want to turn into a video file that
means you cannot create a DV-AVI file.

Do you have the ability to save to a WMV file (All options 2.1MB etc)

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.co.uk
www.the-kellys.org

Frank said:
Thanks John

Tried what you suggested but unfortuataley it doesn't let me select the
DVI option as it doesn't highlight when I click on to it.
 
G

Guest

Thanks again John for your reply

I know its a real bumber. You're right, I did mean DVI-AVI file

What's happening is that when I select capture video, I select PAL_B in camera settings (this formatt is used in Australia I have been told) however, the Digital device format (DVI-AVI) is not highlighted so I use best quaility. I am capturing through an S-video port in my video graphics card. No worries about capturing, as it plays ok in Media player and can burn using Nero as a movie file to a CDR, but not as a DVD, and can play it back through Media Player.

The only option I have when selecting "Save Project as" is Window Movie Maker Projects (*MSWMM)

I would really like to be able to play to DVD.....could you suggest some other software that may do the job.

Kindest regard

Frank
 
P

PapaJohn

Within Movie Maker, you can capture as NTSC DV-AVI, and then toggle the
setting to PAL before saving to your hard drive. Then save the movie as
DV-AVI (PAL). The process within Movie Maker should let you get to DVD in
either PAL or NTSC environments.
--
PapaJohn
www.papajohn.org


Frank said:
Thanks again John for your reply.

I know its a real bumber. You're right, I did mean DVI-AVI file.

What's happening is that when I select capture video, I select PAL_B in
camera settings (this formatt is used in Australia I have been told)
however, the Digital device format (DVI-AVI) is not highlighted so I use
best quaility. I am capturing through an S-video port in my video graphics
card. No worries about capturing, as it plays ok in Media player and can
burn using Nero as a movie file to a CDR, but not as a DVD, and can play it
back through Media Player.
The only option I have when selecting "Save Project as" is Window Movie Maker Projects (*MSWMM).

I would really like to be able to play to DVD.....could you suggest some
other software that may do the job.
 
J

John Kelly

Hi There Frank,

Ah Ha ! the magic Pal-B...its Pal-I here....OK...PAL-I or B or whichever
has nothing to do with Digital Video at all, and it does not matter I have
found what you have set for NTSC or PAL. It would not in any case be a good
idea to change it to NTSC as that is a 30 frame per second environment and
PAL is 25. Saving A Pal video to an NTSC format will give you that odd look
we see over here when we watch an American video that has been converted to
PAL...Basically going from 25 to 30 fp/s requires extrapolation of data and
going back to PAL would require Interpolation...end result....ODD

You, with present equipment/situation, are never get your input of video
to the computer to actually be Digital. Fortunately that does not matter.
Simply capture the video to your harddrive using the highest resolution you
can.

Now get the Windows Media Encoder from Microsoft and load your captured
video file into that. DO NOT select any options within Media Encoder other
than the save file option....Media Encoder will INDEX the file as it saves
it......you now have a digital file at the same quality as previously
captured that should then enable the option of saving to DV-AVI from within
Movie Maker.

So, load this new file into Movie Maker, edit it as desired and then
save the resulting project using the File > Save Movie option, and away you
go....

You should take note though...saving a file in the DV-AVI format simply
gives you a file that conforms to certain standards....If I understand you
properly, to put it onto a disk as a DVD, you will need appropriate software
to create the final DVD format with menus etc etc and of course a DVD writer
and disks.

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk


Frank said:
Thanks again John for your reply.

I know its a real bumber. You're right, I did mean DVI-AVI file.

What's happening is that when I select capture video, I select PAL_B in
camera settings (this formatt is used in Australia I have been told)
however, the Digital device format (DVI-AVI) is not highlighted so I use
best quaility. I am capturing through an S-video port in my video graphics
card. No worries about capturing, as it plays ok in Media player and can
burn using Nero as a movie file to a CDR, but not as a DVD, and can play it
back through Media Player.
The only option I have when selecting "Save Project as" is Window Movie Maker Projects (*MSWMM).

I would really like to be able to play to DVD.....could you suggest some
other software that may do the job.
 
G

Guest

John Kelly said:
Hi Frank,

That's a pain in the rear end. I'm not sure if we are on the same page
here...you have refered to it as DVI previously. I'm talking DV-AVI an
option in "Save Movie " If we are on the same page then my guess would be
that something about the project you want to turn into a video file that
means you cannot create a DV-AVI file.

Do you have the ability to save to a WMV file (All options 2.1MB etc)

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.co.uk
www.the-kellys.org


DVI option as it doesn't highlight when I click on to it.

try videoedit converter pro
http://www.viscomsoft.com/products/videoeditconverterpro/
 
G

Guest

Thanks John and PapaJoh

Really appreicate your time helping me out

I will try your recommendations in the next few days and will get back to you with the results

Regard

Frank
 
G

Guest

Hi Joh

Have downloaded Windows Media Encoder Ver9 with all its utitlties as you suggested. It appears to be a handy piece of software

Can't seem to import my saved Movie Maker files in to it ....the only file type it allows file extension it offers the (*.wme) when I select open from the file menu

I have tried several different things and have read the help file. It appers that you can only convert from *wme to mswmm

Again thanks for your time, your assistance is much appreciated...learning a lot as I go.

Thanks

Fran
 
J

jquiet

There is no movie maker video format. The mswmm is a very small file that
only contains pointers to the location of the actual video files and
instructions such as where to make a cut, where to add a transition, etc. It
is merely a script for playing back your project.

Windows media encoder coverts mant formats into Microsoft's format, WMV.

If you want to convert to other, non-Microsoft, formats you need to File
menu, Save movie and export to the DV-AVI format. Many other programs will
accept that format and export WMV.

Why do you want mpeg-2? It takes up more space than wmv. The only good
reason, in my mind, is because you want to make a DVD that will play back on
a stand-alone DVD player. If so a DVD authoring program such as DVD Movie
Factory will import DV-AVI and create the DVD without you ever knowing that
mpeg-2 files were created.

If you want to preserve full quality and compatibility with other software,
DV-AVI is the best option for now. Unfortunately it is a space hog, 13 GB
per hour. Personally I'm waiting for confirmation that new standalone DVD
players, and portable devices will playback WMV. At that point I would
consider deleting DV-AVI and going to WMV. For now I'm buying hard drives as
needed to keep top quality DV-AVI. I do edit them though. Throwing away the
trash can save lots of dsk space. I don't see much point in keep the raw
footage either.

Frank said:
Hi John

Have downloaded Windows Media Encoder Ver9 with all its utitlties as you
suggested. It appears to be a handy piece of software.
Can't seem to import my saved Movie Maker files in to it ....the only file
type it allows file extension it offers the (*.wme) when I select open from
the file menu.
I have tried several different things and have read the help file. It
appers that you can only convert from *wme to mswmm.
 
J

jquiet

One last point. Every conversion of format you make will lose quality. Only
editing and re-saving as DV-AVI maintains quality.

Frank said:
Hi John

Have downloaded Windows Media Encoder Ver9 with all its utitlties as you
suggested. It appears to be a handy piece of software.
Can't seem to import my saved Movie Maker files in to it ....the only file
type it allows file extension it offers the (*.wme) when I select open from
the file menu.
I have tried several different things and have read the help file. It
appers that you can only convert from *wme to mswmm.
 
J

John Kelly

Hi Frank,

I have just run the encoder to make sure and it offers these file
formats...asf, avi, bmp, jpg, mpg, wmv, wav, wma, and I can't quite see the
rest it will not allow me to scroll to the end of the list.

I should also point out that mswmm is not a format it is the extension
name of the project file in Movie Maker.

To use the program to convert from one format to the other simply select
the "Convert File" option from the opening dialogue and then answer each of
the questions according to your requirements. If it occurs that the required
format is not available you can use the accompanying Windows Media Profile
Editor to create one.

Best Wishes.....John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk


Frank said:
Hi John

Have downloaded Windows Media Encoder Ver9 with all its utitlties as you
suggested. It appears to be a handy piece of software.
Can't seem to import my saved Movie Maker files in to it ....the only file
type it allows file extension it offers the (*.wme) when I select open from
the file menu.
I have tried several different things and have read the help file. It
appers that you can only convert from *wme to mswmm.
 
G

Guest

Well I have learnt so much in the past week about video capturing and authoring software thanks to you knowledgeable people out there.

I had some success with all your suggestions but have decided that the best avenue for my particular circumstance is to use NeroVision and Nero burning and give Windows Movie Maker and associated software a miss for now as I still can't save my files to allow me to play through a stand alone DVD commercial player contected to a TV.

I have managed to save my existing Windows Movie Maker captured video files to AVI and MPEG2 using both Windows Media Encoder and Video Edting Converter Pro software. Unfortunately, when I go to burn through Nero, as a DVD, it dosen't accept the format as valid.

Thanks to all you great people out there for your patienance and help, really appreciate.

Kind regard

Frank
 
G

Guest

Where would I find the encoder mentioned here

----- John Kelly wrote: ----

Hi Frank

I have just run the encoder to make sure and it offers these fil
formats...asf, avi, bmp, jpg, mpg, wmv, wav, wma, and I can't quite see th
rest it will not allow me to scroll to the end of the list

I should also point out that mswmm is not a format it is the extensio
name of the project file in Movie Maker

To use the program to convert from one format to the other simply selec
the "Convert File" option from the opening dialogue and then answer each o
the questions according to your requirements. If it occurs that the require
format is not available you can use the accompanying Windows Media Profil
Editor to create one

Best Wishes.....John Kell
www.the-kellys.or
www.the-kellys.co.u


Frank said:
type it allows file extension it offers the (*.wme) when I select open fro
the file menu
 
M

movienoob via WindowsKB.com

adrianita said:
ok, i made a movie in windows movie maker, and I am trying to make it a
a movie with convert to video or something like that. When it i
converting, when is at 35% it just stop and the minutes that are lef
to finish starts going up, and i had wait looot of hours and nothin
happens, it just stops!!! wuaa i need help please, is for an exam!


ok i here is what i did. first open movie maker and open your project and
then save it (save project) then when your done close it and you have to make
sure that when you go to my computer (i saved it to my usb ) your project has
a black screen, like for example my forensics project i save dit to my usb
and the original file as well and i went to my file and my "forensics proj."
had a black square above the title when you go your usb(flash drive) and you
view your folders your saved project should have a black square. I dont no if
im right but thts how i did it. if you want more help ill send you pics.
My email is (e-mail address removed) , I no this movie maker thing is a bit
confusing, but eventually you will get the hang of it.
 

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