View Full Version : .mov to .wmv?


Rob Hochberg
January 23rd, 2006, 09:42 PM
How can I convert my .mov film to a .wmv format? I made a myspace film profile and they only use windows media files. Any help is appreciated, my file is only 18 megs.

Don Donatello
January 24th, 2006, 09:52 PM
is the QT a stream file ( as in 512k , 256k ) or a SD .mov ?? if it's a streaming type file then you'll loose some quality in converting ..

drop the QT in a NLE ( say Vegas) and render it out as WMV 9- choose your stream ( 256, 512, 1mbs) ...higher number is better quality and larger size file.

Rob Hochberg
January 25th, 2006, 04:47 PM
is the QT a stream file ( as in 512k , 256k ) or a SD .mov ?? if it's a streaming type file then you'll loose some quality in converting ..

drop the QT in a NLE ( say Vegas) and render it out as WMV 9- choose your stream ( 256, 512, 1mbs) ...higher number is better quality and larger size file.
All I have is FCE and iMovie, but I will check. Thanks.

Rob Hochberg
January 25th, 2006, 08:24 PM
The closest I was able to get was .AVI and it wouldn't work... oh well. I like quicktime better anyways.

Martin Duffy
January 26th, 2006, 12:19 AM
Hi Rob

I have .mov files and would like to edit them in Premier.Any idea how to convert .mov to .avi?


Martin

Rik Sanchez
January 26th, 2006, 06:28 AM
Rob,
I use FCP and I just export a final cut movie and drop that into Cleaner and encode it as a WMV file.

http://creativemac.com/2002/11_nov/reviews/cleaner6021112.htm

rik

Rob Hochberg
January 26th, 2006, 10:32 AM
Hi Rob

I have .mov files and would like to edit them in Premier.Any idea how to convert .mov to .avi?


Martin
Hi Martin,
I don't know about Premier, since I've never used it, but I just imported my .mov files through Final Cut Express and exported as .avi.
Hope that helps, should be similar process for Premier.

Rob Hochberg
January 26th, 2006, 10:36 AM
Rob,
I use FCP and I just export a final cut movie and drop that into Cleaner and encode it as a WMV file.

http://creativemac.com/2002/11_nov/reviews/cleaner6021112.htm

rik
WOW, that is expensive. I wish there was a way to do it for free...
I want to buy a DVD burner so my quality is still there. I hate losing the quality by having to export it. Does anyone know the process for burning a FCE file or project to DVD? Preferably using iDVD or another stock Mac product. I have windows xp too, but I would have to burn my files to a CD and then bring it to the other computer for that.

Greg Boston
January 26th, 2006, 01:49 PM
WOW, that is expensive. I wish there was a way to do it for free...
I want to buy a DVD burner so my quality is still there. I hate losing the quality by having to export it. Does anyone know the process for burning a FCE file or project to DVD? Preferably using iDVD or another stock Mac product. I have windows xp too, but I would have to burn my files to a CD and then bring it to the other computer for that.

If you have Windows XP as well, there are many inexpensive utilities that will take your .MOV and convert it to .WMV

There is also FlipforMac that does WMV encoding.

-gb-

Mike Cornett
January 26th, 2006, 02:03 PM
I once had the same problem. Here's my work around. You need a PC though, so if you don't have one borrow a buddies.

1- Export out to an .AVI file
2- Move the file (via CD, network, flash drive) to the PC
3- Download the FREE Windows Media Encoder on the Microsoft website
4- Open the .AVI and set your values

You may have to experiment with the settings to get what you desire...quality vs. size.

I now have Flip4Mac and it's worth every penny!

Hope this helps.
-Mike

Duane Smith
January 26th, 2006, 07:27 PM
I bought the cheapest ($49) upgrade for Flip4Mac, and it works exactly as advertised. I can easily convert my .MOV files to .WMV files (albiet, only within the prescribed choices, but that's fine for my limited needs) and they .WMV files play perfectly on PCs.

FYI, the $99 upgrade lets you actually set and alter settings instead of just choosing from a list of default presets.

Flip4Mac exporting is just as easy as any standard QT export. :-)

Rob Hochberg
January 27th, 2006, 01:37 PM
Thanks you guys, I downloaded the WM encoder and it worked. The quality is terrible, even though I put it on "High definition 5mbps". Oh well, all I needed to do was put it online. Can anyone help me with the DVD burner suggestion? I want to buy one, but I'm not sure if I can use one with my existing software.

Dan Euritt
January 29th, 2006, 11:52 AM
my file is only 18 megs.

rob, as was pointed out earlier, you can't seriously expect to get decent quality by re-encoding web video... you need to do your encoding from the source file that you used to create the mov with originally.

this problem is known as garbage in=garbage out.

Rob Hochberg
January 29th, 2006, 06:02 PM
rob, as was pointed out earlier, you can't seriously expect to get decent quality by re-encoding web video... you need to do your encoding from the source file that you used to create the mov with originally.

this problem is known as garbage in=garbage out.
True. My original file was 800 megs.

Scott Anderson
January 30th, 2006, 12:58 PM
I find that Quicktime Pro is useful on both Macs and PCs for doing quick file conversions.

For instance, most of my stuff originates as DV footage in FCP on a Mac. The free Windows Media Encoder on a PC does a fine job making reasonably high-quality .wmv's, but it does not recognize Quicktime files. QT Pro will convert a NTSC, DV format .mov to an NTSC, DV format .avi pretty quickly. Then, WME will work with it just fine.

I tend to think that the $49 flip-4-mac is a lot like the default Sorenson codecs for Quicktime. The default settings available through most Quicktime applications are okay, but nothing spectacular. For really great movies at reasonable bandwidths, you need a dedicated compression tool like Cleaner that does 2-pass encoding and lets you get into the Sorenson codec and tweak the settings.

That said, I really like Windows Media Encoder. For a tool that's free, it really lets you tweak a lot of settings. Only runs on PC's, though. Unless you have virtual PC, and run a copy of Windows emulated on a Mac. But then, it would probably be slow as molasses.