Windows Media Encoder

Tool	Description	Type	Rating	Comment
Windows Media Encoder	Windows Media Encoder Series is a powerful tool for content producers who want to take advantage of the many innovations in Windows Media 9 Series including high-quality multichannel sound, high-definition video quality, new support for mixed-mode voice and music content, and more. Also Video Streaming, Media Stream Editor(multiplex and demultiplex wmv video streams).	Freeware v9 Advanced Profile Update Download (author site) Download (direct link) 9.45MB Download old versions	7.9 (8.0) 6 votes Guides Similar tools	Read 6 comments (3700353 views) Add comment Notify me
	Latest version: 9 Advanced Profile Update (May 26, 2006) Download sites: Download from author site Download from mirror (direct link) (9.45MB) Supported operating systems: Windows Download old versions Sections/Browse similar tools: Capture,  Video Encoders,  Video Encoders (AVI/WMV),  Video Streaming Alert me! when this software has been updated. Report this tool(dead link/new version out)	Click to enlarge screenshot
	Version history: Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile Update This package will update the Windows Media Format SDK with the latest Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile codec that is in alignment with the final SMPTE VC-1 standard. This allows applications such as Windows Media Encoder 9 Series to create VC-1 Advanced Profile content. The package also includes an update to the Windows Media Encoder 9 Series command-line encoder script (wmcmd.vbs) that adds support for Advanced Profile. View entire changelog Similar tools/Alternative to Windows Media Encoder: Encode360,  WMNicEnc,  WMV9 VCM,  WMVMuxer Sponsored tools: Guides and How to's: AVI to (Xbox 360 compatible) WMV Conversion Guide - Read How to convert DV to WMV using Windows Media Encoder - Read How to stream live TV using Windows Media Encoder - Read Live Windows Media Streaming Mini-Howto - Read View all guides with guide description here Acronyms / Also Known As: WME, WME9, Windows Media Stream Editor, Windows Media File Editor, Windows Media Profile Editor, Windows Media Encoding Script. Report this tool(dead link/new version out)
	Comments
	6 comments, Showing 1 to 6 comments  -
	We use this to steam live to an external streaming service and we love it. It is very easy to use and streams good quality. Check it out at www.polr.org. Posted June 26, 2008 by verchern. Tool version 9 using OS WinXP Ease of use 7 of 10 Functionality 7 of 10 Value for money 10 of 10 Overall score 10 of 10
	The command-line version of Windows Media Encoder produces stellar video and audio quality if you know what you're doing! This encoder makes Windows Media the most underrated codec out there! Most people don't realize that this is the exact same encoding engine used with HD-DVD and Blu-ray releases. And here it is...free for the taking from Microsoft. Take advantage, people! This is the real McCoy for Windows Media encoding if you can't drop the coin on the new Expression Encoder with the nice point-n-click GUI. Posted April 22, 2008 by kevo777. Tool version 9 Advanced Profile Update using OS WinXP Ease of use 7 of 10 Functionality 10 of 10 Value for money 10 of 10 Overall score 9 of 10
	With a little help from guides it is possible to create very good video from several common sources. Encode speed for single pass WMV 9 is comparable to TMpeg on Motion Estimate Search for MPEG2 at same resolution input/output and no resizing or filters. Encode speed for 2 pass is longer (5-6x original movie time on my Athlon 1.33 GHz). However, when compared to TMpeg using resizing and SOME filters, WMV 9 encodes much faster than TMpeg doing MPEG2. I've observed WMV file sizes 30-50% smaller than MPEG2 at comparable bitrates. Visual quality of the video is noticeably better than MPEG2, even when using filters and highest quality in TMpeg. On the downside, if you are familiar with MPEG2 encoding, there is a little bit of a learning curve to go into WMV9, but not too much. On the downside, WMV 9 encoder defaults to a fairly SOFT image quality. Change this to sharp or sharper settings (75-85 or better) to get better image quality. One preferential note: not as many processing controls as TMpeg, but these can be done using other apps like VirtualDub, TMpeg etc, prior to encoding. Besides, some people prefer this anyway. Posted March 14, 2005 by danscudder. Tool version 9 using OS WinXP Ease of use 8 of 10 Functionality 8 of 10 Value for money 10 of 10 Overall score 9 of 10
	This program encodes perfectly fine for me...there are some faster ones out there, but this isn't a gimp or anything...then again, noting ghostlamp, I'm running an AW =P. Posted July 26, 2004 by fr0dus. Tool version 9 using OS WinXP Ease of use 7 of 10 Functionality 7 of 10 Value for money 10 of 10 Overall score 7 of 10
	I give this program a D. It is made for the person with a 4 ghz computer. You cant do any large screen output file conversions without a serious system. Windows recommends a 2ghz Dual processors computer. Most people barely have 2 gig systems. I tried it and was watching as I closed all programs and it still sucked up 100% usage for only a 800kbps convert to 640 size. I played it back and it was choppy. Plus you have to do two passes which will take you twice as long as a trial program. I used AVS Convert to get a smooth 640 size 2mbps video. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Leave this program to those with an alienware system or equivalent. Posted February 24, 2004 by ghostlamp. Tool version 9 using OS WinXP Ease of use 6 of 10 Functionality 6 of 10 Value for money 6 of 10 Overall score 6 of 10
	Great results though a rather slow encoder, IMO it's responsible for many of the quality improvements with winmedia 9 - try the 2 pass vbr with version 7.1, 8, or mpg4 and be surprised. Winmedia 9 encoder plugins do not always work the same magic, so I still prefer this free tool from MS. 5.1/6.1 audio works great on systems with XP, downsamples well in other versions or where 2 speakers avail, though multichannel audio is not intuitive to enable - have to select encode from device and file, choose Professional audio codec, then optionally cbr for more bitrate/sample choices. Needs work: Encoder can be very picky with source avi files, especially in my experience when/if you add a leader (ie: a second or so of black frames) before the video - I *think* the encoder reads initial silence in the audio track as no audio present & crashes. Posted June 14, 2003 by mikiem. Tool version 9.00.00.2980 using OS WinXP Ease of use 5 of 10 Functionality 8 of 10 Value for money 10 of 10 Overall score 7 of 10
	6 comments, Showing 1 to 6 comments  -

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