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Good Free wmv converter?

rhett7660

rhett7660

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
14,223
4,300
Sunny, Southern California
Does anybody know of a good free movie converter. I have a quite a few wmv's that I would like to convert to either dv, mpg, avi or mov to edit. I have done a google search but I haven't found one that is free let alone on the Mac platform. However if it is windows based only that is fine to, I can run it in vmware.

Thanks
 
rhett7660

rhett7660

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
14,223
4,300
Sunny, Southern California
Why do you want to convert them? If it's to view wma files on your mac, then just get the flip4mac player.
Click to expand...

It is not for viewing more to edit bits and pieces out of them. iMovie and Premier don't like wmv files to much. So I was going to convert them and then do what I wish with them. I already have flip4mac installed. That is great for viewing but I want to edit some of the videos I have.

Not going to publish for the general public. More of doing this for myself.

http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
Click to expand...

Thank you for the link. Have you used the mac version under wine? If so has it been pretty stable. Downloading the xp version now. But I was just curious about the mac version.

Thanks
 
Gymnut

Gymnut

macrumors 68000
Apr 18, 2003
1,887
28
There's MPEG Streamclip and it handles wmv, providing the flip4mac plug-in is installed. Able to set in and out points and spit out a codec of your choice. You can do this in QuickTime Pro I believe as well.

http://www.squared5.com/
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,630
3,987
New Zealand
sec08 said:
This does not seem to be free. Looks as if you then have to buy stuffit to use it. When I went to download the free trial, my credit card number was required. . . and can't see anything for viewing .wmv in Mediaplayer - page is so busy. Can any one else help? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The "player" components are free but you need to pay for the more advanced versions. You do not need a credit card for the free version.
 
N

nickb1608

macrumors newbie
Feb 28, 2010
1
0
Hey just came by this whilst trying to figure this out, my solution was to open the .wmv file in quicktime (use latest version i.e. not version 7) and then 'save as' in the file menu. It gives you a few options to save it but for straight .mov conversion just choose movie in the format drop down menu.

i have downloaded flip4mac in the past and that may be necessary for this to work.
 
BigDukeSix

BigDukeSix

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2010
718
1
34.6700N 118.1590W
Will handbrake convert from .wmv into a format that I can import into IMovie so I can do some editing?

If not, what is the best FREE software to convert from wmv into a format that IMovie likes???
 
Last edited:
X

xizar

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2009
112
0
Gymnut said:
There's MPEG Streamclip and it handles wmv, providing the flip4mac plug-in is installed. Able to set in and out points and spit out a codec of your choice. You can do this in QuickTime Pro I believe as well.

http://www.squared5.com/
Click to expand...

If you use the free version of flip4mac, you'll only get 30s (or maybe it's watermarked, now) of encoding.

IIRC, I used Handbrake for the wmvs I converted some time ago.
 
B

bsavi

macrumors newbie
Nov 13, 2011
12
0
I have used VLC Media Player to get the job done. It seems to do a pretty good job!
 
ericrwalker

ericrwalker

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2008
2,812
4
Albany, NY
I was just looking for something like this too...I also have a few wmv files that are DRM protected. I have the license for them, but I am not sure if I am able to convert those to MP4's.
 
rbrian

rbrian

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2011
784
342
Aberdeen, Scotland
ericrwalker said:
I was just looking for something like this too...I also have a few wmv files that are DRM protected. I have the license for them, but I am not sure if I am able to convert those to MP4's.
Click to expand...

All the Mac apps which can read WMV files use Flip4Mac - which doesn't work with DRM files. As such, no DRMd WMV will run on a Mac. If you have access to a Windows PC, Google turns up a few possibilities, but i can't vouch for any of them.
 
ericrwalker

ericrwalker

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2008
2,812
4
Albany, NY
rbrian said:
All the Mac apps which can read WMV files use Flip4Mac - which doesn't work with DRM files. As such, no DRMd WMV will run on a Mac. If you have access to a Windows PC, Google turns up a few possibilities, but i can't vouch for any of them.
Click to expand...

From what I've seen with the windows ones, it doesn't remove DRM or convert the videos. They all seem to play the movie on your computer, and screen capture the video. Could possibly be an alternative, but annoying.
 
MisterMe

MisterMe

macrumors G4
Jul 17, 2002
10,709
69
USA
ericrwalker said:
I was just looking for something like this too...I also have a few wmv files that are DRM protected. I have the license for them, but I am not sure if I am able to convert those to MP4's.
Click to expand...
You do not have a license to remove DRM. In the US, removing DRM is a violation of the DMCA and a Federal crime.
 
ericrwalker

ericrwalker

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2008
2,812
4
Albany, NY
MisterMe said:
You do not have a license to remove DRM. In the US, removing DRM is a violation of the DMCA and a Federal crime.
Click to expand...

Nice to know I was looking to commit a felony, but since I own the porno(s) (bought and paid for) I think I should be able to view it in a MP4 format. Oh well. :cool:
 
B

BrunoWill

macrumors member
Nov 3, 2011
99
0
If you want to remove the DRM protection, I think you can try to use this video converter, but because of the video with DRM protection is commercial, I am afraid that if you remove it and sperad it our, it belongs to crime.
 
MisterMe

MisterMe

macrumors G4
Jul 17, 2002
10,709
69
USA
ericrwalker said:
Nice to know I was looking to commit a felony, but since I own the porno(s) (bought and paid for) I think I should be able to view it in a MP4 format. Oh well. :cool:
Click to expand...
That's not how the law works. If you produced the videos, then you would own them with the right to do with them what you want assuming, of course, that only consenting adults were involved. As the purchaser of a copy, you have the right to view the video as many times as you want whenever you want. Among many rights that you don't have is to remove the DRM.
 
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