Hacking Windows 7 Media Center

Converting MKV to WTV with the latest DVRMSToolbox

by @ 9:30 am on October 28th, 2009 in converting files, dvrmstoolbox with 30 Comments

DVD App Using the latest version of DVRMSToolbox from Andy VT we can easily convert an MKV file to the new WTV format thanks to the inclusion of an updated todvrms program. Why would we want to do this? Well, for those who use Windows 7 Media Center exclusively for watching movie content it means ultimate compatibility. Converting to the WTV format for those who use Media Center exclusively means full fast forward and reverse support, no more codec packages and all the other features supported by the native format. The downside, of course, is limited support at this point for the format in other popular media players. For those concerned only with the best Media Center experience, however, this may be the best way forward.

To get started download and install the latest version of DVRMSToolbox which includes the new todvrms and a profile to convert MKV TV shows to WTV. Since we’re converting movies and not TV shows we’ll need a profile as well, download this premade profile and extract it to your profiles directory under C:\Program Files\DVRMSToolbox\Profiles or create your own by opening the DVRMSToolbox settings program. Select the Convert MKV TV Show to WTV profile and press the New Profile From button.

profile from

Then give your profile a name and description and remove the extra methods that aren’t needed for our simple conversion. Since we don’t need to retrieve and save TV series metadata we can remove most of the existing profile. Those experienced with DVRMSToolbox can add other actions such as removing the original file and moving the file to an alternate location at this point as well. Save your profile and close the settings application.

profile

Now that we have a profile to do our conversion open up the DVRMSToolbox GUI program to get started with the conversions. Determine whether you’d like to process a single file or a complete directory and select the appropriate tab. Select the proper input and output files/directories and our new profile from the dropdown box and hit run. Simple as that the profile should start converting our MKV to a more Media Center compatible WTV.

dvrmstoolboxGUI

It’s also possible to run the entire operation from the command line though the DVRMSToolbox GUI provides a graphical interface that most uses will find much easier to use. Once the conversion has completed, that’s all there is to it. You can now open your movie inside Windows 7 Media Center with full support of the built-in codecs including Dolby Digital audio and audio support on first level fast forward. No more fussing with codec packages and settings.

Remember, there is slim support for the WTV format from third-parties at this point however and if you’re accustomed to viewing movies outside Media Center or Windows Media Player you may want to hold off on converting until your favorite third party programs add support for the format. This is likely to be a fairly popular solution for those who are Windows 7 Media Center exclusive however.

30 Comments

Comment #4305 from Adam [Reply]

Can this profile be used for movies as well? I don’t convert many shows but movies is another story. Also, are there any limitations on the type of audio or video the mkv container holds? IE: will this profile handle both AC3 and DTS audio?

Comment left October 28, 2009 at 9:50 am Permanent Link

hamiltonguy
@Reply #4306 from hamiltonguy [Reply]

Yes you can convert movies as well using the command line.

todvrms.exe c:\movies\mymovie.mkv to c:\movies\mymovie.wtv – wtv

You cannot convert movies with a DTS stream (unless you first convert DTS to AC3). I believe Ben D from EngadgetHD was working on creating a profile to automate conversion of DTS to AC3. I don’t know if it is complete yet.

Comment left October 28, 2009 at 9:58 am Permanent Link
Comment #4307 from Michael Healy [Reply]

Yah, this profile allows for a simple conversion using todvrms. I used it to convert a movie while writing the article. I haven’t done any extensive testing of the wtv conversion though so I’m not sure of the limitations. Considering converting my HD collection to WTV though and seeing how that goes.

Comment left October 28, 2009 at 10:06 am Permanent Link

Lithium630
Comment #4310 from Lithium630 [Reply]

Does this keep the video as h264 or convert to mpeg2? If it keeps it as h264 I’m guessing the WTV files won’t work on extenders like Linksys.

Comment left October 28, 2009 at 11:05 am Permanent Link
Comment #4312 from baffo [Reply]

What other advantages does the WTV format have in Media Center? Extra FFWD and RWD options plus no codec packages isn’t quite incentive enough for me to spend the time and energy converting my 100+ MKV movies…

Comment left October 28, 2009 at 11:37 am Permanent Link
@Reply #4339 from Michael Healy [Reply]

They should also have built-in hardware acceleration support and support on most extenders since it’s a native media center file type, without the need to transcode.

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 8:03 am Permanent Link
Comment #4313 from oguime [Reply]

Is it possible to include subtitles from .srt files?

Comment left October 28, 2009 at 12:15 pm Permanent Link
@Reply #4340 from Michael Healy [Reply]

I’m not sure if it’s possible atm but it certain is a feature that should be included since that would give the WTV format a huge benefit over MKV. I’d make a request for info over at the dvrmstoolbox forums.

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 8:04 am Permanent Link

hdjunkie
Comment #4334 from hdjunkie [Reply]

The conversion isn’t lossless, is it? I would only convert if I didn’t lose quality.

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 3:43 am Permanent Link
@Reply #4341 from Michael Healy [Reply]

I don’t see why not, WTV is a container like MKV for the H.264/Mpeg2 formats.

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 8:05 am Permanent Link

Arlo
Comment #4348 from Arlo [Reply]

I’ve been following this stuff pretty closely..

@hdjunkie – it is a lossless conversion.. it’s not re-encoding it.

@Michael – I’ve got a bunch of blu-ray’s i’ve ripped into mkv format and converted the dts to ac-3… been waiting patiently for Andy to finally release this dvrms toolbox, but I’m still unsure whether the actual resulting WTV files are even playable on an extender. The reason being that blu-rays supposedly have too high of a bitrate for the xbox 360 or any other extender to decode smoothly.

Have you tried converting a blu-ray and playing it on an extender yet? If so, did it work well for more than a minute or so?

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 2:32 pm Permanent Link

lithium630
Comment #4352 from lithium630 [Reply]

I haven’t been able to get my WTV’s to work yet. I ripped Transformers 2 to MKV with MakeMKV then tried to convert to WTV but it doesn’t play. I haven’t tried a different movie yet.

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 8:25 pm Permanent Link

lithium630
@Reply #4354 from lithium630 [Reply]

To clarify it actually doesn’t convert. Dvrmstoolbox starts then it stops before getting to the conversion.

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 10:46 pm Permanent Link

Jeremy
Comment #4360 from Jeremy [Reply]

I am using MakeMKV to make the mkv videos for blu-ray and i get this error
InputFile=C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\title00.mkv
Processing actions, this may take some time!!
Current Affinity: 255 System Mask: 255
File is not a dvrms-file
Run Profile = ConvertToWTV
ProcessId = 4128
DvrmsToolbox Version: 1.2.1.9
Throttle DVRMStoMPEG
FWThrottle: C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\title00.mkv
WaitTime: 0 PollTime
Duration = 00:00:00.0230013
Waiting for available worker: 10/29/2009 10:44 PM
Worker allocated: 10/29/2009 10:44 PM
Run todvrms.exe “C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\title00.mkv” “C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\test.wtv” -wtv
Run C:\Program Files (x86)\DVRMSToolbox\Applications\todvrms.exe “C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\title00.mkv” “C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\test.wtv” -wtv
Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
arg[0] = C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\title00.mkv
arg[1] = C:\Video\The_Dark_Knight\test.wtv
arg[2] = -wtv

Duration = 00:00:05.1352938
Total Duration = 00:00:05.1602951

Comment left October 29, 2009 at 11:47 pm Permanent Link
Comment #4369 from DonaldHarris [Reply]

Just a head up for everyone bluray rips do not work on extenders after converted to wtv (tested w/ linksys DMA2200), but they do play just fine on my local pc, got a head of my self after the first movie worked on my pc and converted all my Bluray moves to wtv (210 Movies) just to find out they didnt work on the extender so im stuck trying to convert all of them back to mkv.

Comment left October 30, 2009 at 8:57 am Permanent Link

Andrew
Comment #4463 from Andrew [Reply]

Yeah the linksys extenders wont play it cos they cant play the 264 out of WTV but the XBOX will play them.

Comment left November 1, 2009 at 3:32 pm Permanent Link
Comment #4572 from Sean [Reply]

Might want to add that you’ll need the Haali spliter installed or you’ll get an error about not having the right filters.

http://haali.cs.msu.ru/mkv/

Comment left November 5, 2009 at 6:14 pm Permanent Link
Comment #4573 from Sean [Reply]

Also, you might want to link to Ben’s orriginal post on how to prepare a file that has DTS by doing DTS – AC3 first http://bjdraw.com/2009/04/05/how-to-automatically-convert-vob-to-mpg-and-dts-to-ac3/

Comment left November 5, 2009 at 6:20 pm Permanent Link

Arlo
Comment #4595 from Arlo [Reply]

It looks like this only works with h264 titles, for example one of the movies i’ve been banging my head trying to get todvrms to convert has ac3 audio but vc1 video and i get that same memory corruption error as the other fellow above.

Anybody have any ideas how best to convert vc1 to h264?

Comment left November 6, 2009 at 9:58 am Permanent Link

KirkH
Comment #4915 from KirkH [Reply]

All of my attempts to convert to MKV files to WTV fail with the following error with the exception of Blade Runner.
“An invalid media type was specified.”

Not sure if it’s an audio problem but the funny thing is that my XBox 360 extender will play that Blade Runner MKV with no conversion.

Comment left November 17, 2009 at 11:32 pm Permanent Link

Soundtweaker
Comment #5072 from Soundtweaker [Reply]

Im trying to convert MKV to WTV also with failed attempts with dvrms toolbox.

I guess you have the MKV splitter installed on your pc to playback mkv on the xbox.

Comment left November 23, 2009 at 10:53 pm Permanent Link

Soundtweaker
Comment #5134 from Soundtweaker [Reply]

I made a profile and got AVI to WTV working now and I can now RW/FF over XBOX and its smooth.

Comment left November 26, 2009 at 3:22 am Permanent Link

Soundtweaker
Comment #5145 from Soundtweaker [Reply]

Nevermind the RW/FF doesnt work very well over XBOX. I get screen freezes when I fast forward and it gets out of sync with WTV.

Comment left November 26, 2009 at 3:03 pm Permanent Link

Anonymous
Comment #6869 from Anonymous [Reply]

As with every other time I’ve done anything with DVRMS, this doesn’t work. At least for me. operation does not complete successfully, no indiciation of why that happens. using the latest version of DVRMS Toolbox on newly formatted system.

I think I’m going to give up on making wtv files until there’s a quality conversion resource.

Comment left January 22, 2010 at 4:17 am Permanent Link

jerky33
Comment #8437 from jerky33 [Reply]

I have been messing around with the latest version of the todvrms.exe (1.0.1.4) from Andy VT’s blog (Link below) and it seems to work well for some conversions and not so well on others. The problems I run into are only apparent when streaming to my 360, I notice that some movies freeze at certain points in the film, then if I re-convert the file, it sometimes gets rid of the freezing entirely and sometimes it just happens at different parts of the movie instead. I know this is not a clear explanation, but the issue is intermittent and kinda quirky.
I’m not against this application or converting movies to wtv’s, I just think the wtv fromat needs to be a little more understood before more people can start converting their librarys to wtv, unfortunately that requires MS’s cooperation and so far it has been lacking.

http://babgvant.com/files/folders/misc/entry16288.aspx

My current setup includes running “DIVX Plus Tech Preview” for Windows 7 on my HTPC, this adds native MKV support for both Media Center and 360 extenders, and so far it seems to work rather well. I have noticed that my videos play best when encoded at bitrates below 4K, anything above that causes choppy play back on the 360 (playback on the MC PC is flawless at any bitrate). I haven’t done much investigation regarding the bottleneck that I’m hitting, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this solution for anyone that is trying to playback h.264 mkv’s on their 360.
Note: all of my mkv’s have AC3 audio, so I’m not sure if there are any caveats to that either.

DIVIX Info/Download:
http://labs.divx.com/mkvwin7preview#download

Comment left March 10, 2010 at 6:02 pm Permanent Link

Alex
Comment #25314 from Alex [Reply]

I am trying to convert avi files to wtv, but the problem is the files are processing in the DVRMSToolboxGUI but there are no output files. It only takes like five minutes to process over 20 different avi files at about 30 minutes apiece. If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it.

Comment left December 7, 2010 at 11:45 am Permanent Link

Alex
Comment #25320 from Alex [Reply]

This is the complete process for one file but still no output in directory

InputFile=F:\Recorded TV\NCIS\Season 11 Yankee White.avi
Processing actions, this may take some time!!
Current Affinity: 15 System Mask: 15
Getting MetaData
File is not a dvrms-file
Run Profile = WTV
ProcessId = 6380
DvrmsToolbox Version: 1.2.2.2
Throttle DVRMStoMPEG
FWThrottle: F:\Recorded TV\NCIS\Season 11 Yankee White.avi
WaitTime: 5 PollTime
Waiting to process file
Queue file
Duration = 00:00:01.0296018
Waiting for available worker: 12/7/2010 12:21 PM
Worker allocated: 12/7/2010 12:21 PM
Add extra data to context
Config:
Duration = 00:00:00.0312001
Convert a Video File
ValidateOutputPath
OutputFile = F:\WMC TV\NCIS\Season 11 Yankee White.mkv
Begin conversion of F:\Recorded TV\NCIS\Season 11 Yankee White.avi to F:\WMC TV\NCIS\Season 11 Yankee White.mkv
VideoFormat: Native AudioFormat: Native TargetContainer: MKV Resize: False CL: 0 CR: 0 CT: 0 CB: 0 W: 320 H: 240
Add Sink Called
Sink is null, we need to add one
Add MKV
Set output path to F:\WMC TV\NCIS\Season 11 Yankee White.mkv
Finish Video Render

Comment left December 7, 2010 at 1:24 pm Permanent Link

Phydeauxman
Comment #30907 from Phydeauxman [Reply]

First time trying to use these directions and it did not work. Below is the output from the process:

—————————————————–
InputFile=C:\Temp\Inception\Inception_1.mkv
Processing actions, this may take some time!!
Current Affinity: 255 System Mask: 255
Getting MetaData
File is not a dvrms-file
Run Profile = Convert MKV Movie to WTV
ProcessId = 2844
DvrmsToolbox Version: 1.2.2.2
Throttle DVRMStoMPEG
FWThrottle: C:\Temp\Inception\Inception_1.mkv
WaitTime: 5 PollTime
Waiting to process file
Queue file
Duration = 00:00:01.0170582
Waiting for available worker: 1/27/2011 12:30 PM
Worker allocated: 1/27/2011 12:30 PM
Run todvrms.exe “C:\Temp\Inception\Inception_1.mkv” “C:\Temp\Inception\Inception.wtv” -wtv
Run C:\Program Files (x86)\DVRMSToolbox\Applications\todvrms.exe “C:\Temp\Inception\Inception_1.mkv” “C:\Temp\Inception\Inception.wtv” -wtv
ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field

SAR_ProductName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\CP43DNV.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_FeatureValue
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_FeatureValueMask
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_FeatureDisplayName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_PermissionToLaunch_Activation
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_TrialNagDelay
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_TrialNagFirstDelay
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_ActivationValidityOffset
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_ActivationValidityStartDate
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_HTMLFolderName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_HTMLFolderName_Reg
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_DialogWidth
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_DialogHeight
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_DialogWidth_Reg
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_DialogHeight_Reg
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_ProductDisplayName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_EnhancedProductDisplayName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_ActivationMode
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_ProductName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\CP43DNV.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
SAR_ProductName
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\CP43DNV.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
Video_VC1
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\Certificates10\EMC10DLH.rxc

ContextException thrown by BaseCertificate::GetField [.\BaseCertificate.cpp:903] with context
Field
Video_VC1
not found in certificate
C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\Certificates\NActReq3.rxc

No combination of intermediate filters could be found to make the connection.
arg[0] = C:\Temp\Inception\Inception_1.mkv
arg[1] = C:\Temp\Inception\Inception.wtv
arg[2] = -wtv
The NCBENUM return code is: 0×0
The NCBENUM return code is: 0×0
The NCBENUM return code is: 0×0
The NCBENUM return code is: 0×0
The NCBENUM return code is: 0×0
The NCBENUM return code is: 0×0

Duration = 00:00:07.2094123
Total Duration = 00:00:08.2294707

Comment left January 27, 2011 at 1:33 pm Permanent Link

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