Using WMA for DivX files

[Enchanter]

Does anyone know how I can mux WMA to video files? I'm testing out WMA as a replacement of MP3 for low-quality rips (50MB per episode).

Is WMA V8 (Encoded with Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility) generally compatible with Windows, as in is there any need to install additional codecs from M$? I've yet to test this on other systems, so I might as well get some feedback from those who know the answer. Thanks a lot.

[shion]

enchanter where can i get WMAV8
i might give it go since i am remaking
NGE 50m/episode

[Enchanter]

I'll post the link once I got home. In the meantime, do a search in Microsoft for it. I trust it is not that difficult, though admittedly they have too many things there.

As a note, WMA at 48kbps does not sound that bad at all, esp. when compared to a 48kbps MP3. It's a pity that OGG does not support anything lower than 64kbps though.

p.s. Just got a few NGE DVD discs from a bargain corner. Will have some things to play around with.

[Enchanter]

@Shion: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...m8/default.asp

@No one else in particular : Does not anybody else have a clue on this?

[Batman]

Well I'm clueless. My only question would be why would you want to use WMA over say mp3. Does wma provide better quality and/or compression?

[Enchanter]

Does wma provide better quality and/or compression?

Yes, at low bitrates. OGG and WMA excel at 128kbps and lower. MP3 provides better quality only at high bitrates (160kbps and above). Think about it. These formats were developed with the purpose of surpassing MP3 and replacing it in portable medias.

I happen to be working on low-quality rips, so these formats came into mind. Of the two of them, WMA seems to provide the better compatibility (being a M$ product) compared to OGG. The last thing I want to do is tell the people who got my rips that they need to install another codec, in addition to the DivX codec, in order to successfully play them. That would be very inconvenient.

[Batman]

Thanks for the information Enchanter. Yes, wma audio does seem to be popular with "low quality" rips.

[setarip]

"The last thing I want to do is tell the people who got my rips that they need to install another codec, in addition to the DivX codec, in order to successfully play them."

Of course you realize that if you use the DivX v.3.11 codec, the install package, in addition to the video codec includes BOTH the hacked earlier WMA ("DivX" audio) and the Radium MP3 codec - and they are automatically installed when 3.11 is installed...

[Enchanter]

Maybe I was not clear enough. I was referring to the OGG sound stream requiring the installation of the additional codec. That is the reason why I'm leaning more towards WMA, because you can get it from the DivX 3.11 installation, or if it still does not work, obtain it directly from M$ via WMP.

The problem is, I still have no clue how to mux WMA sound stream together with the AVI files I create.

Edit: I know I can manually tell nandub to create the WMA sound stream and mux it directly to the video in the process. However, the WMA codec in the 3.11 installer is definitely older than the newer one from MS (V8), and the latter has been reported to consistently produce better sound quality than its predecessors. I can attest to that.

[setarip]

"The problem is, I still have no clue how to mux WMA sound stream together with the AVI files I create.

Edit: I know I can manually tell nandub to create the WMA sound stream and mux it directly to the video in the process."

You continue to apparently be full of contradictions. Since you are answering your own questions, I must ask - Have you created this thread for any meaningful purpose?

[Diegoll2k]

I have some experience at ripping DVDs with WMA Audio. WMA 64kbit provides 128kbit mp3 quality, that means same audio quality and half space which can be used to store video at a higher bitrate.

To use it, you have to do the following: first, download NIMO Codec Pack and install the Windows Media Audio Codec.

Then rip the DVD using no audio, use the program you prefer. (i suggest Gknot, of course)

Delete the AC3 files that DVD2AVI might have created. (if using it)

Extract the audio from the DVD in .WAV format (bear in mind that in can use +1GB hdd space). I use for this FlaskMPEG, (you have to add the .ifo reader plugin to select the audio stream).

Then go to VirtualDub, select "Direct Stream Copy" for video, Full Processing mode for Audio, select wav. audio in the audio options, and in Compression select DivX WMA Audio Codec v4.2 (or something like that), select "Show all modes" and select "64kbps 44.1 Khz for video".

Save the AVI file and you'll get it done in less than 10 minutes
with no sync problems if you haven't changed the framerate.

It's a great option for low quality DVD rips while mp3PRO comes. (However, I like more the WMA audio quality)

Hope this is useful to you, any comments, mail me at diego_ll@tutopia.com

[Diegoll2k]

It's always a great idea to include NIMO Codec Pack in your DVDrips and tell what to install in a readme.txt file. It can save a lot of trouble, as it includes everything you need to play divx files)

(I'm not pretending to advertise NIMO Codec Pack, but there's no other compilation of codecs like it, perhaps Kristal Audio, which includes the WMA Codec, but lacks the newest divX codecs)

[Enchanter]

@Setarip: The point of this thread is I'd like to know of any way I can mux a video with a separate .WMA file.

@Diegoll2k: Thanks for your input there. The WMA encoder I'm trying to use is V8 (ie. WMA V8). I don't think the Nimo codec pack contains this revision of WM yet, does it?

[Diegoll2k]

No, it doesn't. It only supports V1 and V2. Do you know what are its advantages ?? If it is a Microsoft-made coder, beware of their license issue. If you didn't know, WMA files made with WMP cannot be transfered from one machine to another, unless "some fixes" are made.

What could also happen with your .avi files.

[Enchanter]

Found the solution using wma2wav, which "adds a WAV header to WMA8 files so that they may be added to AVIs using VirtualDub," (As stated in the Digital Digest software section). I'm testing it out now.

Diegoll2k, I believe the WM encoder allows the encoder, not Microsoft, to enforce copyright protection on his/her media. This is its strength over MP3, which does not have copyright protection.