Customizing Windows Media Encoder

This document explains how to customize Windows Media Encoder to create 640x480 WMV movies that progressively download at 1024 kilobits per second, as well as how to export and import custom Windows Media Encoder settings for repeated use, without having to recreate the settings each time you encode a movie.

Disclaimer: This document is provided as a courtesy. It is not meant to be nor should it be interpreted as official documentation for any product. No responsibility, liability or otherwise culpability is assumed for the production and/or maintenance of this document or for the support of products or services described herein. This document may contain typos or technical inaccuracies. Use it at your own risk. Refer to Windows Media Encoder Help and Microsoft online help and technical support for official documentation. No endorsement or disparagement of any product is intended or implied. All trademarks and/or registered trademarks mentioned in this document remain the property of their respective owners.   

Downloading Windows Media Encoder

Go to www.microsoft.com and search for Download Windows Media Encoder.

Progressive Download vs. Streaming

In short, use progressive if you use a Linux server. Use streaming if you use a Windows server, and Windows Media Server is installed and operating on the server.

Technical differences:

• Progressive download means the movie buffers for usually three seconds, and then starts playing. It is easy for users to save the media to their hard drives because the Save Media option in Windows Media Player is enabled. This document explains progressive download settings.
• Streaming means the movie is never actually saved to the user's hard drive. Streaming offers a significant benefit to Webmasters and users in that Windows Media Server can detect at what speed a user is connected and then stream the movie at the appropriate bit rate. Translation: To a user connected on a dial-up modem, the movie will look bad, and well it should because if it looked good it would be too big for the dial-up connection. A user connected via cable, on the other hand, will see a high-quality movie, even though both users clicked the same link. That's the benefit of streaming: Webmasters only have to create one file, users only have to click one file, and all users see it at a quality appropriate for their connection speed. For more information, refer to Using Windows Media Encoder. Downside to streaming for users is the Save Media As option is disabled; users can't save it to their hard drive and that can be a downside to Webmasters as well because it annoys their customers.

Why Use Progressive Download?

Because your Web host runs Linux servers and you have no choice. Or because you want to allow your members to save your movies.

Deinterlace Your AVI File

When you're exporting the AVI file from your video editor, it's important to deinterlace the video. Neglecting to deinterlace the video results in "fuzzy" movements in the encoded WMV. For example, a quickly moving hand will look blurry on the screen.

To deinterlace when exporting an AVI from Adobe Premier Pro:

1. Select the video you want to export.
2. Click the File menu , click Export, click Movie. The Export Movie dialog box opens.
3. Click the Settings button, click Keyframe and Video Rendering, and then click the Deinterlace Video Footage checkbox, as shown below:

4. Export the video as described in Adobe's online help.

Creating a New Session with Windows Media Encoder

The procedure below explains how to select the file you want to encode and how to designate where to save it.

1. Start Windows Media Encoder. The New Session Wizard opens.
2. Click Convert a File and then click the OK button. The File Selection dialog box opens. Notice there are two Browse buttons, one to the right of the Source file field and another to the right of the Output file field. The source file is the edited AVI file that you exported from your favorite movie editing program. The output file is the WMV file that you will create and then upload to your Web server.
3. Click the Source file Browse button, navigate to the location of your edited AVI file, click the file name, and then click the Open button.
4. Click the Output file Browse button, navigate to the place where you want to save your WMV file, type a name for the file in the File name field, and then click the Save button.
5. Click the Next button on the File Selection dialog box. The Content Distribution dialog box opens.
6. Click Web server (progressive download) and then click the Next button. The Encoding Options dialog box opens.
7. Click the Next button. The Display Information dialog box opens. This dialog box is significant because what you type here displays on Windows Media Player, and your customers can see it.
8. Type relevant and appropriate information in the Title, Author, Copyright, Rating, and Description fields, and then click the Next button. The Settings Review dialog below opens.
9. Deselect the Begin converting when I click Finish checkbox; that is, click the checkbox until the checkmark is no longer visible, as shown below:

10. Click the Finish button. You are now on the main interface of Windows Media Encoder.

Creating Custom Settings with Windows Media Encoder

To create custom settings:

1. Click the Properties button. The Session Properties dialog box opens.
2. Click the Compression tab. Notice the Bit rates field about midway down the dialog box. If you followed the instructions above exactly, the bit rate is set at 5073 kbps.
3. Click 5073 kbps. It does not matter if your number is something different. Just click whatever is in the Bit rates field.
4. Click the Edit button. The Custom Encoding Setting dialog box opens. Look down the dialog box at the Target bit rates field.
5. Click the settings in the Target bit rates field, for example, 5073.03 kbps (5073032 bps).
6. Click the Edit button. You are switched to another tab where you can customize audio and video settings.
7. First things first: Audio is important, especially for the Web. Keep in mind many users will be listening to your videos with headphones. If it sounds like they're listening through a tin can, they won't be happy. Click the Audio Format drop-down list and then click 128 kbps, 44kHZ, stereo CBR.
8. In the Video size field type 640 in the first field and 480 in the second field.
9. Leave the Frame rate field as is, but to the right of that in the Key frame interval field, type the number 1. A Key frame in every frame makes for a big, high-quality file. (As you've probably surmised, we're going for quality here. If you use your brother's server in his basement for your Web site and you get any kind of traffic, these settings will bring his server to its knees. Go with a pro, (for example DWHS Web Hosting).
10. In the Video bit rate field, type 1024k. Important: Type the "k" after the number 1024, like this, 1024k. If you don't, Windows Media Encoder displays an error but does not explain why.
11. To the right of the Buffer size field, click the Use default checkbox. Do not close the dialog box yet. But you can leave the rest of the fields on this tab as is.
12. Look near the top of the dialog box on the left. Click the General tab.
13. Near the bottom of the General tab, assuming you shot the footage with a digital camcorder, you may want to click the Allow nonsquare pixel output checkbox. If you want more details on why to click the option, click the Help button and read all about it. Experiment with this option. Encode with and without. See what you prefer.

Do not close the dialog box. You still need to export and save your settings for future use. The completed fields should look like this:

Note: You should only have one setting in the Target bit rates field: 1161.02Kpbs(1161016 bps). If you have two settings in the Target bit rates field -- for example, you may also see 5073.03 kbps (5073032 bps) -- click the 5073.03 kbps (5073032 bps) setting and then click the Delete button to get rid of it.

The other tab on the Custom Encoding Setting dialog box should look like this:

Exporting Windows Media Encoder Custom Settings for Future Use

To export the settings:

1. On the General tab, click the Export button. The Export Profile dialog box opens. The "profile" is all of the settings that you just created in the previous procedure.
2. Navigate to a location on your hard drive, write down that location on a piece of paper for future reference, and then type a meaningful name for the profile in the File name field, for example, 640x480-1024-vid-128-audio.
3. Click the Save button.
4. Click OK to close the Custom Settings dialog box.
5. Click the Apply button.
6. Click the Start Encoding button at the top of Windows Media Encoder.

Reusing Windows Media Encoder Custom Settings

Now that you have the settings saved, you can reuse them for the next video you encode, without having to retype them.

To reuse Windows Media Encoder custom settings:

1. Select your new files as described above in the "Creating a New Session with Windows Media Encoder" topic.
2. After you've selected the files and you are at the Windows Media Encoder main interface, click the Properties button.
3. Click the Compression tab.
4. Click the Edit button.
5. Click the Import button.
6. Navigate to the location where you saved the profile in Step 2 in the procedure immediately above, click the name of the file (for example, 640x480-1024-vid-128-audio), and then click the Open button. Notice that all of your custom settings are automatically set.
7. Click the OK button.
8. Click the Apply button.
9. Click the Start Encoding button.

This concludes the instructions for customizing settings for Windows Media Encoder. Be sure to read Windows Media Encoder online help for formal instructions.

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