Windows Media Encoder - Encoding's Best Kept Secret!

Tutorial: Page (1) of 1 - 05/23/08

Windows Media Encoder - Encoding's Best Kept Secret! Let's take a look at how this program could become your program of choice for streaming Windows Media files for the web! By Kevin McAuliffe

Much like I always say (well, one of my many sayings) is that some of the best kind of stuff, is free stuff. Well, that couldn't be more true when talking about the product I'm going to talk about in this article, and that product is Windows Media Encoder from Microsoft. Windows Media Encoder (WME) is the choice of encoding for many high end web design companies, and like I said before, it's absolutely free! Let's take a look at how this program could become your program of choice for streaming Windows Media files for the web!

First, you obviously need the application, so don't stop reading this article, just open a new tab in your browser, and navigate your way to <http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx>, and for our purposes, we're going to download the 32-bit version of the software.

Now, I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate, and there are a couple of "known issues" with WME, and there is a hotfix to install, so all you Vista users will want to check those out first, but there is nothing that should really cause any workflow hiccups. Windows XP users should have no troubles, as I have been running WME on XP for years (yes, it's been around that long), with no problems. Once you have the application downloaded and installed, double-click on the icon to run WME.

Before I show you the standard workflow for encoding files from your computer to the Windows Media format, there are a couple of things I want to mention. First, since this program is a Windows application, you either need to be running a Windows based machine, or a Mac running Boot Camp (like me). Secondly, WME only understands PC-based files. That means, unfortunately, you cannot use QuickTimes as source files. At the end of the day, that is a pretty minor issue. Also, when using WME, you can either encode an existing file from your hard drive, or capture a file from tape or another source "live," in real-time, directly to a Windows Media file. Finally, believe it or not, you can encode 5.1 material that will play back in true 5.1 on a computer that has a 5.1 setup, and with more and more games supporting it, you will find a much wider audience for surround sound today. With these things in mind, let's take a look at a standard workflow for converting your media to Windows Media files.
Once the application is opened, you are greeted by the encoding window. This is where you can not only see what is being encoded, but you can actually view your input and output media as your footage is being encoded, which is very handy to have.

The import, export, and encode settings are all located in the "Properties" tab, that can be opened by simply clicking the "Properties" button at the top of the window.

Once you click the "Properties" button, a window will open showing you the session properties for the current session you are working on. To encode a single file for client approval, which for the purposes of this article is what we are going to do, there are really only four tabs you need to concern yourself with.

The first tab is your "Sources" tab. This is the tab that will tell WME whether you are encoding from a file, from a live source (or device), or potentially even both, depending on what you are doing. Since we are going to encode from a file, you can simply select "File" under "Source From", and then navigate to your source file on your system. Once you click O.K., you will see that file information appear below the "File Location" input window.

Next, we obviously want to tell WME where we want our finished file to go, and what we want to call it. That is done under the "Output" tab. Since we want to encode to a file, we are going to check the box beside "Encode to File", and we are going to navigate to where we want to save the file, and give it a name. We'll call our file "Test Output.wmv." You have the option here to "Limit by Size" or "Limit by Duration" but we don't need to do either, so we are going to leave those boxes unchecked. You can also have WME war you when you are low on drive space which is very hand to know as well.

I'm actually going to jump over a couple tabs for my next step, and the tab I'm going to jump to is the "Processing" tab. Since our footage comes from an interlaced source, I want to make sure that when it is encoded, that it is deinterlaced at the same time, so in the "Processing" tab, I'm going to simply select "Deinterlace."

Finally, we obviously want to add a compression setting to our output, and that is done under the "Compression" tab.

This window might look a bit daunting, but it really isn't. What you are basically looking at is the presets window. If you are new to encoding, or just want to set up something quickly to make a Windows Media file, you can leave your "Destination" set to "Windows Media Server (streaming)," because it will give you the most preset options of all the "Destinations." Normally, I will just select "282 Kbps" or "340 Kbps," and I'm all set to go. Assuming I was happy with everything, I could simply press "Start Encoding," and depending on how big (duration) my file is, and how fast my computer is, I would have a Windows Media file in no time flat!

One last thing I want to mention is that you are obviously not stuck with the presets that come with WME. You can take any of them and alter them to your liking by simply selecting one of them, and pressing the "Edit" button under the "Compression" tab, and you can even have WME presets that have multiple encoder settings embedding inside one WME file. What I mean by this is that when your file is done encoding, the Windows Media file actually has different bit rates embedded into one file. That way users don't have to select the speed of connection they have, Windows Media Player will do it for them, and then use the appropriate bit rate for their connection speed. Finally, you can also import and export presets to not only speed up your workflow, but allow other users to send you their profiles for you to use.

You have the capability to create custom encoding settings.

Windows Media Encoder is a free application, and if you haven't already downloaded this excellent application, you are doing yourself and your clients a great disservice. This is an application that every editor and graphic designer on Windows or a Mac running Boot Camp needs to have. To download Windows Media Encoder, simply click here !

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Kevin P McAuliffe is currently a Senior Video Editor working in HD post production in Toronto, Canada. He has been in the television industry for 12 years, and spends his days onlining on a Final Cut Pro HD. Kevin's high definition onlining credit list includes concerts for Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Snow Patrol, Sum41, Paul Anka, Il Divo and Pussycat Dolls, to name a few. Also, Kevin is an instructor of Advanced Final Cut Studio 2 at the Toronto Film College. If you have any questions or comments, you can drop him a line at kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com

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