This article describes how to set up and capture video with Microsoft® Windows Media® Encoder. As a Windows Media Video (WMV) file, you can view, edit, organize and store the video on your PC. However, the main advantage of saving your video as a WMV file is that you can stream it over a network, by copying the file to a hosting service that supports Window Media. For example, you could encode a video of a birthday party, and stream it over the Internet for friends and family to view on their PCs. For more information, see Windows Media Hosting Providers.

This article contains the following topics:

• Putting It Together
• Making the Connections
• Setting Up the Audio and Video
• Setting Up the Encoder
• Starting the Capture
• Exploring the Possibilities

• Video source. This can be a VCR, camcorder, or some other video playback device.
• PC running Microsoft Windows® XP, Windows 2000, or Windows Server™ 2003. For more information, see Windows Media Encoder 9 Series System Requirements.
• Video capture card. This PC hardware device converts analog video to a digital stream that can be saved as a file. For more information, see Windows Media Hardware Product Vendors.
• Audio capture card. If your video capture card does not capture audio, use this PC device to convert your analog audio. Audio cards also convert the audio on your PC to an analog signal, so that you can play the audio through speakers or record it on an external device, such as a VCR. Audio cards are typically standard equipment on PCs.
• IEEE 1394 card. You can use this type of card to capture video from a digital video source. The MiniDV format is most commonly used for home video. When you capture MiniDV, the audio and video are carried over the same cable.
• Cables. You will need cables for the right and left audio channels, and video. If you are capturing digitally, you will need a MiniDV cable.
• Video capture utility. Video capture cards typically come with simple capture utilities, which you'll need to adjust the video image.
• Windows Media Encoder 9 Series. The encoder can be downloaded from the Windows Media Web site.

1. See what types of connectors are used. Check the back of the VCR and look for the connectors marked Video output and Audio output. To capture digitally, locate connectors on your video source and IEEE 1394 card.
2. Get the right cables. Home devices and PC capture cards typically use standard connectors, so cables that have the right combination of connectors are easy to find at most electronic stores.
3. Make the connections. Plug the right and left audio output of the VCR into the line-in audio jack on the PC audio card. Then plug the video output of the VCR into the video input of the video card. If you are capturing digitally, connect the MiniDV cable.

1. To set up the video, use a capture program or utility that comes with your capture card.
2. Open the program, start the VCR, and play a tape. Make sure that you can see the video (you might need to select a video preview menu option).
3. Open the video settings dialog box, and adjust the following controls:
   • Brightness. Makes the picture brighter or darker. If you turn the control all the way down, the picture is black.
   • Contrast. Increases or decreases the contrast between the light and dark areas of the picture.
   • Color or Saturation. Increases or decreases the amount of color in the picture. If you turn the control all the way down, the picture is black and white.
   • Hue. Changes the overall hue or tone of the colors. If you adjust this control so that the flesh tones look correct, all the other colors should look right.
4. When the video looks the way that you want, close the capture program. The settings will carry over to the encoder.
5. Open the audio mixer. If you have a taskbar, double-click the speaker icon.
6. On the Options menu, click Properties.
7. Select the Recording Mixer or Control. (Most audio capture cards and devices have two mixers, for playback and recording.)
8. Click the Line In volume control, set it about one-quarter the way up the scale, and then close the mixer.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Windows Media, and then click Windows Media Encoder. By default, the encoder opens with the New Session dialog box.
   
   
2. Click the Quick Starts tab, and then double-click Capture live content for streaming (MBR).

   By using one of the Quick Starts templates, you can quickly and easily set up an encoding session. The templates set most encoding properties automatically; the only thing you have to enter for the current template is the location of the output file.
   
   

3. On the Browse for Output File dialog box, choose a location and enter a name for the file that the encoder will create.

1. Cue the video tape. Locate the beginning of the piece you want to capture, and then pause the tape a couple of seconds before that point.
2. Simultaneously click Start Encoding and press the Play button on the VCR. Encoding begins and the audio panel opens.
3. Watch the audio level in the audio panel. The upper fluctuations of the audio should go as high as possible without going into the yellow or red areas of the meter.
4. If you need to adjust the audio level, do the following:
   1. On the audio panel, click Mixer. The recording mixer opens.
   2. Adjust the Line In control to maximize the audio level.
   3. To restart the encoding session, click Stop, cue the tape back to the beginning position, and then click Start Encoding and press Play on the VCR.
5. At the end of the video piece, click Stop, and then stop the tape. The Encoding Results dialog box opens by default.
6. Click Play Output File. Windows Media Player opens and plays the encoded file. You can also locate the file in a Window and double-click it.

• Cropping/aspect ratios. By default, the encoder sets the video frame to the standard frame shape or aspect ratio, and to a size or resolution appropriate for the bit rate of your file. However, you can modify these properties as well as crop the edges of the frame.
• Compression. By default, the encoder uses compression (using codecs) and settings based on the type of content you want to create. However, you can modify any of these settings to fine tune how the encoder compresses your video.
• Attributes. In the Properties dialog box, you can enter attributes such as Title, Author, and Copyright information that are encoded into the file.
• Sourcing from files. In this article, you sourced from a VCR. However, you can also source from a video or audio file. For example, you can convert a file in the AVI format to a Windows Media Video (WMV) file, and then stream the video. By converting with the encoder, you will also compress the file with the Windows Media Video codec, which can greatly reduce the size of the video file.
• Outputting live streams. When the encoder is running, it generates a stream of bits, similar in concept to a signal from a TV station. In this article, you configured the encoder to send the stream to a file, however, you can also send the stream over a network in real time. This enables you to use the encoder like a broadcast transmitter. For example, you could connect to a hosting provider and create an Internet radio station.

Legal Notice

This product contains graphics filter software; this software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.