<![CDATA[How to play wmv video files?]]>I have some wmv guitar tuition videos that I would like to be able to play on my M10 tablet. They play fine on my Toshiba net book running Ubuntu 16.04 with either Videos or VLC. Is there any way to tweak UT that will enable me to play them on my tablet? I have tried converting one file to mp4 on the net book using VLC. It took 20 minutes to convert 150 MB and the audio/video sync was slightly less than perfect. I have about 40 video lessons that I'd like to put on my tablet, so the most convenient solution would be to configure UT to support wmv playback. Your suggestions would be most welcome.
PS. I've tried UTmedia, but without success.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/topic/906/how-to-play-wmv-video-filesRSS for NodeSat, 11 Apr 2026 11:30:37 GMTSat, 20 Jan 2018 12:30:19 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:51:29 GMT]]>@dtarrant Just let me know, I am still working on a script that could come in handy for me if I ever need to batch convert several files after figuring out why I can't play my mkv files in UT video player.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6859https://forums.ubports.com/post/6859Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:51:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:48:23 GMT]]>@halucigenia Thanks for the offer. Could well be. Not ready yet though. I've only downloaded 3 of the 39 wmv files so far.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6858https://forums.ubports.com/post/6858Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:48:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:44:57 GMT]]>@halucigenia Great tip. That could save a lot of time.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6857https://forums.ubports.com/post/6857Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:44:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:19:12 GMT]]>@dtarrant I am pleased for you. Do you need help with a script to process all the files one after the other?

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6854https://forums.ubports.com/post/6854Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:19:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 18:09:15 GMT]]>@halucigenia Well I'm pleased to report that your command line produced an mp4 file that plays fine on my laptop. Many thanks for all your help.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6847https://forums.ubports.com/post/6847Tue, 23 Jan 2018 18:09:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 16:25:36 GMT]]>@dtarrant Just seen your remark about using handbrake for transcoding in the other thread.
Did you know that hanbrake has a command line too - you could use that instead of ffmpeg.
I am sure that if you prefer the handbrake GUI you could batch up a number of transcodes using the same parameters quite easily too.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6845https://forums.ubports.com/post/6845Tue, 23 Jan 2018 16:25:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 16:20:14 GMT]]>Another tip, while testing you might want to only transcode a portion of the source file to stop it ticking away nicely for too long before you can test it out.
You can use
-ss starttime in HH:MM:SS.xxx
-t endtime in HH:MM:SS.xxx

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6844https://forums.ubports.com/post/6844Tue, 23 Jan 2018 16:20:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:26:00 GMT]]>@halucigenia I just tried your command line and got a message to warn aac is experimental. It advised adding "-strict -2". After adding that tweak, the conversion is ticking away nicely. I'll keep you posted.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6840https://forums.ubports.com/post/6840Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:26:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 10:23:03 GMT]]>@halucigenia Good news, the mp4 file mentioned in my previous post plays nicely on my tablet. I'll try your command line tonight and let you know how I get on. Once again, many thanks for all your support.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6829https://forums.ubports.com/post/6829Tue, 23 Jan 2018 10:23:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 09:21:40 GMT]]>@halucigenia Many thanks for your latest input. I will certainly give it a try. In the meantime I found another recommendation with a Google search. I tried it and it appears to have worked fine (no audio/video sync problem). The command line I used was as follows:

ffmpeg -i input.wmf -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -c:a -strict -2 -q:a 100 output.mp4

This was from Jeremy Tammik. I've little understanding of what it all means, but I can play the resulting mp4 on my laptop with both videos and VLC. Now I need to try it on my tablet.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6828https://forums.ubports.com/post/6828Tue, 23 Jan 2018 09:21:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 07:39:10 GMT]]>dtarrant it looks like you are trying to use ffmpeg native AAC vbr so the parameters should be -c:a aac -q:a 2

Try:-

ffmpeg -i [input path/filename.WMV] -c:v libx264 -preset slow -tune film -crf 23 -c:a aac -q:a 2 [output path/filename.mp4]

That should work, it works for me but native AAC vbr is experimental in ffmpeg so may not give good quality audio.

Try cbr instead if the audio is not good enough:-

ffmpeg -i [input path/filename.WMV] -c:v libx264 -preset slow -tune film -crf 23 -c:a aac -b:a 160k [output path/filename.mp4]

You should not need to go to the extent of compiling ffmpeg yourself to get an acceptable result. I just meant that if you wanted to get the best out of ffmpeg you should compile.
Sorry for originally giving you parameters that would require ffmpeg to be compiled with libfdk_aac, that's just what I regularly use and I didn't think about the fact that you would not be able to use it without compiling it, my bad!

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6825https://forums.ubports.com/post/6825Tue, 23 Jan 2018 07:39:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:39:40 GMT]]>@halucigenia Seems I need to compile ffmpeg in order to add libfdk_aac. That's going to drag me right out of my comfort zone. I became suspicious when you provided me with a link on how to compile ffmpeg. Enough for tonight, maybe I'll feel braver tomorrow.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6824https://forums.ubports.com/post/6824Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:39:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:04:58 GMT]]>@halucigenia I just tried your command and got the following error message:

Unknown encoder 'libfdk_aac'

I'm using Ubuntu 16.04 and installed ffmpeg using synaptic. I'll look to see if it's listed in synaptic

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6823https://forums.ubports.com/post/6823Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:04:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:24:23 GMT]]>@halucigenia Many thanks for that advice. (I tried using ffmpeg help but got errors due to aac being experimental. It advised adding "-strict -2" but then said it didn't recognize the "2".) I'll let you know how I get on with your recommended command.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6821https://forums.ubports.com/post/6821Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:24:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 21:45:06 GMT]]>@tupp My explanation is about how to transcode a video to play on a UT device, not about getting ffmpeg to run on a UT device.
But I get your point, if you could install ffmpeg, mplayer etc. on a UT device then you could play the file from those applications. You would still need have the the codecs on the UT device to play the file though.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6820https://forums.ubports.com/post/6820Mon, 22 Jan 2018 21:45:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 21:04:05 GMT]]>@halucigenia
If you get ffmpeg up and running on your device, you might want to try merely playing the original video with ffmpeg's player -- "ffplay".

Also, you might want to try mplayer/mencoder. It's command line, like ffmpeg, but it likewise has various GUI front-ends.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6819https://forums.ubports.com/post/6819Mon, 22 Jan 2018 21:04:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 20:08:00 GMT]]>OK, so the video resolution is 720x576, I would not reduce that.

Something like

ffmpeg -i [input path/filename.WMV] -c:v libx264 -preset slow -tune film -crf 23 -c:a libfdk_aac -vbr 5 [output path/filename.mp4]

should do the trick

-preset slow will give better quality at the expense of speed, trying medium, fast, faster, veryfast, superfast or ultrafast would increase the speed at the expense of quality.
x264 can seem slow compared to other video codecs but it's quite the standard now.

-tune film gives good results for most video.

-crf 23 is actually the default for x264 but higher will reduce the video quality.

-vbr 5 could be lower 4 or 3 but will reduce the audio quality.

Other video or audio codecs are available but I find these work OK on UT.

I am just working on a simple batch script to process a whole directory of videos which I can share if you get ffmpeg working OK for your videos.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6816https://forums.ubports.com/post/6816Mon, 22 Jan 2018 20:08:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:55:05 GMT]]>@halucigenia Never mind the screenshot. VLC reports:

Stream 0
Codec: Windows Media Audio 2 (WMA2)
Channels: Stereo
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bits per sample: 32

Stream 1
Codec: Windows Media Video 9 (WMV3)
Resolution: 720x576
Display resolution: 720x576
Frame rate: 25
Decoded format: 4:2:0 YUV

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6813https://forums.ubports.com/post/6813Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:55:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:21:50 GMT]]>@halucigenia Epic fail! How do I paste an image?

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6811https://forums.ubports.com/post/6811Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:21:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:18:33 GMT]]>@halucigenia VLC reports info on my wmv file. Not sure if this will work, but I'll try to paste screenshot:

file:///home/phablet/Pictures/Screenshot from 2018-01-22 17-55-14.png

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6810https://forums.ubports.com/post/6810Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:18:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:53:07 GMT]]>@halucigenia PS What's the recommended way to find the audio bit rate of my wmv files?

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6809https://forums.ubports.com/post/6809Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:53:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:48:28 GMT]]>Hi again, my tablet is a BQ Aquarius M10 HD. The screen resolution is listed as:

1280 x 800 - 149 ppi

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6808https://forums.ubports.com/post/6808Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:48:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:29:09 GMT]]>I will test out some ffmpeg commands on some WMV files when I get home and let you know how I get on. Once you have some parameters that work OK for you on a single file setting up an automatic batch script to transcode all files from one folder to another should be easy enough.
What video resolution do you need the videos in?
What is the screen resolution of your tablet?
1280 x 800 - 149 ppi or Full HD 1920 x 1200 - 224 ppi ?

Using a high bitrate for the audio should be best, but can you tell what the original audio bitrate in those files is?

You might want to read and follow ffmpeg compilation guide for ubuntu or similar to get the best out of ffmpeg if you decide to use that.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6806https://forums.ubports.com/post/6806Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:29:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to How to play wmv video files? on Mon, 22 Jan 2018 15:56:36 GMT]]>Hi, thanks for your suggestion. I agree that could be the best solution. I could run the conversion on my desktop PC which is reasonably fast. I would need to do a trial run on a single file first to make sure I have selected the correct parameters. When I transcoded a wmv file to mp4 previously, I noticed a slight audio/video sync problem which proved to be very irritating. Thanks for your offer of help, but I haven't been able to find any suitable wmv files that I can provide. The only ones I have are the actual lessons which are proprietary and I'd prefer not to make pirate copies.

]]>https://forums.ubports.com/post/6805https://forums.ubports.com/post/6805Mon, 22 Jan 2018 15:56:36 GMT