I was at my local Target store and noticed that they were missing the Zune HD products. In fact, they only had a few of the older Zunes available and everything was marked as “Clearance” (the Zunes and accessories). So, it seems that either Target will no longer sell the Zunes at their local stores or they are trying to clear out everything for new Zune HD hardware and accessories? I’m not sure.

I do know that across the Zune display aisle is the Apple iPod assortment of products which seems to be selling in full force. What gets me, is that I don’t see a lot of advertisement for the Zune. The Sunday paper is full of ads for the iPods, but I rarely see anything for the Zune. I’m sure that if stores did more advertising, the Zunes would definitely be selling more. Go figure. I guess we’ll see what happens over the Christmas holidays.

Microsoft has released a firmware update for the Zune HD. To install it, you need to bring up the Zune Software on your PC and go to Settings -> Device -> Player Update to download and install version 4.3. I just did the process and it took about 3 minutes to complete. All my video and music files remained intact after the update.

Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows has all the details on what changes were included in this update. Mainly “faster-better” tweaks (which is good!).

EncodeHD is another video conversion tool that you might consider for your video needs. It is basically a simple front-end interface for FFMPEG, which does all the heavy lifting for the conversion process. You simply drag your source files into the main area of EncodeHD, select the output type, and click the “Start” button. Very easy to use, however, you don’t have a lot of control over the settings used (unless you already know the FFMPEG command line flags, in which case you can enter them under the “Advanced” screen).

Here’s a list of target devices that EncodeHD can create videos for. As you can see, there is an entry for “Zune” and “Zune HD”.

As a test, I converted a DVR-MS file (which is basically a container for MPEG2 video and audio) to a Zune HD output, and EncodeHD generated an MP4 file. So, EncodeHD only creates Mp4 formatted video files, not WMV files for the Zune. When I check the details of the generated MP4 file, I see the following attributes:

The video bit rate seems pretty high (which is good) but the frame rate doesn’t seem correct to me. In any case, this might be a good simple tool if you want to do some quick conversions. EncodeHD also uses other freeware utilities such as AtomicParsley to embed some meta data tags (e.g., video title, description, etc.), however, none of those tags are read by the Zune media player.

Microsoft Windows Encoder 9 has been my workhorse for encoding videos to WMV format for my Zune. It has a graphical user interface as well as a command line interface (which I mainly use), along with its own SDK that can be tied into custom applications (like the VisualBasic code, Media Encoder Batch). Unfortunately, in 2003 Microsoft decided to stop development to WME9 in favor of its replacement, Microsoft Expressions Encoder.

This evening, I decided to check out Expressions just to see how it compared to its predecessor, WME9, particularly for creating high-quality WMV files for the Zune HD. As it turns out, Expressions is designed to generate such files for the Zune HD. Below is what the main interface looks like with Expressions. It is actually a much cleaner GUI than WME9, in my opinion.

Among the various predefined output settings, was one for the Zune HD and another for the Zune HD playback on a AV-Dock. The settings were defined as:

One nice thing, is that Expressions can convert native WTV files (recordings generated by Windows 7 Media Center) which WME9 could not do. Also, you can use the Expressions to cut out commercial segments manually if you wish before the conversion process. As a test, I tried converting a WTV file which was in standard 4:3 format, and the default Zune HD conversion settings generated a 480×272 WMV file with black bars to the sides of the video (preserving the aspect ratio of the original 4:3 source). The quality of the playback was very good.

The only bad thing I see with Expressions, is that the version 3 does not have a command line interface. So you either use the GUI they provide or write your own code to interface with the Expressions SDK.

Most importantly, Microsoft Expressions Encoder 3 is free. You can download it from this link and run it on your Vista or Windows 7 system.

So if you want to use Microsoft’s latest free encoder software to create WMV files for your Zune, here it is.

For you diehard videophiles who want the perfect video conversion, I think I’ve finally perfected the process of taking TV show recordings and turning them into WMV files for the Zune HD. There were lots of challenges to getting this to work, especially finding the right combination of tools and settings.

Now, the objective is to convert a TV show recording (WTV file from Windows 7 Media Center) into a WMV formatted file for my Zune HD media player. My TV recordings are in standard NTSC format (4:3 ratio) which is a squarish picture. The Zune HD has a wide-screen display (16:9) so I need to configure the conversion to handle this situation. One option is to stretch the picture side ways to fill the screen, but then the displayed image is distorted. Another option is to crop off part of the top and bottom of the TV image to create the 16:9 size. For my process, I decided to do the cropping option.

So, my first step is to convert the WTV file to the older DVR-MS format because most of the available conversion tools are compatible with DVR-MS and not WTV format. This is done by using a conversion program (wtvconverter.exe) that is supplied with Windows 7. Note, that the TV video resolution is 720×480, so we need to do some cropping to get it down to the 16:9 ratio size.

For this operation, I chose to use a freeware program called FFMPEG which is designed for video conversions. My goal in this step is to crop off 38 pixels from the top and bottom of the image, and then shrink the image down to a final size of 480×272 (which is the Zune HD screen resolution). I also want to convert the DVR-MS file to MPEG2 format at the same time. To do all this, I use the following command line with FFMPEG:

ffmpeg -i inputfile.dvr-ms -aspect 16:9 -sameq -acodec copy -croptop 38 -cropbottom 38 -s 480×272 -y  outputfile.mpg

Once I do this conversion step, I should have an MPEG2 video file with a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels retaining the same video and audio settings as the original DVR-MS file. I discovered that this is a very critical step, since I was having trouble doing this operation with other tools and generating a clean video image (in a lot of my tests, I would get a video that had a lot of “video tearing”, which is pixelation or jagged edges around fast moving objects).

The next step is to convert this MPEG2 file to WMV format for my Zune HD. The best tool I found to do this is Windows Media Encoder 9 (WME9) by Microsoft. It’s a freeware application readily available from the Internet. The key in using this product, is to define the proper video settings for the conversion. That is done using a Windows Media Profile file (.prx) which WME9 uses in the conversion process. Below are the settings that I use:

Video Codec: Windows Media Video 9 – CBR (Constant Bit Rate)
Audio Codec: Windows Media Audio 9.2 – CBR
Audio Format: 128 kbps, 44 kHz Stereo CBR
Video Size: 480 x 270
Frame Rate: 29.97 fps, Key frame interval: 1 sec
Video bit rate: 1200 kbps
Buffer size: 5 secs
Video Smoothness: 85
Decoder complexity: Auto

To make all this happen automatically, I use a freeware tool called DVRMSToolbox (DTB). This wonderful tool will monitor a specified folder on my PC for new TV recording files, and when those files are completed it will begin the conversion process that I’ve outlined in this posting. It will also cut out the commercials and transfer all the metadata (i.e., show title,description,air date, etc) automatically to the final WMV file. Here’s a link to the DTB profile that I use for this conversion, as well as the Windows Media Profile for WME9.

Note, that there’s lots of other methods and tools you can use for such a conversion (and believe me, I’ve tried most of them), but the procedure that I’ve outlined here was the only one that worked for my PC system and produced a final video that didn’t have video tearing effects, and had the audio completely in sync the video.

On a daily basis I record TV shows with my TV Tuner card and convert them for viewing on my Zune HD media player, so I automate the process using a wonderful utility called DVRMSToolbox (DTB). In conjunction with another great tool called ShowAnalyzer, I have a process of scanning through a recorded TV show file to find commercials, strip them out, and then convert the edited video file to WMV format for my Zune HD. All completely automatic.

Now, with a video conversion there’s lot of different converters, options, and settings you can use. For the Zune, I have the option of generating WMV or MP4 formatted files. I prefer using the WMV format, since it is designed to run on Microsoft OS devices. The MP4 is equally good, and is more universal as it can run on the Zune as well as the Apple iPod and other video media players. I opted for WMV because I can add more metadata (e.g., TV Show title, category, etc) than with the MP4 format.

With regards to playback quality, I’m not sure which of the formats (WMV or MP4) is better. That is one thing that I want to investigate in the future. Along with picking a format, there is a multitude of settings you can use. Video bit rate, Audio bit rate and frequency, frames per second, smoothness settings, keyframe rate, etc. are some of the different settings you can use. Each setting will affect the video playback quality as well as the final file size, so there’s a trade off. If you don’t care about file size, you can jack up the settings for the best quality. If generating a smaller file size is important, then you need to dial down these settings.

Being the stickler that I am with my videos, I’ll sacrifice having a larger file size if I can get better video quality. It really annoys me when the video I’m watching has a lot of video tearing, pixelation, bluriness, or jumpiness. I want a really smooth and high quality video for playback on my Zune.

In using DVRMSToolbox, I have several different methods for creating WMV files. The ConvertToFile action is one, the external program called DVRMSToWMVHD is another, and there’s the old standby, Microsoft Window Media Encoder. Over the last few days I’ve experimented with all of them, and have discovered that on my newly rebuilt Windows 7 32-bit system both the ConvertToFile and DVRMSToWMVHD methods create videos that have the audio out-of-sync with the video picture. The two second delay in audio is just enough to drive me crazy, and I can’t seem to track down the problem. I’m guessing it must be a bad or conflicting video/audio codec on my system, but I’m not savvy enough to figure out which one. So, I’ve resorted to using Windows Media Encoder (WME) as my main workhorse for converting videos to WMV format.

With Windows 7 Media Center, my TV shows are recorded in WTV format (new for Windows 7). As such, I need to first run a program to convert the WTV file to the old DVR-MS format so I can use the tools in DTB to do the conversion. So here’s basically what I do with DTB for converting my TV shows:

1. Convert the WTV file to DVR-MS format
2. Use ShowAnalyzer to identify all the commercial segments in the DVR-MS file
3. Use DTB actions to cut out the commercials and create a new edited DVR-MS file
4. Use the program called ffmpeg to convert the edited DVR-MS file to MPEG2 format
5. Use Windows Media Encoder to convert the MPEG2 file to WMV format
6. Migrate the metadata from the original WTV file over to the generated WMV file
7. Grab an image from the WMV file at the 1 minute mark and save it as a jpg file
8. Insert the jpg image as cover art into the WMV file
9. Delete all temp files

Now for step (5), I have the ability to specify several different settings that I mentioned earlier to affect the quality of the generated WMV file. Again, I want the best quality video so I use the following settings:

• 720 x 480 video size (same as TV recording file)
• Video bit rate: 1200 kbps (a relatively high rate for fast action video)
• Frame rate: 29 fps (TV show recording is at 29.97 fps, so I wanted to keep this high as well for high motion in the video)
• Key frame interval: 1 (I want to use every frame available for the highest quality playback)
• Video smoothness: 40 (The range is from 0 to 100, where 0 is the smoothest and 100 is the sharpest. I’ve noticed that I get a lot of video tearing (jaggedness) around the edges of moving objects during playback if I set this value too high, so 40 seems to work ok for my Zune HD)
• Audio bit rate: 128 kbps, 44 kHz, Stereo

Now with those settings, the created WMV file for a 42 minute TV show is about 413 MB which is kind of large, but acceptable by me. My Zune HD has a max storage space of about 29 GB, so I can’t have too many videos on my Zune HD at the same time at that rate. But, I normally don’t have more than 8 videos at a time.

So, it took a lot of experimenting to get a procedure in place for generating acceptable WMV videos for my Zune HD. I still get a little bit of video tearing now and then, but the most important thing is that the audio is in sync with the video.

My next series of tests will be to examine the MP4 format, and see if the playback quality is better than the WMV format. I’ll also need to make sure I can migrate the important metadata from the original WTV file over to the MP4 file, so they are available on my Zune HD screen.

After doing a clean install of Windows 7 on my main desktop PC, I installed Windows Media Encoder 9 to assist in video file conversions to WMV format for my Zune. When I tried to run this command to do a batch conversion,

c:\Windows\System32\cscript.exe “C:\Program Files\Windows Media Components\Encoder\WMCmd.vbs” -input “C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV\ER_TNTP.mpg” -output “C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV\ER_TNTP.wmv” -loadprofile “c:\Dave’s Files\VideoTools\zune_profile_hd.prx” -v_clip 0 2 0 0

this error message dialogbox appears on the screen,

This error is related to the Data Execution Protection feature in the Windows OS, and the system won’t run the VisualBasic script to do the conversion. The proper corrective action is to use this HotFix supplied by Microsoft titled, “Hotfix entitled: FIX: You may experience issues when you use Windows Media Encoder 9 Series on a computer that is running Windows Vista”. After installing this HotFix (originally designed for Vista), I can run this conversion script with no issues.

So if you’re running Windows 7 or Vista and you see this error when trying to use Windows Media Encoder in batch mode, here’s your fix!

One thing that I learned with all the video conversion investigation I did today, is that the latest Zune Software (3.0) will automatically convert your recorded TV shows to Zune format for your Zune. What you need to do, is add your “Recorded TV” show folder as a monitored video folder in the Zune Software settings. Then, whenever a WTV file (new format for Windows 7)  is found in that folder the Zune Software will automatically begin the conversion and syncing process. Easy!

It actually converts the video in a reasonable amount of time, especially if you have two or four processors in your machine. I know that some users in the past have complained that the background conversion program (ZuneEnc.exe) is running with a very low priority (and thus runs slow), I didn’t see much slowness on my system. Of course, I have an Intel Quad Core processor so that may be the reason. So if you aren’t in a big hurry and do most of your TV show conversions over night, that may be the easiest way to get your TV shows on your Zune.

Now, if you want to have the commercials stripped from your shows before converting and syncing to your Zune, you’ll need to use a different process (like I do, using DVRMSToolbox) and some procedure scripts.

I’ve spend all day today working on this out-of-sync audio issue I have with my video conversion process. I explained the issue in my previous posting, which I find strange since I was very careful to not install any codec packs. After my fresh install of the Windows 7 OS, I installed DVRMSToolBox along with Windows Media Encoder 9 and its SDK. It might be that WME9 could have installed some DirectShow Filter or codec that is causing this problem.

So, I ran several tests today converting my 1-hour WTV file (Stargate Atlantis TV Show) with different settings. Ultimately, here was my final solution:

1. Installed the freeware called InstalledCodec which I used to display all the audio and video codecs as well as DirectShow filters installed on my Windows 7 machine.
2. Using InstalledCodec, I sorted the list of items by installed date, and then disabled all of them from working. Since I very recently install the Win 7 OS on my system, it was easy for me to identify the new codecs and filters that were installed after the OS by date.
3. I then ran my various conversion tests, using many different methods.

Now, under these conditions I should have only the basic codecs, splitters, encoders, filters, etc. working on my system. Essentially, everything that was supplied by Windows 7 (and any downloaded updates). So after running my various tests, I still was unable to rectify the out-of-sync audio situation for my test file. So I began to think that maybe the test file was messed up when it was recorded (even though my TV Tuner card has it’s own built-in MPEG encoder) with a previous installed codec, splitter, etc.

Thus, I manually recorded a 30-minute news broadcast to a WTV file, and use that file for a 2nd test. After the conversion process, I examined the generated WMV file on my Zune HD, and low-and-behold the audio appeared to be in complete sync with the video from start to finish! So, maybe it was something on my system before the “big purge” that was causing the WTV file to be messed up. But that is really strange, since the converted video files on my PC played back fine.

I can’t explain it… I’ll just hope that by removing all those 3rd-party Codecs and filters that my system can convert videos once again without making the final product appear to be like an old English-dubbed Bruce Lee movie!

If I continue to have problems in the future, I’ll need to keep disabling any MPEG and audio -related items shown in InstalledCodec until I find the one that is causing the problem. It actually might be a Windows 7 installed item, which I might need to replace with a 3rd-party codec. Time will tell…

As you’ve read in my previous postings, I use a utility called DVRMSToolBox (DTB) to convert my recorded TV shows from DVR-MS format to WMV format for my Zune HD. My previous Vista 32-bit system worked great using this conversion process, but since upgrading to the Windows 7 64-bit OS I’ve had a slight problem with my video files.

First, Windows 7 Media Center now creates WTV files instead of DVR-MS, so I need to add in an extra step in my conversion process to convert the WTV files back to the DVR-MS format for my utility to process them into WMV format. That seems to work ok, using the converter called “dtvconverter.exe” provided with Windows 7.

The issue, is that the created WMV file has a slight audio delay when I play it back on my Zune HD. The audio is out-of-sync with the played video by about 2 seconds, which is really annoying. Now, the same video file plays ok on my Windows 7 desktop PC, but it has the 2-second audio delay when I play it on my Zune HD.

So, I’m not sure what the problem is, as it could be a number of things. To rule out the converter program, I tried using several different methods at my immediate disposal (e.g., Windows Media Encoder 9 x64-bit, Microsoft Live Movie Maker (that came with Win 7), DVRMStoWMVHD (supplied by the makers of DTB), and also the ConvertToFile action included in the DTB utility). None of them created a WMV file that didn’t have the 2-second audio sync problem.

I’m now thinking the problem might be with the Audio or Video Codec that is installed on my Win 7 system. Since installing codec packs can be troublesome, I was trying to use whatever was installed on my Win 7 by default. But, that may be the issue. So, I’ve installed AntiPack, which is a set of codec filters by the maker of DTB which I hope will fix the problem. I’m currently running some conversion test cases now, so I’ll report back if I’m successful.