15 Comments

How-To: Download videos using the .ASX URI & VLC

September 19, 2005 by in AV,Howto,Tech with 15 Comments

Occasionally you may come across a video that can not be downloaded using the embedded video technique, or by utilizing the available MMS:// URI. Sometimes the required information isn’t made available. Most streaming content that internet users have access to are in the .ASX (Advanced Stream Redirector) format. Fortunately Adam did a little testing with VLC to discover the MMS:// URI of .ASX streams:

1) Go to your music code site of choice [videocodes4u.com] and find the HTML code for the video. You don’t want all the code; rather, you want the segment starting in HTTP:// and ending in .asx, like so:

ASX VLC

ASX VLC2) Open VLC and select “File > Open Network…�. In the dialog box, click the “HTTP://…� radio button, then insert the address to the .ASX file that you just copied. Before clicking “OK�, make sure the box next to Stream Output� is unchecked.

ASX VLC3) After clicking “OK�, VLC will churn for a few seconds, and then the streaming video will start playing. Don’t be alarmed if the video is choppy and/or the audio does not play. While the .asx file is playing, select “Window > Info�. Doing so will bring up a dialog box displaying information about the video. Consequently, one of these pieces of info is the MMS:// address needed to save the video file to a local drive. Select this address, copy it, and then close the box. Once this is done, close the .ASX video as well.

ASX VLC4) Again, go to “File > Open Network�. Insert the MMS:// address into the box next to the “HTTP://…� button. This time, make sure the box next to “Stream Output� is selected. Click the “Settings…� button.

ASX VLC5) In the settings box, click the “File� radio button, then specify a location in which to save the file. Save the file as “filename.WMV, with ‘filename’ being whatever text you choose. Check the box next to “Dump Raw Input� and select “Raw� from the Video Encapsulation dropdown menu. Click “OK� to close out of the settings box, then click “OK� once more. The video will now download to your local drive.

Again, hat tip to Adam for helping out UNEASY readers…


  • http://freeipods.com/?r=19399292 xSmurf

    Great post! I listen to this great radio show that, sadly, streams in WMA (www.ninjatune.net/solidsteel) and use a similar trick.

    For the more *nix inclined of us, you can also use mplayer (it’s located somewhere in the MPlayerX app).
    Usage goes like this:
    $ mplayer -dumpfile “File name.wma” -dumpstream mms://stream.com/url
    I personally use VLC to figure out the MMS url if it comes from a redirecting url. When there is a .asx file, I simply open it with BBEdit (or Smultron) and get the MMS url.
    Also, Windows Media Player is absolutely horrible and VLC isn’t the best for music, worst of all, I like to listen to the streams on my iPod so I use EasyWMA (www.easywma.com) to convert the wma file to WAV or MP3. Hope this helps :)

  • http://freeipods.com/?r=19399292 xSmurf

    hmmm I just noticed that you can do that with vlc to!
    /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC mms://anything_ending_in.wmv \
    –sout file/avi:movie.avi

  • schatten

    im stuck on step 2, when i paste the code on the http field and press ok it does nothing … im using vlc on winxp … what do i need to do to make it work?

  • 311

    i try this steps but what i get is only 41 kb which isnt enough,and it cant be played(im using vlc).i noticed that the player progress download bar is on and off.pls help me..thanks

  • dee

    thank you thank you thank you thank you.
    best instructions ever. I used vlc and it works. fancy that.

  • http://www.netinter.cn 虚拟主机

    I am stuck on step 2, when I paste the code on the http field , then press ok it does nothing,What’s wrong.

  • Damon

    Those stuck on step 2, are you sure you have the right adress? Is it .asx?
    How good is your internet connection?

    It worked ace for me. Cheers Derek and Adam!!

  • Eddy

    I was able to get it to work but only if i UNCHECKED the “dump raw imput” box in step 5 only then was I able to select Raw from the Video Encapsulation dropdown menu.

  • dorian

    nice! thanks a lot!

  • adam

    i did every freaking step but still, i didn’t work. I thought it was doing ok, i waited till the whole thing finished downloading. but after that, i can’t open the file.

  • Toro

    Tip: some of the streams may have space in the name, this will cause VLC or SDP to reject the file.

    For example:

    mms://somewebsite.com/Patrol of Snow Your Eyes.wmv

    Try adding a % 20 to the URL, and off you go! (remove the space in between % and 20 and insert in between the spaces of the URL)

  • dl97

    Worked like a charm, however similar to Toro’s comment, I had to remove an extraneous slash in the address, e.g.:

    http://wm.wxia.gannett.edgestreams.net/news//makethingshappen/liss6pm062007.wmv?MSWMExt=.asf

    had to be:

    http://wm.wxia.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/makethingshappen/liss6pm062007.wmv?MSWMExt=.asf

    instead. Hope this helps someone!

  • dl97

    To continue, once the above was done, the corresponding mms:// addy worked w/out issue.

    Also, you must wait for the entire video to load after hitting Ok to load the mms:// addy.

    Lastly, I had to check Dump Raw Input (which grayed out the other “Raw” option). Unchecking DRI and checking Raw under Encapsulation (apparently no longer a checkbox, but a radio button instead) made the resulting file unplayable.

    Hope this helps someone!

  • itsjareds

    You can also get the mms:// address by saving the asx file, then opening it with a text editor. It has the URL right there.

  • Derek

    I’ve been trying to download an .asx file from NBA.com and convert it into a .wmv file using this method. Everything works, meaning that I have a .wmv file that is saved locally on my computer – but when I try to “Import Into Collections” on my Windows Movie Maker it tells me that it can’t be imported because it is not indexed. Also, when I open up the new .wmv file in Windows Media Player, it doesn’t allow me to fast-forward or skip to certain parts of the video – I have to watch it “as-is” all the way through. Is there any way to get around this using VLC or is this just something I have to live with?

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