36 Comments

How-To: Convert WMV to MOV for playback in iTunes [Windows]

October 17, 2005 by in AV,Entertainment,Howto,Tech with 36 Comments

We received a few requests concerning our tutorials for downloading music videos from Yahoo! Launch [How-To: Downloading Yahoo! Music Videos with Firefox & VLC], I decided it would only be appropriate to throw together a tutorial for importing said videos into iTunes.

Unfortunately, there are no open source [read: "free"] options for converting WMV video files into MOV files on Windows. OSX users can follow our simple tutorial here: How-To: Play WMV files in iTunes. The only option Windows users have is to utilize shareware or paid programs. These utilites can range in cost from $20 – $50. They’re not “free”. Cough, cough. Be resourceful. Keep in mind that most conversion software does include a demo period.

For this short tutorial I chose to utilize Video Cleaner Pro and Quicktime 7 Pro.

Step 1: Assuming you’ve downloaded a WMV video of your choice [read tutorial above], open Video Cleaner Pro and select the ‘Add+’ button. Select your WMV file and select ‘Open’. At the bottom of the window you’ll notice output format, video settings, audio settings, and output directory. The default settings can be left alone. The main settings to change are the output format [choose AVI] and output directory [choose the directory of your choice]. Select the ‘Convert >>’ button and wait for Video Cleaner to convert your WMV file into an AVI file.

Step 2: Next, open Quicktime Pro and select ‘File > Open File’ and locate your WMV file. Once your video opens, play the file to check for video quality. The converted file obviously falls short of being HD quality. After verifying the video, select ‘File > Export’. Default settings (Movie to Quicktime Move) can be left alone. Select ‘Save’ and wait for Quicktime to convert the large AVI file into a more manageable MOV file (~100MB). The export may take some time depending on your system specs.

Step 3: Import the newly converted file into iTunes, tag appropriately, and enjoy! Time to make use of that new Video section in iTunes 6 eh?

iPod Video users: If you plan on viewing your Yahoo! music videos on your iPod, utilize Quicktime 7 PRO to export to an iPod friendly format before importing into iTunes 6. In the export options drop down menu, select ‘Movie to iPod (320×240)’ before clicking ‘Save’. The resulting movie can then be imported into iTunes and on to your shiny new iPod video player.


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  • Dylan

    Yes but, I beleive that the higher quality wmvs wont do so well being converted to avi, them to mov, beacuse mine isnt working all that well, converting avi to mov took around 5 hours, and the video is choppy, jumpy, and slow. the audio is perfect though…

  • http://5thirtyone.com Derek

    5 hours? It took about 30 mins total to convert from the high WMV to AVI to M4V.

    Of course your machine specs will affect the conversion times. I haven’t noticed any choppiness whatsoever.

  • Dylan

    Computer:
    Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
    OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
    Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2)
    DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
    Computer Name INFERNOTRON
    User Name Locke

    Motherboard:
    CPU Type AMD Athlon XP, 1200 MHz (12 x 100)
    Motherboard Name PCChips M810LR (2 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 AMR, 2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
    Motherboard Chipset SiS 730S
    System Memory 320 MB (SDRAM)
    BIOS Type AMI (09/13/02)
    Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

    Display:
    Video Adapter SiS 630/730 (64 MB)
    3D Accelerator SiS 300 Integrated
    Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (124028933)

    Multimedia:
    Audio Adapter SiS 7018 Audio Accelerator

    Storage:
    IDE Controller SiS PCI IDE Controller
    Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
    Disk Drive Maxtor 6E030L0 (30 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
    Optical Drive DVD-ROM
    SMART Hard Disks Status OK

    Partitions:
    C: (NTFS) 29313 MB (16862 MB free)

    Input:
    Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

    Network:
    Network Adapter SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter (24.254.33.147)
    Modem HSP56 MR

    Peripherals:
    Printer hp deskjet 3820 series
    USB1 Controller SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller
    USB1 Controller SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller

    I think thats pretty good, but its only the converted vid’s that play choppy, all other vid’s play perfect…

  • Dylan

    I found that its a problem with Quicktime playing the movie. VLC plays it just fine. . .

  • http://prethip.blogspot.com madhu

    still better use flip4mac codec and open it in qtime and convert it to whatever ipod supports or try using the export to ipod automator plugin form automator.us

  • Dylan

    Found Problem. QT was converting it to h.264 and my vidcard can’t handle it. I’ve got it working now, Thanks Guys!

  • Lou-Dizzle

    I love it thank.. Just one thing though. The file is still 100 or more MB’s is there a way i can still convert it or compress it so that its only round 20mb like itunes format?

  • Lou-Dizzle

    I figured it out just choose Movie to ipod option in quicktime pro. Hey thanks for all this info :)

  • Justin

    Here’s a faster way I convert wmvs:

    (1) First download STOIK Video Converter. It comes with a fully functional 15-day trial (except for video editing, which isn’t really needed).

    (2) Open a wmv (or mov: that works too) in the input box and choose a folder and file name in the output box, like C:\My Movie.avi

    In the output format, use DV AVI file (PAL) setting, or a different one if you know what you’re doing.

    Now click Record at the bottom and wait until complete.

    (3) Open Videora iPod Converter and click transcode new and find your file e.g. C:\My Movie.avi (or just click one-click transcode).

    Once done, navigate to the folder in which it saves your transcoded videos (Check under the Settings > Settings tab) and drag it to your itunes library.

  • Tim

    I think you just go straight from wmv to mov using the mov booster pack from River Past..

    http://www.riverpast.com/en/boosters/mov/index.php

    Sounds more convenient.

  • Kyle

    xilisoft will go from wmv to mp4 and not get owned by quicktime pros bullshit! its only 35 dollars and encodes 5-6 times faster with great results, and its easy to cough cough stumble upon a free copy of. _>

  • Jonny Ward

    I use limewire to download movies to go on my ipod video. when i try to transfer them all onto itunes only some of them are transferred. there seems to be no reason that i can find for this. i have downloaded avi movies that won’t import onto itunes and others that will. is there any way to get all of my videos onto itunes

  • http://homepage.mac.com/stushipp18 StuDog

    I know this is a little late, but I’ve found a quick workable way to convert wmv to mpg. I use mpg mostly with my videos. I’m sure mov is great and all, but the sizes are astronomical. The wmv’s are usually around 15mb and the mpg’s convert to about 30mb. If anyone wants to give it a try, it’s free and is called TMPGenc.

    http://www.tmpgenc.net

    too bad it only works with windows. anyway, the process is pretty cut and dry, and I’ve had no audio-sync problems at all. And I’ve converted some 50 videos already.

  • Eric

    I got Xilisoft DVD to iPod Suite 2.1.55 for whomever would like it.
    It is perfect for converting any file to an iPod compatible video file. Includes full tutorial. E-mail at doomed2010@gmail.com if your interested.

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  • Adam

    I was able to just load the wmv file right into Videora Ipod Converter and it converted it to an mp4 just fine.

  • linda

    I need to download video clips for power point presentation at the unicersity. I have real player only and sometimes it says that the video is copy right and is unable to download. Where can I pay the fees to make videos accesible.

  • David in the UK

    You people go to jodix.com
    they have what you people are looking for (and it works(and it is free))

  • Stacy

    nice… http://www.jodix.com is a good place to get a program for converting…

    no popups n stuff at all

    easy use

    no spyware as far as i can see… i checked for any hidden downloaded programs… absolutely none

    Thanks, David in the UK : ]

  • ilyasemre

    avril lavinge he wasn’t

  • brad

    hi, i have the 5th generation ipod video and i dont know how to convert my limewire videos onto my ipod.

  • mike

    vlc can be used to convert wmv to mov for free…

  • laxinboi

    There is a free “…to MP4″ video converter, called Videora.

    http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/

    Works perfectly, been using it for months.

  • Jhon

    I cant get the movie to go on iTunes so I can put them on my ipod video

  • Dorin Ionescu

    I bought Quick Time Pro and can not open WMV files ? – error 2048
    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????

  • Dorin Ionescu

    I found the answer – at step 2 change with . Quicktime can not convert WMV (licence between big competitors …) so you need a WMV2AVI convertor (I used because it is free (you pay for edit only)) but I may test Video Cleaner Pro one day

    Thank you for instructions
    Dorin

  • Dorin Ionescu

    (resubmitted becouse I used lt ant gt characters and it was a mess)
    Dorin Ionescu March 21st, 2007 – 6:42 am
    I found the answer – at step 2 change [locate your WMV file] with [locate your AVI file]. Quicktime can not convert WMV (licence between big competitors …) so you need a WMV2AVI convertor (I used because it is free (you pay for edit only)) but I may test Video Cleaner Pro one day

    Thank you for instructions
    Dorin

  • Dorin Ionescu

    (resubmitted again becouse I used lt ant gt characters and it was a mess – your software [eat] html tags between lt and gt)
    Dorin Ionescu March 21st, 2007 – 6:42 am
    I found the answer – at step 2 change [locate your WMV file] with [locate your AVI file]. Quicktime can not convert WMV (licence between big competitors …) so you need a WMV2AVI convertor (I used [STOIK Imaging] because it is free (you pay for edit only)) but I may test Video Cleaner Pro one day

    Thank you for instructions
    Dorin

  • Bob

    One step solution with no hassles — have a look at iSquint.

    http://www.isquint.org/

  • Viki

    prefer to use powerful Melodycan Ultra Video converter (http://www.melodycan.com/convert_video.html). This software converts avi (Windows Video), WMV (Windows Media Video) and m4v, mov, aac, ra, aa, mp4, snd, aif, m4p, rax, wav, ogg etc.

    MelodyCan can also convert video files of any kinds to commonly used[b] iPod MPEG4 files (MP4) and DivX files (AVI, DIVX)[/b] for playback at home video devices. With MelodyCan you are not bound to your PC anymore and can play your movies on almost any device you have. MelodyCan can convert protected Windows Media Video (WMV) files to regular MPEG4 files (mp4) for iPod devices or convert WMV to DivX format for home DVD/DivX players. MelodyCan also can convert protected iTunes video files (M4V) to MPEG4 or DivX.

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  • jake

    hey nerd

    how do u put movies on to itunes with vista??????

    thnks nerd

    wb

  • windbell

    I use Daniusoft media converter pro, it can handle with all types of video audio files, for wmv video (or drm wmv wma), just import it to the software, select mp4 as output formats, then wait for the conversion, it works easy and great

    http://www.wmatomp3-converter.com/digital-media-converter-pro.html#123

    Then just follow below steps to put movie to itunes for ipod
    1. Open iTunes and click “File” to add your videos to iTunes library.
    2. plug in your iPod to computer, then iTunes will detect your iPod as a device.
    3. Select your iPod device on the left panel of iTunes, click “Movies” tab, check the videos you want to sync and click “Apply”, done.

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