.WTV Support

[grondinm]

i know this is an old thread just wondering if this is still begin worked on. the tool mentioned in the last post looks promising have not tried it myself.

[AcumenProbitas]

I'm running RTM/Final Windows 7 and it has the ability to convert wtv to dvr-ms built in, just right click on the .wtv and it's right there.

[mkny13]

I'm running RTM/Final Windows 7 and it has the ability to convert wtv to dvr-ms built in, just right click on the .wtv and it's right there.

Yes, but that doesn't help me when I'm in the living room and want to watch some recently recorded show on my PS3. I want Filewatcher to take care of it in the background, automatically.

[stingrray]

I know this is an old thread, but I just installed Windows 7 and found the WTV to DVR-MS was required before using PS3MS.

mkny13,
The built in option for "convert to .dvr-ms Format" is actually just calling an exe. You could set this as a batch file to run after your nightly recordings complete then your DVR-MS shows would be waiting for you.

Here are the exe details:

C:\Users\stingrray>cd \Windows\ehome
C:\Windows\ehome>WTVConverter
C:\Windows\ehome>
Converts a recorded TV file from .wtv to .dvr-ms format.

Usage:
WTVConvrter path_to_sourcefile [path_to_targetfile] [/ShowUI] [/?]

path_to_sourcefile: Specifies the path to the .wtv file to convert.
path_to_targetfile: Specifies the path to the .dvr-ms file to create.
/ShowUI: Displays a progress bar dialog box during the conversion process.
/?: Displays usage information.

Notes:
- You must specify a path to an existing folder for path_to_targetfile.
- You can use the wildcard '*' when converting multiple source files.
The .dvr-ms files will be created with the same name as the .wtv files.
- If you do not specify path_to_targetfile, the .dvr-ms file is created in the same location as the .wtv file.
Examples:
WTVConverter d:\RecordedTV\Arthur.wtv d:\ConvertedTV\Arthur.dvr-ms /ShowUI
WTVConverter d:\RecordedTV\*.wtv d:\ConvertedTV\
WTVConverter d:\RecordedTV\*.wtv

[mkny13]

Yes, but then (I believe) 7MC won't automatically manage the files, culling old and watched shows as needed. Can anyone verify that if you manually convert wtv to dvrms, 7MC will still manage the files internally, including knowing not to record duplicate episodes?

I still think this functionality should be integrated into PMS--I could manually convert all my DVD images into some PS3 friendly format too but I prefer to let PMS handle that for me on the fly.

[stingrray]

I too believe this functionality should be integrated into PMS. It is needed for anyone running Windows 7 and Windows 7 offers a good solution for capturing video content so it is right in line with what PMS is all about.

mkny13,
7MC knows not to record duplicate episodes based on previous history, not based on what files are on your hard drive.
I will test tonight to see if it will delete these dvrms files to preserve drive space. That is really the only file manipulation your going to get out of 7MC. The options for deleting files once they either...
1 - start filling up your hard drive
2 - reach your max episodes saved setting
3 - remove watched shows
4 - so on so forth...

I doubt it will remove the watched shows, that would be deleting two files after watching only one of them.

[mkny13]

OK, let me know how your testing goes. And thanks for the info above.

[stingrray]

The first test I did removed all the dvrms files I had, so I have only done one test so far.

If you set the max TV limit under Settings > TV > Recorder Storage, it will delete dvrms files once you have reached that max.

I will do a quick recording with the delete after watching setting turned on and report how that goes.
**Update - I never did get a show to delete after watching. First time I have messed with the setting, so I am not sure if I am doing right or not.

The only setting left would be delete files after so many episodes or once they are so many weeks (months) old. These will require at least two weeks to see the results, so I doubt I will remember to either check for results or post an update here

[devlin85]

Just use Windows Media Player to stream the WTV files.. Use PMS for everything else, but converting the files to DVRMS will lead to more issues than its worth. And i have tried several times and to just have PMS crash after it starts playing, then when it does work you cant fast forward or rewind. So just use windows media player and save yourself the hassle..

[cmonster]

Going back to WMC from PMS is like going from Windows 7 to Windows NT. Well, maybe Windows 2000. Maybe not as painful but definitely as slow. There has to be someone out there fed up with the WTV format and is working on some type of muxer/transcoder that can be incorporated into PMS.