Obtaining content

You can stream many types of content in Windows Media Format, including a radio show, a song, a television program, or a music video. Content can either be a stored Windows Media file or a live stream. You can also create a playlist file that references a combination of files and live streams and generates a continuous stream. The following table lists software available from Microsoft that you can use to create and edit Windows Media-based content.

Tool	Description
Windows Media Encoder	Use to convert both live and prerecorded content to Windows Media Format. Windows Media Services is compatible with Windows Media Encoder version 4.1 and later.
Windows Media Encoding Script	Use this command-line tool to convert both live and prerecorded audio and video into Windows Media files or streams.
Windows Media Player	Use to copy existing content from a CD.
Windows Movie Maker	Use to capture audio and video and do simple video editing. Windows Movie Maker is a feature of Windows XP Home Edition and Professional.
Windows Media Stream Editor	Use to split or combine streams in existing Windows Media files into new Windows Media files.
Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2002	Use to combine slides from a presentation created in Microsoft PowerPoint or Web pages created with Microsoft FrontPage® with audio and video.
Windows Media File Editor	Use to open and edit a file with a .wmv, .wma, or .asf file name extension. This utility enables you to trim the start and end points of a file, as well as add attributes, markers, and script commands.

For more information about obtaining and using any of the above products as well as information about additional content creation tools, see the Windows Media home page at the Microsoft Web site.

Note Image Notes

Support for encoding content in Windows Media Format is included in many third-party programs, such as Vegas Video and Sound Forge from Sonic Foundry, Premiere from Adobe, and VideoWave from MGI. Most of these products are used for advanced editing and processing of video and audio. When you finish working on a file, the program enables you to encode it as a Windows Media file.
Windows Media Services can create content from a broadcast stream using the WMS Archive Data Writer. For more information, see Archiving content.
Windows Media Services will not stream variable-bit-rate (VBR) MP3 files.
Content streamed by Windows Media Services must meet the minimum supported content length of the player to ensure reliable playback. The minimum supported content length for Windows Media Player 9 Series or later is 5 seconds. The minimum supported content length for previous versions of Windows Media Player is 30 seconds.

Obtaining content

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