[MEncoder-users] WMV file - removing stream

[Grégory SCHMITT]

Hello,

First of all, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to advanced video
manipulations, so please bear with me if I ask a stupid question.

I have a bunch of wmv files (which are the result of a daily, free tv
show available on the Internet). The show is offered for streaming via
a mms protocol. So far, I was downloading them using mplayer and the
-dumpstream option, so I could save it for later use and burn on a
dvd-rom.

Until September, the wmv simply had a video stream (at 290kbps) and an
audio stream, everything muxed together in a wmv container. Since early
September, the broadcaster has decided to bring a change and offer the
show in two different video qualities, 377kbps and 177kbps, with two
different streams, still with a single audio stream, in one file. I have
successfuly isolated the two video by using the -dumpvideo option, with
-vid 02 and -vid 03, and indeed, vid 02 is more than two times the size
of vid 03. I can however barely notice the quality difference between
the two streams (quality is not a concern here, 177kbps is good enough
for my needs).

Now my question: I want to download AND save only one video stream, not
both. Worst case scenario, I'll dump the complete stream and modify it
to remove vid 02.

I've tried using the -dumpvideo and -dumpaudio options, which work fine
and have now two dumps; however, according to mplayer doc, these dumps
won't be of any use to me. Is there any way to re-multiplex them into a
single file ? 

I also tried using mencoder with -ovc copy and -oac copy directly from
the wmf file to an avi file, but the resulting file behaves erraticaly
(tons of error messages during encoding, choppy play...).

Thanks for any help you could bring me.

-- 
Grégory SCHMITT <mailto:gy.schmitt at gmail.com>