WM Recorder User Guide

WM Recorder 15 stream and screen recording app

WM Recorder 15 adds a screen recording section (Video Clone) to its regular stream downloading section (WM Recorder). Video Clone allows you to record videos from your computer screen. These are videos that cannot be downloaded, captured or decrypted. The quality of the videos recorded from your screen is excellent.

Normally the two recorders should operate together. WM Recorder works in the background, behind the browser windows and pops up only when a video or audio stream was captured. Video Clone works in front of the browsers and clones the desktop or a marked area of the desktop. Just click "Start Recording" to record a video that was not captured by WM Recorder. Find out more about Video Clone here.

When you first open WM Recorder the stream and screen recording windows are detached and they can be opened one at the time using the SCREEN button. Note however that the stream recording window will pop-up any time a downloadable media was detected. This minimizes the screen capture window. 

And here is the screen recorder (Video Clone) window

When you click Attach the two program windows are shown togethher. Here is how the two recorders look when they are used together:

Overview

Additional help and more details are provided on every WM Recorder window. Click the Help button on the main menu.

WM Recorder is an easy and powerful way to record streaming video and audio from the internet, saving it on your PC. Here is how the Main window looks when you open WM Recorder.

All the popular streaming formats are supported, including:

  • Flash™ Video FLV format files - (HTTP and RTMP protocols)
  • Windows Media™ (HTTP, MMS and RTSP protocols)
  • HTML 5 (YouTube)
  • QuickTime™ HTTP (mp4)
  • Streaming MP3 (Shoutcast™)
  • Real Audio™ and Real Video™ (HTTP and RTSP protocols)

Important: WM Recorder is intended for use as a personal archiving tool only. Please respect the rights of the copyright holders of any material you record. WM Recorder can NOT record content protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM).

Requirements

Supported Windows versions are XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.

Recording Mode Setup

During the installation WM Recorder sets up the default recording mode to ADA (Adapter). If ADA mode cannot be setup the recording mode is set to WMX. 

ADA mode cannot be setup if:

  • The network monitor program WinPcap failed to install.
  • Your Internet security software blocks WM Recorder files or WinPcap from accessing to the Internet.
  • The network adapter utilized in your computer does not allow access to its data.

To select a different mode, click Menu, Settings, Recording modes from the main screen to open the Recording Modes dialog:

ADA, WMX and real time recording modes. When operating in one of these modes the recorder can automatically capture and record while playing video or audio from your browser or media player (real time). ADA and WMX provide the best capture capabilities and all the stream formats listed above can be recorded in real time, so if ADA mode won't work try WMX instead. PRO is also an option, but only works with Windows Media and Real Player streams (it is not recommended at this time). However if the stream URL is available (known) all formats listed above can be recorded regardless the recording mode selected (see URL recording below).

Important notes:

  • WMX mode requires that you open a browser window from within WM Recorder (use the YouTube tab on WM Recorder main menu or use the "Open recording browser" under  Menu, Options)
  • Streaming Flash recording (FLV files - RTMP protocol) is only available with ADA or WMX mode.

How To Record (download) video and audio from the Internet

Recording is easy. There are a few different ways to do it - you can record in Real Time, or record from captured URL's. Plus, you can choose AUTO Recording Mode (click the AUTO OFF to switch to AUTO ON).

YouTube videos downloading: YouTube web sites are now encrypted as "https". WM Recorder does not attempt to decrypt the websites or to download encrypted media files. To access the YouTube website using the HTTP protocol (unencrypted) open the YouTube tab on WM Recorder main menu then click Internet Explorer or WM Browser (WM Browser is recommended). These browsers open the YouTube site using the unencrypted HTTP protocol.

WM Browser is a reduced version of Internet Explorer and it should be used to playback video and audio that cannot be detected when other browsers are utilized (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer). It can also be used with WMX recording mode and to screen capture videos. You can open WM Browser from the main menu YouTube tab.

Here's how to record in Real Time:

With the AUTO recording mode enabled (AUTO ON):

  1. Using your browser or your media player, play the video or audio you want to record.
  2. Recording starts automatically. The Main window turns to Recording window (see below). Once the recording begins you can start playing and recording another video / audio clip. There is no need to wait until playback has finished.
  3. To end one or more recordings right click the file names in the Recording window and click Stop Recording(s) and select the desired action from the pop-up menu. If you're recording fixed length clips, TV shows or movies, the recording ends automatically, and there's no need to click STOP.

With AUTO recording mode disabled (AUTO OFF):

  1. Using your browser or your media player, play the video or audio you want to record.
  2. The URL (Internet address) and the File Name of the clip are displayed on the main screen now tagged as Captured Streams window. Select one or more stream you want to record then click the DOWNLOAD button to start recording. You can also right click the selection then click Start download in the pop-up menu. Once the recording begins you can start playing and recording another video / audio clip.
  3. To end one or more recordings right click the file names in the Recording window and click Stop Recording(s) and select the desired action from the pop-up menu. If you're recording fixed length clips, TV shows or movies, the recording ends automatically, and there's no need to click STOP.

If you want to visualize the entire capture and recording activity you can use the LIST view (click OPTIONS, Change to LIST view). Right click any item in the LIST to access the options:

 

 

How to Record using saved URL's

All captured URL's are saved so you can access them by clicking Menu, Program Windows and opening the Saved Links window. Highlight one or more URL's and click the Download button to record the entire selection.


Options While Recording in Real Time

Here are a few useful things that you can do from the Recording window while recording one or more files:

Preview one or more recording files. The files are played back from your computer while the recording goes on. Right click a recoding then click Play recorded file.

Turn your computer into an On Demand - Radio/TV player. As an example, record a live Flash radio stream and click Play recorded file. You can now watch the video or listen to the radio station and Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward.

Rename a recording file. The file names listed in URL's do not always show the actual name of the media. You can rename the recording before or after the recording is finished. to do this right click the recording and select Rename current recording.

 

The recording modes

With WM Recorder, you can capture streams in three ways: Adapter (ADA) Mode, Proxy (PRO) Mode, WMX Mode, and URL Mode.

ADA (Adapter) Mode

Adapter Mode is the preferred recording mode. No changes are made to your computer settings. Successful setup of Adapter Mode depends on the configuration of your network card(s).

WMX Mode operates by opening a browser from within WM Recorder, which you then use to play the media you'd like to capture. This is a backup option to be used only if ADA cannot be setup.

URL Mode lets you record from saved or manually entered URL's without the need to setup a network adapter. This mode should be used if you are not interested in searching the Internet for new video/audio clips. Note that the URL Mode does not change any settings of your computer.

Proxy Mode (no longer usable)

PRO (Proxy) Mode will work with ANY Network Adapter card. The Proxy Mode should be used if ADA Mode is not available or is not working and only with Windows Media streams.

A particular use for the PRO mode is the PRO - Auto Recording mode. In this case the entire stream data passes through the recorder. This is recommended when recording streams that require the connection to be initiated from a web site or when web site authentication is needed. Also it is the only way to record Windows Media live playlists.

Note: Streaming Flash over RTMP protocol cannot be recorded using PRO Mode.

Adapter and Proxy modes monitor network traffic to record, but they do so in different ways.

To change the Recording Mode:

  1. Click the MODE button. The Recording Modes dialog appears:

  2. Choose a Mode (ADA, PRO, WMX or URL), then click OK.

When choosing ADA Mode, WM Recorder will automatically choose the best Adapter for you. It is always the default adapter that Windows uses.

Auto Recording

If Auto recording is selected, you no longer need to click Record to start a recording. Every Audio or Video you play is automatically recorded.

Internet Connection Test

If you're not sure which mode will work for you, click Internet Connection Test, and WM Recorder will choose the best recording mode for you.

 

How to Schedule Recordings

With WM Recorder, you can schedule a recording to start and stop at a specific time, date or series of days on any station. Up to 400 scheduled recordings are allowed. Usually only Real Player and Windows Media streams are broadcast live.

Here's how to schedule a recording:

  1. When a stream was captured and listed In the Captured Streams window save the stream URL first. Right click the stream and click Save Links.
  2. Right click the stream again and select Schedule recording from the popup menu. The Schedule Recording dialog appears:

  3. Set the start and stop date, start and stop time, and any recurring days to record. Click OK when finished.

You can also use the Saved Links window (Menu, Program Windows, Saved Links) to schedule recording.

Instead of using a URL you can use a website name provided that the video or audio begins playing when the webpage opens (no other clicks are required). In this case WM Recorder must be set on AUTO ON mode.


Editing or Deleting Scheduled Items

You can view your schedule (to edit or delete a scheduled recording) as follows:

  1. From the main screen, click Menu and select Schedule Recordings, Show Scheduled Recordings. The Scheduled shows list appears:



  2. Right click the item in the schedule, and choose Change Schedule to edit the item. Click Remove Schedule to delete the item.

 

Hint: You can use the Windows Task Scheduler to automatically start WM Recorder just before the scheduled time.

How to View and Play Recordings

To see what you've recorded:

  1. Click the Menu button, then choose Program Windows, Saved Recordings. Choose the type of recording to view.

  2. In the Saved recordings window double click  the file to view, then click the Play button at the bottom of the screen. A Player window opens with your recorded file playing. For Windows Media files you can select more than one file then click Play to create a playlist and play the entire selection.

The Recording Window

Any time a recording begins the Recording Window is displayed showing the recording activity of all current recordings. To manually open this window click Downloads on WM Recorder main window.

This screen shows the progress of each active recording. Click any of the column names to enlarge the column.

The displayed Time is either the time it took to download and save the file (Download time) or the number of minutes of video or audio that will be played (Stream Time). For RTMP Flash streams this is always the actual play time of the broadcast. For many high speed connections, you will be able to record a video a lot faster than the time it takes to watch it.

YouTube videos playback: most of YouTube videos are now broadcasted as two separate files (video and audio). The recorded video cannot be played until both files are downloaded and then mixed in one single mp4 file. The message "COMPLETE - MP4 file ready" indicates this operation is finished and the file can be played, renamed or deleted.

You can also select recordings and perform various operations on them by right-clicking or clicking Options to display the pop-up menu. Here are the options:

Stop Recording(s) stop recording the selected items. The message CANCELED will appear.

Delete a recorded file CANCELED (file deleted) will appear.

Set Recording Duration lets you limit the amount of time a recording continues. This is handy for recording live streams.

recording duration WM Recorder User Guide

Play Recorded File plays what it currently recording on your computer. The file must be at least 100 KB or the recording time greater than 20 seconds. Windows Media files cannot be seeked through while the file is being recorded. MP4 files cannot be played until recording is finished.

Record Again rerecords the file, and does not overwrite the existing file.

Convert Recording(s) opens WM Converter to convert these files to another format.

Rename Current Recording allows you to rename the output file before, during or after a recording session.

Play Remote Stream allows you to play the stream from the remote web site (except the RTMP FLV files). You can watch or listen and record simultaneously.

Close All Recordings terminates all active recordings and closes the Recording Window. The Exit Downloads tab does the same.

 

WM Recorder Windows

Captured Streams

This window opens automatically when a stream is detected. To manually open, click Menu, Program Windows, Captured Streams.

As you play audio and video, WM Recorder captures the links you have visited. This makes it easy to return later and record something.

Saved Recordings

To open, click Menu, Program Windows, Saved Recording

This screen shows you what you've recorded. From the Saved recordings menu, you can choose the type of recording to view. Select a show and right click it to play, record it again, resume a recording, split a recorded file, or reprocess a recorded file and make it seekable.

Saved Links

To open, click Menu, Program Windows, Saved Recording

Like Captured Links, Saved Links shows you what you've played, but contains a longer history. Right click any URL to record it, schedule it or play it

Recordings Folder

Select this option to view all your recordings within the Windows File Explorer.

Scheduler

If you've set up scheduled recordings, they will appear here. Select a scheduled item and right-click it to edit or delete it, or activate/deactivate the scheduler.

File Downloader

file download WM Recorder User Guide

Need to download a file from a specific URL? Just enter the URL and desired file name, and click OK.


Settings Reference

Click Settings from the main screen to open Settings. Here are the various options described in detail:

Settings - General

Save all visited video and audio URL's: Check this option if you want WM Recorder to keep a history of all URL's. that you have played.

Save All Visited YouTube Pages: Saves URL's of all the YouTube videos you have visited while WM Recorder is open.

Enable Scheduler at Startup: Makes sure the scheduler is activated when you open WM Recorder.

Reconnect forever: This option enables an unlimited number of attempts to reconnect to a web file if the first connection request did not succeed for any reason. It includes situations like network cables unplugged, server-not-found or other reasons that would normally make Internet programs terminate the connection process. This option is to be used primarily with scheduled recordings. Do not use it whenever you have the option to manually re-establish the connection. If a connection cannot be established for any reason the recorder will try to reconnect at intervals of 2 minutes.

Add Date/Time to file names: This option adds the date and time in front of the scheduled recordings file names.

Setup Recordings Folder: Change the folder where your recordings are saved.

Attach Data Graph RxTx: Want to see how your bandwidth is being used. Check this option to see a handy data graph.

WM Recorder files: Shows the executable files used by WM Recorder.


Settings - Media Options

settings media options WM Recorder User Guide

 

Captured File Types: Select the kinds of files you want to capture. In some cases you may not want redirecting file types like asx or ram files to be saved in the Saved Links list.

Check all WMP Protocols: Ensures all Windows Media stream types are captured, as well as all other protocols.

Send Player ID: Some streams require a Windows Media Player ID to be sent. It is recommended to have this option checked.

Seekable Files: Post-process Windows Media files so that the seek bar works. This lets you jump to any position in the recording.

Compress Time: If this option is set, any gaps in recording due to buffering pauses are eliminated. The recording will play back without any visible pauses.

Use WMSDK filter: This is a slower bu mode to record Windows Media videos. Use this setting anytime there are playback or converting issues with recorded Windows Media files.


Options

When you click Options on the main screen, the following menu appears:

Enable screen recorder: Enables /Disables the Video Clone screen capture program to open when WM Recorder opens.

Open WM Converter: Launches WM Converter for file conversions.

Open WM Audio: Launches WM Audio for recording audio from your speakers.

Open WM Browser: WM Browser is a reduced version of Internet Explorer and it should be used to playback video and audio that cannot be captured when other browsers are utilized (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer). It can also be used with WMX recording mode and to screen capture videos. You can also open WM Browser from the main menu YouTube tab.

Flash RTMP Download Options: : Change between high speed and low speed downloading. Unless you're having trouble downloading Flash video content, keep High Speed selected.

Open Recording Browser: Opens your selected Web Browser. Useful for WMX mode, which requires a browser to be opened by WM Recorder.

Turn Scheduler ON/OFF turns the scheduler ON and OFF.

Keep WM Recorder On Top: If this menu item is checked, WM Recorder will always remain visible.

Other, Search Cache for Media: If you are unable to capture a video as it is playing, it may be cached on your PC. (This happens for YouTube and other similar sites.) Use this option to locate videos saved already in your cache.

More, Turn Beeps OFF: WM Recorder will beep when recordings start and stop, unless this option is turned off.

More, Check/Enter Registration: View or update your registration code information.

More, Check Internet Connection: Is WM Recorder being blocked by a firewall? Use this option to find out.

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