Resources | VB | Encoding Variable Bit Rate WMAs

Encoding Variable Bit Rate WMAs:


The following code requires the download of the Windows Media Encoder SDK.

As I've mentioned before, the Windows Media Encoder makes life a lot easier for VB developers working with audio files. However, the documentation for the SDK can be a bit sparse in certain areas.

One thing that is not mentioned in the documentation is that Visual Basic cannot handle encoding WMA files with a Variable Bit Rate (VBR) profile. VB has no problem encoding WMAs with Constant Bit Rates, but not VBRs. So if you need to encode VBRs in Visual Basic, you need to make a command line call to a .VBS (wmcmd.vbs) file that comes with the SDK.

For this tutorial, we will use the following VBR PRX (encoder Profile). Copy the text and save it in the folder with your VB Application, naming it VBRProfile.prx:



Now add a module to your VB project, which will handle the calls to the command line:



Then add this code to your VB form to encode your audio file to a VBR WMA. The encoding object can accept either an MP3 or WAV file. Make sure you include a fully qualified path to your audio file.



Make sure you have placed the wmcmd.vbs file in the same folder as your VB application. Here is the code for the vbs script (it comes with the SDK so you should already have it):



Related Links: Updating WMA files | Duration Times of Audio Files


Want to discuss this article, or other development issues? Visit our message boards!

Or contact us directly with a comment or question on this article: click here !
armbrustconsulting.com