Tutorial: Let the Dogs Out -- Convert WebEx Recordings to .WMV

This guest post was written by, Alex Kah at Question Defense. He works as a technical consultant and is often asked about converting WebEx .arf files into other file types. He put together this great tutorial and we wanted to share it with all of you! Note, right now, this is only available for Meeting Center recordings. This also works with the new, free WebEx Meet beta -check out this blog for instructions on how to download recordings.

UPDATE: if you need more information, you can check out this page for help.

Someone sent me a WebEx webcast they wanted me to watch. The file had a .WRF file ending which stands for WebEx Recording Format which is one of two file formats you can "save as" in WebEx. The other format is the .ARF or WebEx Advanced Recording Format.

If you just want to watch, you could simply download the WebEx Player available by clicking here. But, if you don't want your viewers to "require" the WebEx Player, you may want to convert the WebEx file - this allows them to view the WebEx without having to install an application.

To do it, you'll need to download Version 3 of the WebEx Recording Editor which allowed me to convert to WMV format and from that I was able to convert to any other video format including AVI, MP4, XVID, and MPEG. Follow the directions below to first convert the .WRF to .WMV and then the second set of directions if you want to convert to another video format.

Convert WebEx .WRF Files To .WMV Format

 

1. Download WebEx Editor
   Download the WebEx Recording Editor Version 3.0 here (it's a .zip file and might take a minute to download). 
2. Uncompress ATEditor
   Right click on the ateditor-version-3.0.zip file and extract its contents. The file contains a single file which is ateditor-version-3.0.msi; a Windows Installation file.
3. WebEx Editor Installation
   Now double click on the ateditor-version-3.0.msi file to begin the WebEx Editor installation. When you first click on the .MSI file you may get an “Open File – Security Warning” so if you do just click on the Run button to execute the installer. The first screen of the WebEx InstallShield Wizard is displayed below. [You can see a screen shot tutorial by click on the images here.]
4. WebEx Editor License
   After clicking the Next button from the WebEx Editor InstallShield screen above you will be required to agree to the WebEx Editor License Agreement displayed in the example image below. Click the radio button next to “I accept the terms in this license agreement” followed by the Next button to continue.
5. WebEx Editor Setup Type
   After agreeing to the license above you will need to select Complete for the WebEx Editor setup type. Complete is the default option; simply click the Next button to continue.
6. WebEx Destination Location
   Now verify the WebEx Editor destination location is where you want the application to be installed. Typically the default location is where the WebEx Editor should be installed.
7. Install WebEx Editor
   The next screen in the WebEx Editor InstallShield Wizard is verification you want to proceed with installing the application as shown below. Click the Install button to install the WebEx Editor. The installation process should only take a short amount of time and will display a progress screen. After a short amount of time the WebEx Editor will be installed and display the InstallShield Wizard Complete screen.
8. Launch WebEx Editor
   The WebEx Editor installation process will put a couple shortcuts on your desktop including shortcuts to WebEx Player, WebEx Recorder, and WebEx Recording Editor. Click on the shortcut to the WebEx Recording Editor to launch the application.
9. Open .WRF File
   Now click File in the top navigation menu of WebEx Recording Editor and browse to open the .WRF file you want to convert to .WMV. Once the file is open it will display in the WebEx Editor.
10. Convert WRF To WMV
    Once the WRF file is opened click on File in the top navigation menu again but this time select Export To which will open a Windows Explorer window that lets you navigate to the location you want the converted WRF file or WMV file to be saved. You will also need to name the file and then click the Save button which will open the WMV Options window as displayed below. Unless you are familiar with the WMV conversion option you should leave the default options and then click the OK button to begin the WRF file conversion.
11. Complete WRF Conversion
    Once the OK button is clicked the WRF file conversion will begin. When the conversion is complete the window will disappear and the WMV file should be ready to play.
12. Verify WMV File
    Make sure to test the new WMV file to verify that it converted properly. You should also verify the sound in case you are missing a codec on your computer that is required by the conversion process.

 

 

 

To learn how to convert WebEx files to other formats including AVI, MP4, MPEG or XVID, visit Alex's blog.
  

Comments

[Jason Du]

Hi Diantha Pinner,

you can download the network player to convert ARF to MP4 or flash.

https://welcome.webex.com/client/wbxclient/nbr2player.msi

[Duc Le]

how to convert the arf to wmv? Because all the recording format is arf.

[jason]

Awesome tutorial. Helped a LOT!

Jason

[Joe]

You can create the *.WMV from the player...

[Frustrated]

No Diantha Pinner, you are not missing a step. The article title promises to convert ARF files to wmv then proceeds to provide instructions to convert WRF files to .WMV format. No mention of ARF except that it is the other file format type that WebEx does.
#losing

[Nic Mepham]

How can I do this with Mac?

Thanks
nic

[Diantha Pinner]

Tried this for an .arf file and the WebEx Recording Editor would only recognize .wrf files. Could not open my .arf file in the editor. Am I missing a step?