| Microsoft DirectX 8.1 (C++) |
With Microsoft® DirectShow® you can create applications that play and write Microsoft® Windows Media™ Format files. The Windows Media Format is optimized for streaming data over networks and rendering the data on a client computer. For more information on the Windows Media Format, see the Windows Media Format SDK.
The Windows Media Software Development Kit provides alternate solutions for creating Windows Media Format files. For a discussion that compares the Windows Media SDK to the DirectShow SDK, see Windows Media and DirectShow: Choices for Windows-based Media Applications.
Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) is the file container for Windows Media Format. The DirectShow ASF Writer filter can write Windows Media Format files as well as ASF files that contain non-WMF streams.