Database Users

Video Encoding for the XDA-2

Hi everyone
, Can anyone please sugest a good encoding standard for making films that will play on the XDA-2, I would like to put some of my DVDs on to some 256MB SD cards, Dose anyone know of a simple program (free or needs to be purchased) to easiley convert from DVD to any standard that will play good on the XDA-2. Or if not any ideas on the best settings in windows media encoder
Thanks for any help
John

http://www.pocketmovies.net
http://www.pocketmovies.net/dvdrip.php
All the info you need is there.

Another source for info is http://www.ppcw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=628 (I figured it would be quicker to post the link instead of rewriting the answer I gave in that Forum) Hope this combined with www.pocketmovies.com helps
Travis

SORRY I meant .net not .com

DivX is the best.

what about windows media encoder???
From the little I've tried,
it seems that Microsoft Encoder, which is free, provide
a pretty damn good encoding to a PPC WM9 player format.
You can use AVI and DIVX rips to encode.
make sure you use 320x240 and resize/crop to this, 15fps
this will play in ANY WM2003 device ...
Again, as far as I can tell, for size and compatability, MS is
the best (and I hate MS!)

Thanks to everyone for your help and thorts.
I tried the first gide and it worked must i must have sliped up somewhere as i made the film Top Gun from a DVD but usinf the setting shown in the guide it nded up being 315MB, i did then use windows media encoder 9 to convert this to a .WMV (i think) that was small enough to fit on a 256 card and played in media player, rather than pocket TV,
dose anyone know if there i a click and go software to do this, As in put the dvd in the PC and push a majic button and the next day you have a film made that will fit on a 256 card
Thanks again for your thorts and info
John

Well I don't know of one but if you find it PLEASE let us know

matrix in WMP - 100Mb
I just downloaded and played matrix (the first, 2:10 time).
My setting:
source: divx mpeg file
downsize to 320x168 (clipped 15% of the sides)
15fps
16khz mono sound
85k video
total 100kb/sec estimate
final video is 100Mb and plays pretty good.
e.g. the Jump scene is very watchable.
My suggestion to anyone with a DVD to convert:
dont convert
download the movie in divx etc format from emule
then use MS encoder as above

Hi i would agree with that the converting from a dvd to ppc izs greif, but from a divx or mpeg its nice and easy, So in that case dose anyone know of a easy to use software to convert from DVD to Divx, (that would be handy for the xbox) then i could further encode the divx using media encoder 9 to run on the XDA
Thanks
John

mp4 plays but no audio

Now I've read a lot here and I've tried Quicktime 6, mpegable ds decoder and 3ivx directshow filters.
They all work more or less (i like 3ivx best), but NONE of them plays the audio.
However the camera application on the ppc can playback video and audio.
What the hell is this? And I dont like Motion JPEG avi cause it's too big.
Converting also seems to be no option: I tried Riverpast Video Cleaner and a heavily upgraded virtual dub mod, but they can't even read the video. Quicktime Pro 6 can at least import the video, but no audio again.
Any ideas?

If someone wants to do more research, here are two good sites concerning mp4 players:
http://www.audiocoding.com/wiki/index.php?page=Software+Audio+Players+for+Windows
http://www.rarewares.org/
I've now tried WinMPG Video Convert and the Philips Platform4 Player - only video, as always.
I suppose the audio codec used is not the mp4 AAC LC (low complexity) codec because that's the most common one which can be played back by any mp4 player.
btw, mp4UI shows me a video and a audio stream (like most othre applications), but I can only export the video file and there is no information on the audio codec used, seems to be unknow to any program.
I tried several recorded mp4 files, always the same, and they DO playback video+audio on the ppc.

I'm sticking with MJPEG Avi
That's about 100 kB/s so I can hardly record more than 5 min. But hey who needs to? At least it can be converted by quicktime uncompressed avi export in no time, and then encoded to whatever you want.
More annoying is the fact that I need to remember getting the file off the pocket pc pretty soon because otherwise I will run out of space. I'd prefer taking a series of snapshots and carrying them around with me.
Well copying the file via USB will take almost as long as the video duration is, and a storage card can't be used because it decreases the recording frame rate significantly.
Motion MJPEG also seems to catch more redundant frames (the same picture in two frames) than mp4, but it's still okay.

cant you just record to your device and then copy the recording to your sd card manualy ?

Yes I thought of that, it would approximately take the same time as the video duration is. If you really need to do another recording while on the go, you can do that to free your memory.
btw, I chose divx5 250 kbit CBR + mp3 in virtual dub, only took a few seconds to encode a minute and now I've got a file that can be played back equally well on both machines. I'm using beta player for pocketpc, and it plays fine in fullscreen using the ati imageon chipset. File size is comparable to choosing the mp4 format in the first place.

It works now
mp4 video+audio works with quicktime!! hooray!!
Quicktime always told me it couldn't find the software needed on the server.
But when I opened the mp4 file today, the automatic download of the audio codec succeded.
Even with disabled firewall qt couldn't download the software before. Strange.
And I can export it to uncompressed avi if I need to edit the file with other programs.

mp4 video play back on PC

Hi Folks,
I just took for the first time a video clip with my Magician today, and had the Camera settings to
Capture Mode: Video
Capture Format: MPEG-4
Capture Size: Large
it produced a nice video clip file with in the .mp4 format (lets not talk about the quality)
I copied this file over to my SD card, and from there to my PC to play here.
It played by default using Apple Quick Time (7.0.3), no probs.
I tried to open it with WMP10 on my PC, and only got the sound, not video.
I was assuming, that a video clip taken with a Microsoft product (Magician WM2003) would play by default using the Microsoft pendant on the PC (WMP10), and MS does not rely on a 3rd party software (QT).
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong, or if I'm just missing the right codec on my PC to play back the file ?
Thanks

torklemm said:
Hi Folks,
I just took for the first time a video clip with my Magician today, and had the Camera settings to
Capture Mode: Video
Capture Format: MPEG-4
Capture Size: Large
it produced a nice video clip file with in the .mp4 format (lets not talk about the quality)
I copied this file over to my SD card, and from there to my PC to play here.
It played by default using Apple Quick Time (7.0.3), no probs.
I tried to open it with WMP10 on my PC, and only got the sound, not video.
I was assuming, that a video clip taken with a Microsoft product (Magician WM2003) would play by default using the Microsoft pendant on the PC (WMP10), and MS does not rely on a 3rd party software (QT).
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong, or if I'm just missing the right codec on my PC to play back the file ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me if i'm wrong but i do believe the camera program on modern HTC devices (like the Magician) is made by HTC itself and not by MS. So it's possible it uses different kind of codecs.
MS isn't allowed to ship a lot of codec with WMP. Only some basic and MS-made codecs. So you have to rely on third party apps/codecs to play the .mp4 files.

Hello Torklemm
You can use the VLC Player to Play almost any type of media including the mp4 , 3gp etc etc .
here is the link to download it - h**p://www.download.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-2194_4-10267151.html
You can also install the Nero Digital MPEG 4 AVC h.264 dshow decoder , after i installed this , my wmp ver 10 was able to play the Mp4 video files.
Cheers.

Sean_Dillon said:
Hello Torklemm
You can use the VLC Player to Play almost any type of media including the mp4 , 3gp etc etc .
here is the link to download it - h**p://www.download.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-2194_4-10267151.html
You can also install the Nero Digital MPEG 4 AVC h.264 dshow decoder , after i installed this , my wmp ver 10 was able to play the Mp4 video files.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very useful decoder!
but only motion decoding not audio track.
i see only motion without sound.

Hmmm , That is Strange Vigor_ , I thought the audio recorded in the video format of Magician was either mp3 , wma or wav . . . all 3 being suported by wmp. Will have to check this Thanx.

It's none of those. The audio is AMR Narrowband, whatever the blazes that is! I've been having the same problem converting it. AMR doesn't seem to be supported by much.

mp4 format
You should use a plugin or converter program. For plugin Ulead video suite v9.0 is the best solution.For convert purpose I offer IMTOO program.Another way is using avi format instead of mp4

Where do you get that Nero Digital dshow decoder? A Link would be nice.

Re: mp4 format
bucat said:
You should use a plugin or converter program. For plugin Ulead video suite v9.0 is the best solution.For convert purpose I offer IMTOO program.Another way is using avi format instead of mp4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same with me. I use ImTOO 3GP Video Converter 2.1.55.1107b, good stuff.

Where do you get that Nero Digital dshow decoder?
The File Is Attached To The Post , Please Log-in To View and Download it.

How to do it for free, though it's a ton of work
Okay, I've successfully done it now. My biggest problem was that imTOO 3gpp costs money, and I just couldn't justify spending the money on it.
There's probably a few different ways to do this, but here's how I've done it:
1) Separate the Video stream from the audio stream
I used Microsoft Graphedit for this. It comes in a Microsoft SDK, but if you google it, you can find it.
When you open graphedit and select render the file, you'll get a message saying that part of the stream isn't recognised. That's the AMR audio. That's step 2, so ignore. Assuming you've got an xvid mpeg 4 codec on your machine already (and I suspect also a 3ivx codec), a graph will show up starting with your video file and ending with a video renderer. Click on the video renderer, delete it, and click on the xvid decoder and delete it. Then add a filter called file writer to the video stream coming out of the 3ivx media splitter.
Run that and you have an xvid mpeg-4 video stream with no audio.
2) Separate the amr audio stream
I used Miksoft 3gp decoder for this. For some reason I couldn't do video with this tool, so I just clicked the "convert audio only" option. It gave me a PCM .avi file.
3) Mix the two together
I have used two programs for this, both locatable through google and both freeware. Virtualdub and TMPGENC.
Virtualdub is handy if you have to rotate the video stream. I don't think you can use virtualdub to finalize the video because the .avi sound file kicks up an error for me. But the video I wanted to convert was filmed on my JAM with it held lengthwise (aka 320x240), so when the file is normally viewed, you see it 240x320 and have to tilt your head.
I prefer to use TMPGENC and end up with an MPEG-1 file. Here's why...
You input the xvid video file as the video source, the .avi pcm audio as the audio source, under advanced, select "Full screen (keep aspect ratio)" instead of the "full screen" that is presented there, and then let her run. You end up with a video in mpeg-1 that is formated to 352x240 (NTSC vcr resolution), but with black stripes above and below so that the image isn't stretched or distorted, like it would be if you just went with "full screen". You can then convert that into an avi file with whatever software you want.
It's a ton of work to do, but for me, it was a better solution than spending another $30US on something I'd use minimally. I also do a fair bit of video work, so I had all the other tools and codecs handy.
Good luck!

Hi
I use apples Quicktime - pro can also convert to AVI's.
BR
Daniel

The way I did it was to get the K-lite codec pack. Google it and don't download any versions from places that try to charge you for it, it's free. Also be aware of dodgy sites that may include spyware/malware with it. I've been stung a couple of times.
Then nearly any freeware converter will work. You can also play them in WMP.

Errrr...yes, that would seem to be a "faster" way of doing it...

screen capture
hmmm, need help...can't seem to capture images (using the screen capture button) when playing mp4 files on the vlc player...i've imported the image on adobe photoshop but it was distorted...help?

this is for info in relation to the original post
I too could not play my mp4 videos on my PC with sound and tried all the various players and plugins but this link from last year worked
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=12308&highlight=mp4

video ripping

what programs are recommended for ripping DVDs into 640x480 to view on ameo?
any recomendations for conversion of existing AVIs ?

PocketDivXEncoder is free and excellent:
http://www.pocketdivxencoder.net/

cheers for that.
ive converted an existing AVI file i had, can view converted file on PC nicely but windows media player on Ameo says it cannot play file. Do i need a seperate divx player or codecs installed on the Ameo?
Also, the pocketdivxextractor doesnt seem to like the VOB files on a DVD to read. i dont see a preview, and when i tried extracting one..it came out jarbled and lasted only 5secs or so. Is there a trick i am missing? Tried a couple of my DVDs, in various drives

You need a divx player for PPC, WMP wont do them. Or mpg, its kinda sucky that way.
Also, pocketdivxencoder crashes lots under vista

shockboy2000 said:
cheers for that.
ive converted an existing AVI file i had, can view converted file on PC nicely but windows media player on Ameo says it cannot play file. Do i need a seperate divx player or codecs installed on the Ameo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need "tcmp" or "coreplayer"
greetings,
Wout

Agreed, TCPMP or Coreplayer are your best media players for pocket pc and are capable of playing Divx, MP4, Xvid, OGG files and mpeg 1 files amongst others. WMP10 only supports WMV, MP4 and MPEG 1.
TCPMP is freeware and various codec plug ins are available for it, such as AVC, AC3, FFMEG etc.
Coreplayer is not free but is made by the same people and is a much nicer application aesthetically.
Conversion is achieved by many different methods. Pocketdivxencoder is a simple one to use, but is lacking in DVD to PPC capabilities. It is better used for quick re-encoding of existing AVI files etc.
For DVD Ripping get the following freeware software:
DVD Decryptor (to remove encryption from DVD and to rip it to hard drive)
Get and use DVDx 2.5 to encode the DVD to Divx based AVI file or Xvid (free codec)...though I prefer the results of using the latest Divx codec (but it's not free, you do get a long trial period though to see if it meets your demands).
So basically DVDx encodes your VOBs to one AVI file or other format and takes a bit longer than Pocketdivxencoder, but you get more options in encoding and much better results in my opinion.
Alternatively download a copy of ImToo 3GP Converter which can rip a DVD direct to any other format (most poular formats - providing it is not encrypted, in which case use DVD Decrypter or DVD Fab Decrypter Freeware and superb application).
Once you get the hang of these apps you should not need any others, but if you really get into all of this encoding lark, try Virtual Dub or such like programs which give you virtually full control over all aspects of video conversions.
Good luck.

Trinity video format

I've seen some information spreaded in the forums about video recording on Trinity, and had some troubles watching them on a desktop computers, so here is the results of my research, and the doubts i Still have:
Videos recorded on trinity with maximum quality CIF:
resolution:352x288
Framerate:15fps
container: MP4 (3GPP)
Video codec: MPEG4 (ASP)
Audio codec: AMR - NB (Narrowband)
To properly play videos on your desktop computer you need to install a directshow filter called MP4splitter.
-It is possible to convert video to AVI format (lossless) using mp4cam2avi, but it doesn't work with audio.
-The AMR format is not easy to edit or to transcode to other formats, and it's not possible to use as audio stream on a AVI container (not sure).
Questions
Is there a program to merge several mp4 together lossless (no re-encoding)?
Is it possible to set up another resolution to be used on the video (i.e. 640*480) as this is not a hardware limitation?
Is it possible to use another codec for the audio stream?
Is it possible to use another framerate?
- By editting registry I'm able to change framerate (HKLM\Software\HTC\Camera\Recparam)

Mediacoder
I use Mediacoder to convert many format of video (recorded on a dvd from TV...) on my htc : choose MP4 and use TCPMP to read it.

Video Conversion
Hi n0t,
Have a look at NCH Software - www.nch.com - and find a program called Prism Video Converter. It can be downloaded as a trial and expires after a while but long enough to try out. It works perfectly and is very simple to use. NCH has a wide selection of software, especially conversion from one format to another. Some programs are free but all are downloaded as trial versions.
Hope this helps
Adam

n0t said:
Questions
Is there a program to merge several mp4 together lossless (no re-encoding)?
Is it possible to set up another resolution to be used on the video (i.e. 640*480) as this is not a hardware limitation?
Is it possible to use another codec for the audio stream?
Is it possible to use another framerate?
- By editting registry I'm able to change framerate (HKLM\Software\HTC\Camera\Recparam)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a program to merge several mp4 together lossless (no re-encoding)?
- MP4Box is a command line that does it, YAMB is a GUI that works fine with it (and it's free). It can split, join and extract streams from MP4 or 3GP container. This way it is possible to edit lossless the video streams.
-I want to be able to edit and apply some filters to the clips with virtualdub. To transcode the video stream to an avi container (lossless) I can use MP4Cam2Avi, Mediacoder, or Super. But I have to convert audio to PCM WAV to use it in virtualdub, as AMR can't be used in an AVI.

Stream Video
Is it possible to make a live video broadcast from trinity (not using videocall)?
This way with an internet connection, it would be possible to send a stream to a computer anywhere...