Database Users

My touch HD video experience

Hi everyone.
I would like to share with you my experience with the touch HD and the settings I use for video playback.
I own both an iphone 3g and a HTC touch HD and set about looking for a piece of software that could encode video once and playback perfectly on both phones.
After many hours of trying various encoding programs I have finally found one that encodes perfectly for both devices and plays in the standard HTC media player. Best of all its free!!
The software I use is called Freestar ipod video converter and the settings I use are as follows..
Select the device as iphone and under advanced settings alter the video quality to 512. Its as simple as that!
I have encoded around 30 movies using various source code from DVD rips to divx/xvid and have had no problems at all. All the videos have played perfectly on both the iphone 3g and the HTC touch HD.
Hope this helps in some way.
Richard

Thanks for sharing. I'm interested in looking into this. I've tried super.. and can't figure out how to START the conversion (am I an idiot???) I've tried the purpose build HD encoder program I found on here and it doens't seem to make ANY different to my player. I'd be interested in checking this process out.
Regards,
BANE

The only problem I have is shutting down the software after it has finished converting, I am using Vista 32 bit and have to go through task manager to close the program.
Other than that small issue I find the software really easy to use. Simply click add and browse to the file you want to convert then click convert.
It averages around 13 to 15 minutes to convert a full length movie on my machine. Q6600,4GB ram,8800gtx.
Cheers.....Richard

Exciting! I too have yet to find the solution that works. I note that Freestar takes the VOB files as input rther than IFO files. Can I ask how you concatanate the converted files together to make one seamless movie when the various VOBs have been converted?

BANE said:
Thanks for sharing. I'm interested in looking into this. I've tried super.. and can't figure out how to START the conversion (am I an idiot???) I've tried the purpose build HD encoder program I found on here and it doens't seem to make ANY different to my player. I'd be interested in checking this process out.
Regards,
BANE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drag your media file into the bottom section of Super, once there choose your settings for encode etc then make your the file in the bottom section is "ticked" and click encode - should work.. Think default output location is program files\super or summit like that..

I'm not joking... but I don't seem to have an ENCODE buttone. Out of curiosity, could you please tell me exactly where this button is on your program so i can make sure it's not staring me in the face??
Thanks

golightlygl said:
Exciting! I too have yet to find the solution that works. I note that Freestar takes the VOB files as input rther than IFO files. Can I ask how you concatanate the converted files together to make one seamless movie when the various VOBs have been converted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use a program called videoredoplus to concatenate mpg (and vob) files which streamcopies as oppposed to recodes. Concatenate before recoding (with anything) for the best quality results

BANE said:
I'm not joking... but I don't seem to have an ENCODE buttone. Out of curiosity, could you please tell me exactly where this button is on your program so i can make sure it's not staring me in the face??
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what my screen looks like.. Bottom left is the encode button..

DVDCatalyst is the bomb!
Look no further than this program for video encoding.
http://pocketdvd.ca/products/dvd catalyst 3.html
It even has a device profile for the HD and it works perfectly. I use it on a Vista 64 Ultimate system and have had no problems. They offer a 7 day full feature trial download. My 8 core Xeon system can do a 1:45 movie in 17 minutes in HQ mode!
Very impressive and easy to use UI. Three things needed to configure it is to tell it that you have a Touch HD (HQ mode preferred), where to put the file (unless you want the default location) and press "GO". It's that easy. $19.95 USD is a bargain.
Regards,
Gordo

^^ its a **** program.
I used a trial to convert a HD film to that 800x480 and just picked the profile HTC HD (HQ) and the film is unwatchable.
Got a benchmark of 54%.
In the end, i guess it doesn't come down to the program but the device.
This is getting ridiculous!

Psygnosis84 said:
^^ its a **** program.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A little harsh but I tend to agree with this sentiment after doing a couple of flics.. perhaps it's virtues lie somewhere yet to be discovered.

I use the ipod me video converter in the maximum resolution and in the options - slow, quality and the videos in the touch HD play perfect.
And it also allows to use subtitles (srt) (The encoder in this forum also works but it doesn't allow subtitles and sometimes I have sound issues...)

Psygnosis84 said:
^^ its a **** program.
I used a trial to convert a HD film to that 800x480 and just picked the profile HTC HD (HQ) and the film is unwatchable.
Got a benchmark of 54%.
In the end, i guess it doesn't come down to the program but the device.
This is getting ridiculous!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, I have burned several movies and just selected the HD (HQ) profile and changed nothing else (defaults for everything except for conversion priortiy, I set that to Very High, as I have an 8 core Xeon with 32GB of RAM and therefore get 17-18 minute conversions) and it views perfectly. What player are you using? I am using the standard, built in Windows Media Player and get superb results.
Try it again with WMP and let me know what results you get.
Gordo

what do you mean with HTC built in media player? The windows mobile media player? That's one of the worst players in my opinion.

jetjockgordo said:
Look no further than this program for video encoding.
http://pocketdvd.ca/products/dvd catalyst 3.html
It even has a device profile for the HD and it works perfectly. I use it on a Vista 64 Ultimate system and have had no problems. They offer a 7 day full feature trial download. My 8 core Xeon system can do a 1:45 movie in 17 minutes in HQ mode!
Very impressive and easy to use UI. Three things needed to configure it is to tell it that you have a Touch HD (HQ mode preferred), where to put the file (unless you want the default location) and press "GO". It's that easy. $19.95 USD is a bargain.
Regards,
Gordo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say that I'm watching a full length vid now on my HTC Touch HD having used DVD Catalyst 3 on trial and it is perfect in both WMP and Album player (I don't really see any difference.)
I've not had any sucess previously with Super Converter no matter what setting I tried, yet with this, as Gordo said, just set it running with the default settings for the HTC and it converted seamlessly.
Most impressed and I think I shall be buying this one after the trial.

Trixter: Thank you very much for the screen shot. I can confirm that those buttons do NOT show up in the build I have :S (can't recall which build it is offhand) Weird.
And is it just me or is it really difficult to find this for download? I go to their site download page, but end up navigating in circles :S
BANE

hurzwa said:
what do you mean with HTC built in media player? The windows mobile media player? That's one of the worst players in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ. While the UI sucks somewhat, I found WMP to sound better than Coreplayer (after tweaking it for hours!) and Pocketplayer. This is true with both my Shure SE530's and my Moto S9-HD's.
Here is a link to a video I shot with my son's Flip video camera so the quality is not perfect. I could not get close enough and keep the Touch HD in focus and let you see how clean the movie is. As I said in my earlier posts, DVDCatalyst and WMP work together perfectly.
Right click this link and do a "save as".
http://www.jetjocktech.com/gordo/Posted Pics/VID00006.AVI
http://www.jetjocktech.com/gordo/Posted Pics/VID00004.AVI
Gordo

...at last!
Fabulous! Having tried many of the solutions available, this is the first one that takes a real DVD (as opposed to a video file) and extracts and encodes the file to a size that allows playback on the Touch HD without stuttering.
Belive me, I've tried many solutions but this is not only effective, it's incredibly easy to use!
I recommend everyone to give it a try. I shall be paying. I've spent more time and money trying to get video to work on the Touch HD that the price seems lke a brgain now even though it might not have done when I started the process.

ok, update. Thankfully now SUPER encoder WORKS. IE the ENCODE NOW button and the rest of the buttons at the bottom have appeared.
I'm running a Vaio UX280P as my main computer, and whether it's to do with changing my poser setting from MAXIMUM BATTERY to Desktop use, or the fact that my resolution is higher when I plug it into an external monitor, It's worked.
I encoded a movie today and it not only works a treat, it did it in a pretty decent amount of time. My past experience with encoding stuff took HOURS!
Anywa, seems like a great program now i've had the chance to use it.
BANE

free video/music mp4 for htc hd full screen!!
try this site http://keepvid.com/
go to exsample ,youtube kopie the link to keepvideo its will convert to mp4 and you can play direct on your phone.

DVD to AVI conversion

Hi Guys
Not long had my Touch HD and now wanting to get some movies onto it to watch whilst travelling into work.
I downloaded a trial of DVD catalyst 3, however I did a conversion and the result is pretty poor. Nothing to show off by!
I just wondered, what video settings I should be using and even the best video conversion software to be using.
Thanks
Cb25

Hi,
you should really do a search, there have been many settings for many various applications posted, there is even a GUI you can use (based on menconder).

Actually getting a decent DVDtoDIVx converter is quite hard... I'd suggest Xilisoft DVD Ripper really

DVDCatalyst is the best for me. The Touch HD is listed as a device with default conversion setting and watching movies with Windows Media Player is fantastic. Images are smooth and the HD screen is fantastic. Using the HD defualt settings in DCat creates files between 450-550 megs. DVDCatalyst is well worth the $20. They offer a full featured 7 day trial version here http://www.a3vs.com/
Regards,
Gordo

I've tried a few, and the best I've found is the one johnpatcher mentions above : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=474955
Use DVDDecryptor to rip the DVD to VOBs, then VOBmerger to make the VOB files 1 big one - then run the Encoder above to make it perfect for the Touch HD. I admit its a bit of a faffing about, but it doesn't take much longer than using Xilisoft or something - which ends up with a movie with stuttery playback!

Using Super to convert Video - Quick Question

Guys,
I'm using Super as per this link ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3103846&postcount=394 ) to re-encode my video files for optimum playing on my Touch HD.
However whenever I choose Flash video it shows he output file to be an SWF and not FLV.
I have a later build than that shown in the picture and I can't get it to say FLV.
Can somebody help?
Thanks
EDIT: Scrap that I clicked encode and it gave me the option then...sorry - consider closed

hold up a sec pls.
this is even more of a newb question but..
What if you just want to covert a simple naughty mpg file from limewire etc?
would you still need to buy Coreplayer to get good result?
I'm using the old settings from my n95 atm so any basic settings appreciated.

That's a good question. quite frankly my Artemis was easier to use in terms of video playback...I encoded with PocketDivxEncoder and made the res smaller and job done. However I find lots of videos playing better in ALBUM than in Coreplayer (which is shocking in most flicks to be fair).
I have yet to find a "one size fits all" guide. I grab mostly XVIDs and want to convert them (I'm now downloading 720p rips and I'll see how they convert to FLV)...I converted a 720p trailer to FLV and it's lovely!

oh ok thanks.
I really have read up a bit more on the Wiki or other stickies cos I think I understood about two words of that second paragraph
I just wanna convert some free porn that's all..

If you want the perfect videos for the Touch HD, use this tool:
HTC Touch Video Converter
It has the optimal settings and is very easy to use.

...and it also doesn't give me very good videos to play - I think perhaps it's my source vid?

I used the coverter for more than 100 files already (HDTV and SDTV) and all have very good quality.
One thing is important for playback:
You MUST use Windows Media Player or the HTC Album for playback !
Only these programs can utilize the hardware acceleration and you need it, because the converted files are close to the maximum the HD can play.
If you still don't get good results, I guess you are right and the source file isn't the best.
Maybe you try some other files to see where the problem is.

media woes!!

ok well im slowly getting to grips with my touch, now obviously it comes with windows media player, i have also installed core player.
on my pc i have total video convertor and pocket divx convertor. which program should i be using to convert various avi's that i have to get the best quality, what format should i be converting into, and what program should i be using on my touch to watch them, iv had a few attempts and everything i convert seems to come out rather jumpy etc and just not good to watch.
thankyou.

Please use the search function or atleast google. This has been addressed many times over. In fact, it's been discussed so much that several great xda members have even made various programs/applications which will convert whatever input to an output which performs best on the HD. Most of these are in the Applications part of the Blackstone forum.
In a nutshell, the built in TF3D player is the best way to go since it's the only player which uses hardware acceleration and will give best results when playing mp4.

sincere apologies, i was just being lazy
will search now and delete core player lol

Hello pugme
Go here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=467112 and download this free video converter it’s the best one out there. The Touch HD has its own player and the quality of these 2 apps together is superb. If you put the converted films on to your sd card in a folder called films or what ever you want then start/programs/album/albums/storage card/films then select to play or add albums to your programs short cut.
Quality when watching is like half hd

use Duttys ROM with coreplayer i can play pretty much anything i want without jumping, dont get me wrong the converting programs on here are very good but why convert if you dont have too!

Audio and video out of sync.

Does anyone have issues with video playback? It seems that every file I throw at the hero seems to have audio and video synchronization issues. Specifically, video lags behind audio, you hear something and see it later. I've tried HTC's player and Meridian. The files play on my pc just fine and aren't huge files.
Are there some recommended bitrates for Hero? I'm using an iPod/phone converter (videora) to get my files encoded which has options for bitrate. Bit disappointed that the Hero can't keep up with iPhone again though.
EDIT: Good News, scroll down for my conversion settings.

Hi, there are multiple threads on this subject on this forum. Just open the Hero main forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=508
... and do a search for "video" from the "Search this forum" -tool to the right.
In short, the Hero has massive problems playing mp4-video without a glitch. The best I've acchieved is smooth video that slows down a bit and then becomes faster to catch up with the timeline every 10 seconds.
This can be done by using an exact set of conversion options with one of many many encoders. Some say it works perfectly for them, but I suspect their eyes are just not as finely tuned as mine
Main thing seems to be the target resolution can be no higher than 480x360.

Try encoding/downloading psp video files its not 100% but very close

jayjay said:
Hi, there are multiple threads on this subject on this forum. Just open the Hero main forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=508
... and do a search for "video" from the "Search this forum" -tool to the right.
In short, the Hero has massive problems playing mp4-video without a glitch. The best I've acchieved is smooth video that slows down a bit and then becomes faster to catch up with the timeline every 10 seconds.
This can be done by using an exact set of conversion options with one of many many encoders. Some say it works perfectly for them, but I suspect their eyes are just not as finely tuned as mine
Main thing seems to be the target resolution can be no higher than 480x360.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers dude, I did look but I can't find anything about synchronisation, my videos aren't dropping frames (or at least that doesn't bother me), it's just that the audio is constantly out of sync with video. Makes everything look like it's dubbed, when people talk their lips don't match the sound. You see an explosion (for example)and hear it later.
I'm going to do some experiments with bitrates and converters today.
How exciting!

4 hours later, 3 different converters and no good news.
Has anyone got any settings and a converter to recommend?

Dude try using psp settings. I was having the same issues with avi's & mp4's but now I'm using psp settings its almost perfect

thenewshaft said:
Dude try using psp settings. I was having the same issues with avi's & mp4's but now I'm using psp settings its almost perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you post what the settings are? I tried a load of things earlier and it was all rubbish.
Resolution, bit rate for video and audio as well as file type would be grrrrreat!

Well, I -THINK- I've cracked it.
There are some dropped frames still but image quality is good and the sound is in sync. Here are the settings when using Handbrake http://handbrake.fr/?article=download to do the conversion:
If I don't give a value for it, then you don't need to change it.
Format: MP4
Crop: Automatic
Width/Height: 480 / Blank
Anamorphic: None
VideoCodec: Mpeg-4 (FFmpeg)
Framerate 23.976
2 pass encoding: Check
Avg Bitrate: 750
Audio Source: Automatic
Audio Codec: AAC
Mixdown: Stereo
Samplerate: 48k
Bitrate: 128
That's the best result I got after HOURS of experimenting but I'd be interested if anyone has anything better.

I see you already went ahead and did your own tests... Here are some relevant threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=544498
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=550529&
I myself, haven't been able to get Handbrake working with any settings. Audio always stutters like crazy, so the video is basically unwatchable.
What does work for me is Videora, which has a bunch of free converters bundled for a specific platform, so you can get a Videora iPod -edition and a Videora HTC-edition. There's a general edition as well.
The GUI is horrific and loads weird web pages into a huge box inside the program (presumably to allow advertising whilst using the program), but I did manage to get the smoothest playback out of it of all the converters I tried. I think I even went with default settings for HTC G1-video.
The video plays ok, the sound and video are in sync, but the video slows down and catches up every 10 seconds or so.
Hope you get it working! I am pretty hopeful that the coming update will alleviate the problem...

Thanks, will have a look at those threads. The Videora converter didn't work well at all for me, I'm wondering if there are certain files that retain characteristics that the phone doesn't like. IE that you may get a better result with converting from divx to mp4 than, for example high quality mp4 to something the hero can handle.