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Raphael Video Encoding Thread

NOTE: USE OF THIS THREAD AND INFO ASSUMES YOU HAVE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO USE / ENCODE ALL SOURCE MATERIALS. I AM A US CITIZEN AND A SOLDIER, AND HENCE FALL UNDER JURISDICTION OF MANY ORGANIZATIONS, TO INCLUDE THE FEDERAL CENSORSHIP CLUB (FCC) AND THE DOUCHEBAGS MOLESTING CONSUMERS ACT. NO QUESTIONS WILL BE FIELDED REGARDING RIPPING, DOWNLOADING, OR PIRATING OF SOURCE MEDIA, REGARDLESS OF THE INQUIRER'S NATIONALITY. - Fathead, P.I.
This thread will be about video encoding, with the end product being the Raphael. My current Device, Radio and ROM are in my sig and updated for reference.
The premise of this guide: Using freely available (NON-WAREZ) CODEC and software, the user will be able to create video with audio playable on a HTC Touch Pro. The video will be of a watchable quality and small in file size.
Some of you may be familiar with my work on SEGA Dreamcast with GypPlay, DC-Divx, DC-VCD standard, and XDP (X-Rips, Inc. Dreampassport, English translation of DP 2 and above)
- Fathead, P.I.
----- START OF THEOREY -----
If you're like me, the first thing you asked yourself after buying your Fuse was "HOLY ****! I can run 4x the storage on this thing that my old Wizard could!" Yes, 16 GB of Micro-SD goodness is freakin' sweet. But how to use it? You can only listen to so much music per week, even with Napster To Go. You can only play so many games. (I'm further reduced due to lack of a usable joy pad for Pocket Nester.) Why not throw some movies on this joker?
----- VIDEO FORMAT -----
The first thing most people want to know is "What resolution and format should I use?" I am a longtime fan of Divx. I have used it to successfully create video content for low end devices, specifically the SEGA Dreamcast. Creating or downsampling content for a mobile phone gives us a considerable edge over bigger-screen counterparts. Before we jump into the configuration of settings and knob-dicking with software, let's figure out just what kind of video we want to produce.
FRAME RATE
Most content you find will come in one of 3 frame rates:
30 FPS (VHS / NTSC Broadcast / DVD / Blu-Ray(?) )
25 FPS (PAL)
23.976 FPS (Actual frame rate used to record cinema and produce much media)
The first thing you need to realize is that many things initially encoded in 30 FPS can be converted back to 23.976 FPS with no loss of fluidity or data. If your source is a webcam, skip the scaling to 23.976 and drop down to frame decimation. If your source is film, you're in luck. The other frames are just dummy frames that waste a little data. Deleting those frames frees up more video data to better express the picture information in the other 23.976 frames. This trick allows you to:
A. Use a lower bitrate (and hence smaller file) for the same picture OR
B. Get a better picture at the current bitrate
To figure out the frame rate, load up your file in V-Dub and go to File - File Information. The Data Rate box in the Video Stream area will tell you current bit rate, while frame size will give you resolution and frame rate. If you have a 23.976 FPS source, continue. If you have a 30 FPS source that you think should be 23.976 FPS (Film, etc) :
1. Load up the file in V-Dub.
2. Go to the Video drop down menu. Select Frame Rate (CTL+R is shortcut)
3. Change the Frame Rate on the source to 23.976 FPS.
If you continue to have audio sync issues with this method, leave the file at 30 FPS and continue.
Now we are going to look at frame decimation. Frame decimation drops every X frame while keeping the audio sync'd. The end result is a file X the frame rate of the source. While this is noticeable on large screens, on the Touch Pro / Diamond Screens (and probably even the HD), it shouldn't be an issue at all. You can play with this option. It is more noticeable on film, but I cannot see a difference at all on animated sources.
I use the decimate by 2 option in VDub. Video -> Frame Rate (CTL+R shortcut) and select Decimate video frame rate by 2. Our output video is now half the frame rate of our source. The end result is we can:
A. Get a better picture with the current video bit rate OR
B. Lower the video bit rate to get the same picture in a smaller size.
I use option B. Another big advantage here is that the device is trying to decode half the frames. A general rule about audio and video playback: The lower the bit rate you ask the device to handle, the less work it has to do to decode and display the video, and less battery power will be used.
RESOLUTION
Most content you will find is around 640 x 480. DVD sources usually come around 720x480. Blu-Ray would be above that, but possibly scaled down. We are going to watch this movie on a 3 inch screen. Guess what that means? If we never found a video about 320x240, or comparable widescreen resolution, It wouldn't matter. At all. Stepping up to 640x480 is just going to quadruple the amount of pixels we are trying to express on a limited budget.
A handy tool I use in V-Dub is the 2:1 reduction filter (high quality). To kick kit on, go to Video -> Filters (CTL+F). Click add, and it should be the first filter you can choose. This cuts your resolution by half. As a rule of thumb, If I've got a source that's around 640x480 (or 16:9 equiv) or higher, I hit it with the 2:1. You'll find oddball sources like 480 x 360, you can give it a shot, but it might not be worth it. Again, lower resolution means less pixels to express both in bit rate and in reproduction (playback).
Pausing here again, tired as hell.

THE SOFTWARE I USE
Video Editing / Audio and Video Compression and Mux - Virtual Dub. Totally free. I usually refer to this as VDub.
Home
Download
Audio Compression CODEC - LAME MP3 - Free and versatile.
Home
Compiled Binaries
Use the ACM Binary here for Windows and Virtual Dub
Video Compression CODEC / PC and SP/PPC Player - Divx - Decoder, player, mobile player, and MOST of the Encoder are FREE. DO NOT POST ABOUT CRACKING THIS.
Home / CODEC and PC Player
MOBILE (PPC and SP) Player

One more for good measure...
Okay, replies and requests, go!

Am I correct in thinking that videos should be encoded in 640 x 480 ?

*RESERVED*

cucusoft
i use Cucusoft Ultimate DVD + Video Converter Suite
mpeg-4
video bitrate 600kbit/s
framerate, depends from 23.976 to 25 (not important)
videosize 480x368
format 4:3
audio aac
128kb/s
samplerate 48000k
2 chanels stereo
it works fine, no framedrops
played with coreplayer 1.25 build 4506

I just use the standard 700mb divx movie in .avi
I use the free divx player V0.91
Smaller would be sweeter.

Taking a break for a bit, added some new material. Internets in the hotel are barely functional.
I'll be focusing on getting files down to smaller levels. The theorey should give you enough information to start dramatically cutting your file sizes. I've been moving my Boondocks DVD over to Divx 6.8 movies. Averaging 40 megs per episode.

I have been using spb mobile dvd for a few years now. It is very easy to use can convert straight from a dvd or a video file and supports vga res.

Will have to check that one out, have been thinking about backing up my DVD's to mobile, will be traveling about 26 - 30 weeks out of the year and need some boredom killers.
Gonna score some sleep and SEGA time, later all.

Added some new info, taking a pre breakfast nap.

i use slysoft clonedvdmobile. output at vga res and filesize around 700mb seems to run fine for me...although its not free, its well worth the money

Brendo said:
i use slysoft clonedvdmobile. output at vga res and filesize around 700mb seems to run fine for me...although its not free, its well worth the money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a great bit of software. It also utilises all 4 cores on my Q6600. Another fantastic program is DvDFab which can transcode DVD to Divx/Xvid/MP4 etc on the fly, or dump the Video TS to your HD.

Going to have to check all this out. Have many a DVD that needs ripped. Wonder if any of those have a frame decimation feature. I like my 30 - 40 meg per episode cartoons.

Based on some comments in other threads, I've tried a couple of freeware programs to try to encode in the format that works so well with WMP (MP4, H.264, 640x368, 1000 Kbps, AAC @ 96Kbps): DVD Decrypter + SUPER for one and AutoMKV for the other. However, I haven't been fully successful with either, so I'm hoping that someone who uses these tools can clue me in on the appropriate settings and procedures for encoding.
The combination of DVD Decrypter and SUPER creates very nice movies for playback on the Fuze. Unfortunately, DVD Decrypter keeps the VOB structure from the DVD and SUPER follows suit, which means that a movie will be broken into several pieces at arbitrary points: unsatisfactory, to say the least. The SUPER support forum mentions a way to join inputs into a single output, but following what I understood those instructions to say did not, in fact, result in a combined file.
AutoMKV is very convenient, as it is a single program (or at least UI) to both rip and encode. Unfortunately, I haven't found the settings that generate output that is comparable to the SUPER output -- WMP won't play any of the files I've managed to create so far.
Anybody use these successfully and can share how they do it? TIA.

amerisoft, works very well for me so far, except an occasional blank screen

Just wanted to add...
I don't bother encoding video anymore. Sure, a full-blown 50 minute xvid show might be 400meg. However, the touch pro does not have any issue playing such files back.
Makes life much easier!

I'd agree. I've loaded up a couple of 700MB XVIDs and had no problem playing them.

For some reason, my Sprint Touch Pro has issues playing back even reasonable quality video. For instance, 640x480 video at 1200k (MP4) is a little choppy in WMP, and almost -everything- is extremely choppy in TCPMP, no matter how it's encoded, including 350MB 45-minute XVid TV shows.

AndyCR said:
For some reason, my Sprint Touch Pro has issues playing back even reasonable quality video. For instance, 640x480 video at 1200k (MP4) is a little choppy in WMP, and almost -everything- is extremely choppy in TCPMP, no matter how it's encoded, including 350MB 45-minute XVid TV shows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it, it's a driver issue. (This is what I've gathered across numerous postings here; someone please correct me if I've gotten something wrong.) The Qualcomm chipset in the TP/Fuze has an efficient driver called Qtv, but Qualcomm charges for a license. WMP appears to incorporate the driver, so it's able to handle moderately challenging videos. 1200 Kbps might be a little more than it's capable of displaying smoothly, but people have reported that 1000 Kbps plays well. On my one trial with DVD Decrypter + SUPER, that was the case for me, too -- full resolution and smooth motion for a video ripped from a DVD with the specs I reported in my earlier message in this thread.
TCPMP, on the other hand, does not include the Qtv driver, so in order to get smooth playback you have to reduce the size, resolution, or frame rate.
Coreplayer has a reverse-engineered partial driver for Qtv. As a result, it falls between TCPMP and WP in capabilities. It is claimed that version 3.0 of Coreplayer will have full Qtv support.

Best mp4 converter for HD 2

can anybody tell me which program can I use to convert .avi files to .mp4 files in best resolution supported by hd2 ? As far as I know Mp4ForHd converts only files to touch hd resolution so as I asked before, which program can be used to convert to mp4 and in which resolution? And my second question - in upper right corner there should be a litle icon which allows me to disable running aplications - I don't have it, how can I turn it on ?

Well, the Touch HD and HD2 have the same screen resolutions (they are both WVGA) despite the size differences. I have used MP4forHD and find that the audio/vidio sync is out on the HD2. I tend to use Any Video Converter which is freeware and allows for much greater customisation to suit your needs, and have yet to find any sync issues. Be sure to keep the video bitrate <= 2000 as values above this start to effect the framerate/ playback smoothness. Also, it is best to keep the resolution at WVGA otherwise you will increase the chance of exceeding the 2GB file size limit. Anything file size above this the HTC Album program wont play (i'm assuming this is what you want to use?).

i use Super i think its the best freeware
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Hi.
Try this one http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=478050&highlight=converter
Its very easy and fast
MfG Uro

Version 2.9b:
- A new codec added "XVID avi". With this, you can now convert to avi files (not only mp4 files)
- Now video quality 'very high' is two times Normal Quality (before 1.5 times). It makes max quality is now 1600 kbps (before 999 kbps)
- Support for MOD video files (JVC cams)
- Added a new video size 768x576 (JVC cams)
- Added two new profiles: HD2 (for HTC HD2) and JVC (for JVC cams)
Ive installed version 2.9c and I cant see HD2 profile...

m4rioo said:
Version 2.9b:
- A new codec added "XVID avi". With this, you can now convert to avi files (not only mp4 files)
- Now video quality 'very high' is two times Normal Quality (before 1.5 times). It makes max quality is now 1600 kbps (before 999 kbps)
- Support for MOD video files (JVC cams)
- Added a new video size 768x576 (JVC cams)
- Added two new profiles: HD2 (for HTC HD2) and JVC (for JVC cams)
Ive installed version 2.9c and I cant see HD2 profile...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to download the 2.9c update and unzip to the instalation folder

ok, anyone knows answer to my second question?

m4rioo said:
ok, anyone knows answer to my second question?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Profile HD2 under Profile
MfG Uro

The video and sound.. they're not in sync when i used the mp4forhd.. any solution for that?

'And my second question - in upper right corner of my hd2 there should be a litle icon which allows me to disable running aplications - I don't have it, how can I turn it on ?'

sorry for second post but I cant input any file while editing existing post, so - i ment this:

m4rioo said:
sorry for second post but I cant input any file while editing existing post, so - i ment this:
View attachment 286110
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this cab , Its called Task manager , this is one is made by Dutty for HD2
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=284213&stc=1&d=1266797843

Which program to use for converting videos for phone?

I've got the HTC Legend and have used Doubletwist to sync and convert videos for it. It converts the videos nicely except they don't seem to be well compressed.. I used it to convert a movie and it ended up being a larger size than the original (700mb -> 800mb).
Instead of resizing it and keeping aspect ratio from 640 x 272 to 480 x 204 and letting the phone add black borders when the video plays, it added black borders itself and made it 480 x 320. Also the bitrate of the video was increased from 709 to 829 which seems unecessary.
I tried converting it also in Avidemux and got the file size smaller but it was not as high quality as the Doubletwist output.
But it seems logical that you should be able to get a smaller dimensions, same quality and smaller file size video..
What are some alternative softwares?

http://www.virtualdub.org/
Virtual dub is pretty fast, you can resize, crop, correct aspect ratios, deinterlace etc etc.
via the "filters" menu.
It's quite a minimalist piece of software, but it's transcodes very fast and has everthing you need.

Thanks, yeah I'm familiar with virtualdub.
However some of the videos I'm converting were .flv and it wasn't too happy with that. And I cant seem to find the exact right encoding options to maintain the quality DT can achieve, but also have a decent amount of compression

hmm - sounds hard to do in one pass. If you are lucky enough to have an editing package like Sony Vegas or After Effects it should be doable.
If you can bear a two -step conversion you can use this:
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/FLV_Extract
to convert FLV to AVI without loss.
Then use the encoding package of your choice to shrink the file to a phone friendly size.

Yeah I do have sony vegas, how would I do it in that?
And yeah the main problem is encoding it to be played on the phone. I can get the right format, but not perfect quality with decently low size

Newb question: Best video decoding settings.

Im going to try and make this short.
I realize this may not be the best place to ask but i know you guys are the best to ask.
What are the best 1) resolution 2) bit rate 3) quality settings for encoding video for the gtab that give you a nice picture and dont break the ram bank.
At 768x450 2000bits/sec My test movie is 1.3gb. At the native 1024x600 the file size hits in the 1.7gb neighborhood (nice looking but probably not feasible unless i am only going to put one or two movies on here at a time...would like to do 5 or 6)
I tried it at 512/300 (50% of the native resolution) and a bit rate of 800bps and did manage to get the file at around 500mbs but the quality was just sub par for my tastes (fuzzy VISIBLY jerky).
Rather than me testing for days and days..i was wondering what settings you guys had set on (and why).
Thanks!
Allen
Edit: The H.264mp4 format was causing artifacting that i couldnt fix at any setting..
Right now i am using .mp4 at 768x450 (or a 75% scale of the native resolution) and a bit rate of 1,500 with the sound set at DVD quality (which actually does help since i use blue tooth head phones). File size still just at 1gb (that maybe about the smallest i can do with the quality i like). Even at that setting...its still a tad jerky. What should i try? Lowering the resolution and upping the bit rate a tad more???
Still wanting to know if any of you guys have a magic setting for me!
The good news here is that i am not loading my up memory with mp3/songs (have an iphone for that) using pandora radio instead. Regular apps dont take up too much room so i figure i probably have around 10G to play with for video. (when vegan gets the SD card utilizatin fixed ill have another 8G on top of that).

Bump:
Still looking for settings suggestions.

I am using 720X480 @ 1,500kbs in MP4. This gets me ~1.2gb files. It is the actual resolution of a DVD, which is where my material is sourced. This lets the display device do the scaling, rather than the encoding process.

Robert Duncan said:
I am using 720X480 @ 1,500kbs in MP4. This gets me ~1.2gb files. It is the actual resolution of a DVD, which is where my material is sourced. This lets the display device do the scaling, rather than the encoding process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Duh that makes total sense!
Testing now.
Any ideas what the "video quality output settins are". 1 is best, 32 is worse. 26 is recommended.
I dont have much to go on. I see the recommended settings for an ipad are 1335 bit rate and a quality setting of 24.
UPdate: When i did a test run with higher settings i noticed the video would lag every three or four seconds. I concluded that the settings were too high for the hardware to handle. Likewise when i set them too low..it was jerky, and i concluded the bit rate was too low for smooth frame rates.
At 720x480 1500Bits (and a "quality setting of 24"). The lag is MUCH better, but it still lags about every 20 seconds or so (very briefly). I will test at 1400bits/26q and see what happens.
Jeeze! A lot of work.... its too bad someone hadnt already figured all this out and just given me the quick answer! lol
Thanks again for the answer!

You should be able to play 1080 with no lag?
Sent from my V9 using XDA App

You may want to grab a program called Mediainfo. This program analyzes the video file and tells you what profile was used, video and audio encoding stats. I was using this to make sure my source and output files were not using the "High" profile. I have some 1080 files re-encoded under the "Simple" profile and they look great with zero lag. I have re-encoded all my files with Handbrake and the all work without lag.
I used the info listed in roebeet's FAQ post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842899

daml said:
You should be able to play 1080 with no lag?
Sent from my V9 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BUT why when the screen resolution is only 1024x600?
DONT need media info unless reatail dvds are encoded with more than one setting Are they?
I saw roebeets post about using the ipad settings but that makes no sense. THE ipad has a different resoultion and a less powerful processor.
I am getting lag at 720x450 1500bits but not at 720x450 1400 bits. Very interesting.

[TIPS]A/V out of sync when compressing 720p videos

I'm sure you noticed that when you record a 720p/1080p video with a smartphone, the bitrate will be pretty high, in the 10-15Mbps area.
This is not really necessary if you watch the videos just on your smartphone or on a limited size LCD TV, and you can just recompress it using x264 codec at about 2Mbps without severe quality loss (unless it's a sport video).
However you'll notice severe audio video out-of-sync issues if you compress both audio and video tracks and DON'T CHOOSE MP4 (which is the default container for the videos recorded by the smartphone) as default container for your x264 video.
Furthermore, if you want to compress and then JOIN different videos, you have to compress them one by one and THEN join them, otherwise you'll notice glitches in the playback.
I tried with mkv and avi but I kept having sync issues, so I thought that it was worth to share this tip.

SUPER @ video conversion program
Have you tried a video conversion program called SUPER @? Here's its link:
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html
The program can be pretty intensive in terms of memory used but it usually does a great job for me and bitrates can be chosen for just any vid type you might want to save to. Usually, I turn off my internet connection prior to executing it (so it can't do an update check) and run it by itself.

Yep, I guess it's something similar to Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate, it's just that I prefer more control over encoding parameters (so I tend to use programs such as Avidemux)

flapane said:
Yep, I guess it's something similar to Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate, it's just that I prefer more control over encoding parameters (so I tend to use programs such as Avidemux)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've probably already thought of this but you can load your video in virtualdubmod and have it change framerate so video and audio match perfectly.
No re encoding needed and even on large files it takes less than a minute or two.
If you find virtualdubmod won't recognise the video you can download a suitable vfw codec and it should then.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk 2

The problem is that vdubmod won't help, because framerate is not constant and it varies from some 19 to 30fps, at least on Vibrant.
In a lot of cases the fps number gets lost during encoding (and you'll obtain a video which has a constant framerate of 29.97fps), because softwares such as Avidemux doesn't have an option to leave the FPS untouched (or at least it seems that the fps number gets lost if you want to use MKV as container).

flapane said:
The problem is that vdubmod won't help, because framerate is not constant and it varies from some 19 to 30fps, at least on Vibrant.
In a lot of cases the fps number gets lost during encoding (and you'll obtain a video which has a constant framerate of 29.97fps), because softwares such as Avidemux doesn't have an option to leave the FPS untouched (or at least it seems that the fps number gets lost if you want to use MKV as container).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used it in similar situations so it might be worth a try as it doesn't need a constant framerate, it looks at the audio length then adjusts video framerate to match.
If it is just a problem created while actually recording, ie if the video itself records at varying framerates it would suggest that it can't write to storage quick enough and is dropping frames.
In that case you would need to record in lower resolution or perhaps find a replacement camera application and see if that could fix your problem as sometimes default apps are not all that good.
It also makes a difference if you can close un needed background apps to free ram if low on memory. That can cause frames to drop as well.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk 2

Actually it seems that the framerate is lower in case of dark scenes, which seems to be a behaviour found on other phones. I'm writing on the internal storage and I always kill everything before taking a video, so I gotta try another Camera app and see if anything changes.
I'll also take a look at that interesting vdubmod feature, I didn't know it.
Thanks.

flapane said:
Actually it seems that the framerate is lower in case of dark scenes, which seems to be a behaviour found on other phones. I'm writing on the internal storage and I always kill everything before taking a video, so I gotta try another Camera app and see if anything changes.
I'll also take a look at that interesting vdubmod feature, I didn't know it.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a setting where you can change encoding parameters of your x264 on your phone?
On a pc the codec has a feature that can compress more data per frame in darker areas, on a phone I don't know if that is active or not but might be worth checking. Sorry I couldn't help more but hope you find a solution.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk 2