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I want to know what is the best format to convert videos for ppc so i can get best combination of quality and performance, size dosnt matter for me.
I am alao looking for the best practice guide.... so i can learn how to get smooth video playback.
H.264. Read my H.264 Bible, it exaplains everything.
Thanks I am looking for your bible.
I think I may have overlooked something obvious, but where is your bible?
I'm having terrible trouble getting decent video playback on my i-mate 9502
Here guys
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67863
It seems you can't expect much from the 9502 - it doesn't have working drivers either - see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=351788&page=8
You could give CorePlayer a try, though
I still have a problem that I have a wmv which play smoothly on my pc but now I convert it to h.264 but it still lagy (as before) on my wizard.
Do you use CorePlayer?
Did you try optimizing (bo Cabac etc?)
I am using core player latest build but I dont know about "optimizing (bo Cabac etc?)"
Can you explain me?
btw I convert the video from xilisoft in 320 res
azfar said:
I am using core player latest build but I dont know about "optimizing (bo Cabac etc?)"
Can you explain me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've explained this all in the H.264 Bible... there're a lot of areas of optimization.
BTW, the Wizard is VERY slow. Therefore, I recommend not only goig for CorePlayer, but also sticking to DivX if the increased storage requirements aren't a problem.
you mean divx codec, not player right?
azfar said:
you mean divx codec, not player right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both. You need to encode your stuff with DivX and play back preferably with TCPMP or, even better, CorePlayer.
I switched my 9502's coreplayer setings to RawFramebuffer and now it plays QVGA video at an acceptable 24fps / 500kbps no problem. Still seems to hate VGA video though, but I guess that's a non-issue until they bring out the SDHC patch.
mike freegan said:
I switched my 9502's coreplayer setings to RawFramebuffer and now it plays QVGA video at an acceptable 24fps / 500kbps no problem. Still seems to hate VGA video though, but I guess that's a non-issue until they bring out the SDHC patch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any other core player video settings for better performance?
The H.264 codec is not a good choice for playback on slower devices. If you flip though the h.264 bible (linked below) you'll see that even a 330 MHz OMAP (N95) isn't able to handle a h.264 video 100% without disabling features. You haven't got a chance with a 200 MHz OMAP and your going to have high CPU utilization with a 400 MHz CPU.
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/applications/222389-h-264-k-mpeg-4-part-10-avc-bible.html
If size is not a factor, then you're not gaining anything by using h.264. The main benefit of h.264 over XviD is better quality at the same size or same quality at a lower size. XviD/DivX has much lower compression complexity and requires less CPU power/utilization to decode but ends up taking more space.
If you have a fast processor and you want the best quality at the smallest size, go with h.264/AVC. If size is not a factor, stick with XviD/DivX(ASP). Even with a fast processor, you will have lower CPU utilization and longer battery life (assuming you are using CPU scaling).
Check out my guide if you want some help converting to XviD.
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic349738.html
trueg said:
The H.264 codec is not a good choice for playback on slower devices. If you flip though the h.264 bible (linked below) you'll see that even a 300 MHz OMAP (N95) isn't able to handle a h.264 video 100% without disabling features. You haven't got a chance with a 200 MHz OMAP and your going to have high CPU utilization with a 400 MHz CPU.
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/applications/222389-h-264-k-mpeg-4-part-10-avc-bible.html
If size is not a factor, then you're not gaining anything by using h.264. The main benefit of h.264 over XviD is better quality at the same size or same quality at a lower size. XviD/DivX has much lower compression complexity and requires less CPU power/utilization to decode but ends up taking more space.
If you have a fast processor and you want the best quality at the smallest size, go with h.264/AVC. If size is not a factor, stick with XviD/DivX(ASP). Even with a fast processor, you will have lower CPU utilization and longer battery life (assuming you are using CPU scaling).
Check out my guide if you want some help converting to XviD.
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic349738.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately the software you refer doesnt support wmv conversion.
Well, honestly I've never needed to convert a wmv(ASF) video before. I never would have thought it would not accept WMV files, but I downloaded a music video to test and indeed, even when forced, PocketDivxEncoder wouldn't accept it. I then tried AutoGK which is another high quality converter/front end and it also would not accept WMV files (I would assume the same for Gordon Knot).
To aid you in your quest, I went on a search for tools to help you in your task.
Tools tested....
AllToAVI - http://www.videohelp.com/tools/alltoavi - easy to install, fairly intuitive, fast encoding, no option for cropping or rotation, limited audio options.
--I ran a quick test on my wmv music video using AllToAVI. The original WMV did not play very well (worse than a slide show) on my HTC Touch (Elfin - 201Mhz OMAP). The resulting XVID was actually the same size, but played perfectly.
WinFF - http://www.videohelp.com/tools/WinFF - easy to install, minimalist interface (very limited), fast encoding. Unlike AllToAVI, WinFF did not analyze the source or make suggestions on video frame rate or aspect ratio. It worked well enough and the resulting XVID looked as good and played as well as the file created by AllToAVI.
MediaCoder - http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MediaCoder - wow, this program is pretty amazing. Easy to install, tons of options, fast encoding. This program is much more customizable than PocketDivXEncoder, but this is to be expected. This program can convert from pretty much any codec to pretty much any codec. There are options for pretty much every aspect of the conversion process (which may be too much for some people). The resultant video was again the same size, but quality was a bit higher since I was able to crop the black bars.
Basically, if you can use PocketDivXEncoder (i.e. your video is supported) stick with it since it is fast, high quality and easy to use. If you want the ability to customize every single aspect of the conversion, use Media Coder. If you can't use PocketDivXEncoder and you want something very simply to convert your unsupported video, give AllToAVI a shot.
many thanks for your efforts. I am tryijgnall those convertors and will let you know the results.
can I play the 700MB dvdrip (.avi divx) version of movie on pda. Can it handle it?
Hy guys,
Just to know, I'm coming from my trusty Eten M700. I bought the HTC Touch Pro about one week ago here, in Romania.
And I must say the video playback seems way too sluggish for a phone like this. On the M700, with same coreplayer version (latest), with raw frame buffer and medium quality and no other modification I could play every video I wanted. Including 720x576 xvid clips.
On this one...no matter what I set (QTV, raw frame buffer, direct draw), everything seems a little too sluggish compared to M700.
do you have the same impression, or is it just me?
I just read another thread here about video performance but it had too much dissipated info.
Gigs said:
Hy guys,
Just to know, I'm coming from my trusty Eten M700. I bought the HTC Touch Pro about one week ago here, in Romania.
And I must say the video playback seems way too sluggish for a phone like this. On the M700, with same coreplayer version (latest), with raw frame buffer and medium quality and no other modification I could play every video I wanted. Including 720x576 xvid clips.
On this one...no matter what I set (QTV, raw frame buffer, direct draw), everything seems a little too sluggish compared to M700.
do you have the same impression, or is it just me?
I just read another thread here about video performance but it had too much dissipated info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is why it's great that you started a new thread to dissipate the info further. Read the other thread(s) again, this has already been answered and solved within coreplayer.
P0ll0L0c0 said:
Which is why it's great that you started a new thread to dissipate the info further. Read the other thread(s) again, this has already been answered and solved within coreplayer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which topic is it? i have smilar issues
Untill now I have found that QTV with Medium acceleration, and dither on has the best performance, anyway less than m700. Setting the buffer to 8000 kb did not had any effect. Still want to hear from another pro owners what they think about this.
I agree, video playback just sucks! I hate Qualcomm processors, Xscale rulezzz!
However when I put QTv, my screen goes black and there's only sound.
How did you achieve to run it on QTv???
krabicka3 said:
I agree, video playback just sucks! I hate Qualcomm processors, Xscale rulezzz!
However when I put QTv, my screen goes black and there's only sound.
How did you achieve to run it on QTv???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what kind of file you want to play with it. On mine, some 3gp and some clips compressed for mobile devices don't show anything on screen. Try to switch to raw frame buffer, and restart core player, maybe it helps?
Unfortunately the HTC Touch Pro is not the mulitmedia phone you want if your looking to run your non-mobile encoded videos. However it still can be a awesome video player if you encode videos to the right dimension and specs.
I took this past Sunday to play around with finding just the right video format and encode settings to play video as close to vga as possible. Unfortunately the Touch Pro can't play videos in full-vga resolution. HOWEVER, it can perfectly play videos in 480x320 which when you compare to a 640x480 video on the touch pro's 2.5inch screen there is no difference in quality what so ever.
When you play small videos on such a small screen you wont notice the difference in the resolution, however comparing a qvga (320x240) to the half vga 480x320 resolution you can definitely see a difference.
I use two different encoders, one being pocket divx encoder and the other videora iphone converter.
I encoded a bunch of animes and movies using pocket divx set to 480x320, 2-Pass, vhq enabled, around 850 video bitrate and 128kb stereo bitrate and all my videos look crisp on the Touch Pro and plays smoothly.
I suggest others to try it out and benchmark the playback yourself and you'll see it'll run at a easy 135%+ which is perfect for 100% smooth playback.
Gigs said:
It depends on what kind of file you want to play with it. On mine, some 3gp and some clips compressed for mobile devices don't show anything on screen. Try to switch to raw frame buffer, and restart core player, maybe it helps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.) I suggest check two things, one be sure you are running the latest build which I assume you are,
2) under preferences and under the Qtv page look to make sure "Tytn 2 driver mode" is enabled.
3) some builds have a issue of zoomed in pictures to a an extreme amount that only a black screen shows when first installed, set the zoom to 50% and then reset to the normal or best fit.
Hopefully those changes should help you out
UPDATE: Also there is one bug I know of with Coreplayer. When coreplayer is launched and left running in the back (or if still active on screen) should the device go into sleep mode and then come back you will not be able to see any video playing when choosing to start. You'll have to close coreplayer and reopen again, I noticed this the other day and just came into mind when experiencing just now again.
I almost agree with you puerrican but I think it's such a burden to reencode....I managed to get easy after I saw that everything encoded with h264, mkv and encoders like this can't be played in the pro. However, everything I had in my computer encoded in divx, xvid, normal things works just fine with the settings I put in some posts above. I just tried 700 MB DVDrip(around 1000 kbit/s and 640x272) and some videoclip(624x352 vbr around 2300kbits) both xvid and they worked ok. 688x400 AVC1 (h264) killed the pro.It's not just the resolution but also the encoder used.
EDIT: just saw the update and I wanted to mention that I'm also using the 1.2.5 build 4506 with tytn 2 mode enabled and qtv on medium selected. And touchflo3d is disabled and I'm using the spb shell (or something like that with icons on screen).
IDEA: I think it would be interesting playing back xvid 640x480 and h264 640x480 to test this idea of mine
Definitely it is pain to go and do that. Plus reencoding speed relies heavily on your pc specs, on a high end specs your looking at around 4-5 mins for a 2-pass encoded video of 24 min length. While a movie length of 90 mins or so your looking at at least 16-22 mins.
So expect much longer wait on a lower end thats not even dual core or lower clock rate.
Until pdas start sporting dedicated gpus from nvidia or other names windows mobile wont ever benefit on being a media playback alternative which is a nice plus for those not looking to carry 2-3 devices for music, pmp, pda, and phone. Wish HTC would look into intel processors for their next unit and possibly throw in a nvidia mobile gpu like the 5500 with a decent amount of video memory. I mean at this point in the technology chain its not even remotely impossible to do so... so whats the hold up with companies???
yeah, i have no problem with mp4 at 640x480 (640x360 widescreen). mkv at high res (above 640x480) is a little juttery. my movies are usually 24fps, 1000kbps, 640x360
got same settings as gigs
coreplayer is working on fix for v1.3
I'm at a lost, I tried playing 640x480 videos on my touch pro and it stutters way too much, how are you guys managing to have to it playback flawlessly?
I dont really get whats good about watching movies on a 2.5 inch screen...do you do that on such a regular basis that this is so important ?
Regarding Video, i just watch some short youtube clips and stuff like that...
Ever tried to watch a full length movie on such a small screen ? I did that on holiday on my ipod and its really hurting the eyes to concetrate on such a small screen for 90+ minutes... not really anything you want to do regularly...besides not reencoded videos take up alot of space on your memorystick...
i dont have a problem with reencoding some videos and stuff, full length movies arent meant to be watched on a phone anyway
Well, a 2,5 inch screen is a bit too small, but our Touch Pros have a 2,8 inch screen
I have a zune and it has a 3 in screen and was perfect for watching tv videos or movies, and thats half the resolution then a TP. Cant wait to get my hand on the TP !!!
To each his own, some ppl like being able to watch videos whenever the call comes. Sometimes when I have to wait for something like a class to start or I'm away from my pc, or even on a airplane or public transportation I like to be able to watch few episodes easily and clearly. A full blown movie yea its gonna be a nuisance for a long time depending on the person. But some are accustomed to it, I for one can easily watch 4-6 episodes in a row without getting any kind of headahce.
yep, its quite convient. all in one device. it has tv out as well, so since it is simalar res to tv, it looks great
music + movies on phone, no ned for mp3 player. plus i can stream movies off my pc
yeah i see that there is room for this, but i dont think many people use this so regulary that converting a few movies is that much of a pain. You will save a lot of space on your memorystick as well.
I have modifying 2 regentries and the video is now much better.
Look here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=438318
Using CorePlayer the benchmark was before 75-95%,now 145%. on same videofile - Uncompressed VGA XviD.
Edit... I am sorry. It wasn't working. I just forgot,that I set the video quality to medium before.
You have to chose Medium Quality on Video Settings (with Qtv selected), otherwise it lags so much ..
Even on medium on motion scenses some frame drops
Video used for tests: RL_XQ_640x480_1500_128.avi (found somewhere here on this forum.. can't remember the topic name )
I have constructed some video tests and the preliminary data I am getting back is that the Touch Pro is not great when it comes to video playback. Not at the moment anyway. Though my tests were done with the latest Coreplayer I would extrapolate that the results are indicative of the overall video performance irrespective of the player used.
File 1: Mpeg-4 ASP Xvid 320x160 287 kbps
File 2: Mpeg-4 ASP Xvid 640x320 479 kbps
File 3: Mpeg-4 AVC x264 320x160 200 kbps
File 4: Mpeg-4 AVC x264 640x320 400 kbps
All audio is AAC 24 KHz 64 kbps.
Device: HTC Raphael
CPU&Clock: Qualcomm MSM7201A 528MHz
GPU: N/A (integrated ARM926EJ-S [email protected])
ROM: WM6.1 FireROM v0.3
File 1: 205.40%
File 2: 126.52%
File 3: 159.63%
File 4: 68.29%
Device: HTC Hermes
CPU&Clock: Samsung SC32442A ARM 400MHz
GPU: ATI Imageon 2282
ROM: WM6.1 PDACornerPro v25 RBSN
File 1: 387%
File 2: 140%
File 3: 114%
File 4: 34%
I don't know how much the video performance can be improved with newer ROMS or optimised software but I think it will take a while before any drastic improvements are seen, if ever. I have the video files available for those would like to test this for themselves and can PM the links. They short clips might be considered copyrighted so I will not post them.
Hmm
I have some DVD rips which were encoded for use on the Sony PSP, with the following attributes:
Format: MPEG4
Video: AVC aka H.264
Video Size: 480 x 272
Frame Rate: 29.970
Audio: MPEG4 AAC Audio
Audio Format: 96000Hz 2 Ch
I figured it'd be useful to be able to play those rips on my TP, so I tried it using Coreplayer v1.2.5.
There was no sound - I cannot fix this and have raised a ticket with Coreplayer support.
Nevertheless, the benchmark gave an average speed of 101.90% so that's not too bad.
Has anyone else tried these types of files on their TP using Coreplayer? Have you managed to get any sound?
The thread title should be changed into:
"Don't expect great video from CorePlayer on your Raphael."
The problem is not the Raphael. The problem is the CorePlayer! At least when playing MP4 files. I've tested several MP4 files and the CorePlayer is playing them choppy while the WMP Mobile has no problems!
As I've posted in the topic with touch pro issues:
poor directdraw, framebuffer/video performance.
Just to make an idea: an old device from 2005 with omap 850 200mhz CPU performs better in this area than the touch pro @ qualcomm 528mhz. what a shame. The test were done in this topic (in romanian, sorry). CorePlayer was used for benchmark. I will summarize.
- HTC Tornado overclocked (262Mhz) max performance: 174.22%
- Touch Pro max performance: 172,67%
Both in Raw framebuffer mode. When used QTV it gains only 162,64%. How come?
It's pitty, 262Mhz from OMAP performs better than 528!!!Mhz from Qualcomm?!
The video used for tests is this one. (320x240 @ 25FPS)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, this may be fixed with software optimization.. But it's kinda annoying that the existing 3rd-party doesn't work so well..
I saw in a romanian review that touch pro is under diamond at Graphics index.
diamond: 1662.31
touch pro: 357.03
more: http://www.chip.ro/stiri/hardware/review:_htc_touch_pro/22135 (go to bottom)
peterbonge said:
The thread title should be changed into:
"Don't expect great video from CorePlayer on your Raphael."
The problem is not the Raphael. The problem is the CorePlayer! At least when playing MP4 files. I've tested several MP4 files and the CorePlayer is playing them choppy while the WMP Mobile has no problems!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the .mp4 files I transcoded played fine in Coreplayer. The container (.mp4, .avi) is not the problem it's what is inside. Anything benchmarking over a 100% will play smoothly. I will PM you the links to my clips and you can tell me how they all play in both WMP and Coreplayer.
DSF said:
touch pro is under diamond at Graphics index.
diamond: 1662.31
touch pro: 357.03
more: http://www.chip.ro/stiri/hardware/review:_htc_touch_pro/22135 (go to bottom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is concerning. I want a device where I don't have to worry about converting video any more.
Wam7 said:
All the .mp4 files I transcoded played fine in Coreplayer. The container (.mp4, .avi) is not the problem it's what is inside. Anything benchmarking over a 100% will play smoothly. I will PM you the links to my clips and you can tell me how they all play in both WMP and Coreplayer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With WMP the first two are running fine, the last two have just sound without a picture. The codec (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) is not the problem because I have many vids with this codec running fine.
I don't have the time to test the files with the CorePlayer at the moment, but here are the specs of a file which runs choppy with the CorePlayer, but fine with the WMP:
Video: avc1 / H.264/MPEG-4 AVC / 480 x 360 / 509 kbps / 29.971 fps
Audio: mp4a: MPEG-4 AAC LC / 44100Hz 123 kbps, stereo
The problem of the current releases of coreplayer is that the QTV driver provided is not the one for the MSM7201A processor; it's the one of the TyTnII (MSM7200 If I'm not mistaken).
To fully exploit the "graphic accelerator" of our TPs I think we'll have to wait for an optimized version of coreplayer for our HTCs (coreplayer 1.3 as anounced in their website, as they say that a version optimized for Touchs will be released soon).
I've contacted HTC support about video performance.
Answer in short: "The Touch Pro is not made for playing Media. It was made as a business device."
TyTN was made as a business device and included ATI Imageon GPU.
Hmm...guess I learnt something new today. I always thought hardware wise the Touch Pro would be the same if not better than Diamond, i.e. whatever videos the Diamond can play, the Touh Pro can do just as well. But looking at the site provided in Mike's post, I'm guessing that's not the case.
phrozact said:
Hmm...guess I learnt something new today. I always thought hardware wise the Touch Pro would be the same if not better than Diamond, i.e. whatever videos the Diamond can play, the Touh Pro can do just as well. But looking at the site provided in Mike's post, I'm guessing that's not the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really think there's some kind of error regarding graphics benchmark results there, since Touch Pro has the same CPU, the same 3D accelerator and more RAM !
seether said:
I really think there's some kind of error regarding graphics benchmark results there, since Touch Pro has the same CPU, the same 3D accelerator and more RAM !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone could give it a try with another video. I don't have a TP yet ot I'd try it.
Basically I want to be able to throw a 600mb, VGA resolution file from my computer straight onto an SD card and watch it on the go without having to bother about conversions. Is this not possible?
mike freegan said:
Someone could give it a try with another video. I don't have a TP yet ot I'd try it.
Basically I want to be able to throw a 600mb, VGA resolution file from my computer straight onto an SD card and watch it on the go without having to bother about conversions. Is this not possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I havent tried this yet, but I will once I get back home tomorrow.. Would be awesome if that worked!
EDIT: Loading in a episode of Dexter (original release, DVDScr.XVID) on, and installing TCMP.. Il post results!
Loaded "Dexter.S03E01.DVDScr.XviD-NOTYOU.avi" onto my memory card and played it in TCPMP and it worked more or less flawlessly!! No need to worry about playback performance! Although to get 100% perfect playback, it should be converted or something as the playback did suffer som slight stutters from time to time.
EDIT: The only thing this device suffers from in terms of video playback is 65k colors.
err that's weird look at the results posted at these sites:
http://img2.portavik.net/upload/file_23/37bd53de9a906fe4/table_bench.gif
and this one:
http://www.ferra.ru/online/communicators/80844/ (in the middle of a page SPB test
Guys sorry, but what are u trying to play in Raphael, that this device is not so powerful for you?
I watched almost 20 movies (DivX for PC) / series on Raphael and withou any problem. Video is smooth, great and thats it...
P.S. I am watching movies on CorePlayer
MaRaHoX said:
Guys sorry, but what are u trying to play in Raphael, that this device is not so powerful for you?
I watched almost 20 movies (DivX for PC) / series on Raphael and withou any problem. Video is smooth, great and thats it...
P.S. I am watching movies on CorePlayer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I tried to load up Dexter.S03E01.DVDScr.XviD-NOTYOU with CorePlayer, I only got audio, no video... But TCPMP worked quite well..
yeah im searching for proper video settings to convert files to for my device using catalyst or pocketdivx encoder, still searching on that one.
but then i tried just throwing my original episode of entourage and yeah it looks awesome., will probably do that more often with the faster file transfer and once i get a bigger sd card.
The firmware drivers do need a bit of work and coreplayer 1.2.5 doesn't fully support the touch pro as the makers have made clear.
I would suggest waiting for coreplayer 1.3 and maybe a few newer ROMs before giving final judgement, though Qtv specs on the qualcom chips do say it maxes out at 640x480 15-30fps 384kbps if i remember right.
FYI: Qtv is a software codec specifically designed for maximum performance on the 7201a chipset used by the touch pro. This is what coreplayer does not fully support yet (unlike on the TyTN).
Also, regarding HTC's response, why don't you ask the same question again but about the Touch Diamond, as it's not a business device.
seether said:
I really think there's some kind of error regarding graphics benchmark results there, since Touch Pro has the same CPU, the same 3D accelerator and more RAM !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What 3D accelerator does the Pro/Diamond use? What chip?
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
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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.
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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.
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)
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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