Converting from VCD

[Griff]

I finally got my ATI card working perfectly under XP (only a year and a half of driver updates!). So now I can record VCD compliant files (MPEG-1?), and burn them onto a CD-RW which will play in my DVD player.

The next step would be to convert them to a format that can be played on my NR70v.

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I'm askin' anyway ;-)

What's the best way to convert? How much can one expect to fit on a 128mb stick? I think it'd be ultra-cool to be able to record a 1/2 hour show on the PC, move it to MS, and play it while waiting in line somewhere.

[Griff]

I downloaded Kinoma producer after a search here...really sucks that you only get to convert 15 seconds of video! I'd rather a limit on number of files or some such.

I haven't been able to get a good feel for what a typical TV show converted would look like. Anyone willing to send me a 5 minute clip of a show they've recorded? I can get large e-mails, or setup some FTP space to get it, just drop me a PM.

Is Kinoma the only deal? I know gMovie will work, but I've heard it produces large files, not the sort I want if I'm spending a couple hours on a plane ;-) I thought I'd read of other software out there, but haven't found it on a search here.

I don't mind registering Kinoma, $30 is cheap if it does what I want, but I can't get a good feel for what it produces without getting a decent length clip installed and viewing it.

[GeekGod]

You can get up to 90 minutes of pretty good quality video on a 128 stick. For a 30 minute show the quality could be much better (depends on how much space you want to use on your stick for it). I have encoded several movies, the longest was 98 minutes, but that was pushing it a bit. Anything longer than that should really be split across 2 sticks.

Kinoma is the best solution for converting video on the Palm. The new NX series has its own video converter, and it works well too. But the vids can only be played on another NX, and from what I've seen of the long stuff (full length movies) the quality seems to be lower than Kinoma (it's great on shorter material, though).

There is a lot of Kinoma content available for download if you need to sample it. Sony pictures has movie trailers, Kinoma has several short vids.

Aloha, GG

[Griff]

What settings do you use to get 90 minutes onto a stick?