Compression Confusion

[MikeMania]

If u had a mpg, would it make a difference memory wise if u turned it into .AVI first and then into MQV than mpg directy into MQV? :cool:

[Tim_axe]

There would be no difference in the file size of the MQV, and. And chances are that the video would be even worse in quality if you did reconvert it.

FYI - We want to do the least recompression (conversion) in order to get the best quality video. So MPG->MQV would be much better than MPG->AVI->MQV. It would also take a lot less time, since a step is removed.

-Tim_axe

[MikeMania]

so if i did convert to avi first the time to export to the memory stick from image converter would take less?

[MikeMania]

Is there anyway to compress a movie and also keep good quality? Becuase i recorded the Tuxedo, which is in total 1:34:44 and I recorded it with Gigapocket....and it won't even compress into a fully emptied 128mb without me being forced to save as long-mode...whick the quality is below exceptional.

[Tim_axe]

Originally posted by MikeMania
so if i did convert to avi first the time to export to the memory stick from image converter would take less?

If you converted the MPG to AVI, it would take longer since you have to convert it into AVI, which is an extra step since MPG is already supported. There also isn't a noticable difference in speed for converting AVI files into MQV compared to converting MPG files into MQV. So just let Image Converter convert the MPG files.


Originally posted by MikeMania Is there anyway to compress a movie and also keep good quality? Becuase i recorded the Tuxedo, which is in total 1:34:44 and I recorded it with Gigapocket....and it won't even compress into a fully emptied 128mb without me being forced to save as long-mode...whick the quality is below exceptional.

I'll assume your question is how to get the most quality into 128MB... hansschmucker and gnassel wrote a program (linked gnassel's - http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18793&perpage=15&pagenumber=4 ) that lets you control the data rate for Video and Audio channels. gnassel's tool has a file size calculator, so simply set the time to the lenght of your movie, about 95 minutes, and play with the data rates to get under 128MB. You should be able to use Video rate of 128KB/s, and Audio rate of 32KB/s (Mono) to get a 114MB file. The video quality might not be very good, but you can set it as high resolution instead of the low resolution used in Long Mode...

Sorry if this confuses you. I like to try and througly explain myself, and get all sorts of confusing things mentioned...

-Tim_axe

[MikeMania]

its all good, by the way... why is it called long mode?

[Tim_axe]

My best guess is that the funky names are from how they translated the text. It makes pretty good and simple sense in Japanese, but in English it makes more sense if you say stuff like Low Quality, High Quality, etc.

I don't acturally know what it says in English since I use the Japanese Image Converter Software on an English Computer, so I just get "???" for the three modes. Hence why my tutorial (linked in sig) has screen shots of the Japanese software. My next update to the tutorial (coming this summer) should have English language screen shots.

-Tim_axe

[MikeMania]

wait....i used the program and i clicked saved these settings....i went back to image converter and my previous setting were still the same....is this what the program is even suppoesed to do? or does it just tell u numbers?

[Tim_axe]

After you clicked on the save settings, it should have updated some registry keys that Image Converter uses to determine the data rates of Video and Audio. To make sure the settings were saved, just open to program again (the tool) and check the data rates for the mode you changed. For example, if you previously changed the Long Mode (Profile: Low) to be Hi-Res, 128KB/s Video, and 32KB/s Audio, with 15 FPS, when you open the program again and select the Long Mode (Profile: Low) it should have those same settings you changed. From now on, when you use Long Mode in Image Converter it should use these new settings. But Image Converter won't tell you the data rates or change the name of the settings; the changes are only reflected in the new output video files.

To test it, just convert a short video clip, and play with the settings, and look at the difference in file sizes, and quality, of the files that you get.

Hopefully this works and shows you these tools are working. So enjoy the video, and ask more questions if you are still stuck.

-Tim_axe

[MikeMania]

wow...thanks alot.

[Karim]

Originally posted by MikeMania
its all good, by the way... why is it called long mode?

Recording in Long Mode gives you long play (LP, which you will also see on a Clie voice recorder) per MB. It's the same thing as LP on a VHS: long play.

[MikeMania]

hey thanks...and um....i used image converter and the quality was just as bad...and the memory size was the same. ???

[Tim_axe]

Make sure that after you make the adjustments to the data rate and stuff that you click the Apply Settings button in the lower left corner. I think that the program should work with all versions of Image Converter, so maybe you aren't saving them to the profile that you told Image Converter to convert with? (Save your custom settings to low quality profile, and select the long mode profile in Image Converter?)

Also, was the video you gave Image Converter of good quality? If you give it a low quality video (MPG or AVI) you will always get a very nasty looking MQV. But if the MPG or AVI look very good, it will not get too bad as a MQV, with enough data rate for quality (ie, High Quality Mode)


I'm not exactly sure what your problem is at this point, but it could be that the MPG is of bad quality, or the tool for some reason doesn't work with your Image Converter. You might have to get a program to split the MPG or AVI file in half (Virtual Dub can do this so google for it, make sure to find a tutorial on converting also, and my tutorial can help) and convert the two halves at higher (or normal) quality, and just put half of the video on your Clié at a time.
-Tim_axe

[Karim]

I still can't believe the TH55 can't use High Plus Quality movies. I just want to kill myself or something.

[Tim_axe]

The TH55 can't play High Quality Plus movies? :eek:

That sucks. With that accelerated video chip thing that it had, like the UX, I thought that it would be able to... Anyways, I'm going to work on a test video clip later to see how fast the response time on the LCD is. I've noticed in many videos that during high action sequences with lots of white flashes that some block pattern forms while creating the flash. It isn't something from compression, but from how the screen is refreshed. The video I will hopefully make will let you see this effect, sort of a heads-up kind of thing... Maybe even make a poll for it...

-Tim_axe