timbdotus

I'm writing a program that will convert MPEG-2, WMV, MPEG-4, Etc. video into a format that will be playable full screen on a supporting CLIE handheld (Using the built in movie player, or CliePet's FMP.)

This will be the first program of it's kind on the Mac. It will support drag and drop, automatic syncing to memory cards, and if there's demand, automagical ripping of DVDs.

Use this thread for features and comments, so I can design a video conversion application that will be useful to the Mac community.

-Timothy

jjesusfreak01

Good deal!! I m stuck on a Mac for a while, and ffmpegX doesnt cut, or doesnt really convert movies that play on my Clie. This will be very much appreciated. I dont think I need DVD drag and drop, but its such an advanced feature, I would suggest you add it in last. Also, it is a good idea to make the player support a variety of output bitrates and such, so that it can be used for other things, like UnLoGiCs video converter for PCs. Are you designing a frontend for another program, or writing the whole thing yourself? If possible, could it be able ot rotate the video, thats something no converters do.

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cure

timbdotus :
This is a fantastic idea. I've been using AltShiiva for so long, but there are a few things I would love to be able to have that it is missing.

My first question is, what output format are you aiming for? I assume its MP4 unless you've figured out a way to get Quicktime (I assume this will be your engine since its for the Mac..) to output MQV.

Things I like about my current conversion process: Ability to specify a video bitate; specifying output size of move (in pixels, not MB); its pretty quick.

Things I would like to see:
1. have some sort of auto-conversion from an input source. This could be as simple as selecting a final movie size (in MB) and setting your input file, then clicking "GO". On the complicated end, it would be nice, as you mention, to insert a DVD (that you own of course ) and fire up the program and have an automatic conversion process, though this is not necessary, as there are plenty of other programs that will get the movie onto your HD without too much fuss.

2. Keep the "unneccesary" options to a minimum. One of the things I hate dealing with with AltShiiva is the need to pick a video codec, then select options, pick B-frames, etc. I don't fully understand those, and its not a necessary thing if you're going to be watching a movie on a little 320 x 480 screen anyhow. Others may find these useful, but they tend to confuse me. I suppose this might only be relevant if you are working with the MP4 output.

3. That being said, some kind of auto-optimization would be awesome. Where, like I mentioned before, you specify the target output size and resolution, and the program automatically sets up the options, etc. For example, ffmpegx does a pretty god job of this. The auto calculator will tell you if the resolution will be too large or too small, etc. Also, I know there are numerous threads here that have already figured out the "optimal" settings for movies you want to watch on your CLIE, whether its MQV or MP4, and there are even separate threads for diffrent machines. It would be nice to be able to select your machine in a preference of the app, or at some sort of pre-conversion dialogue/wizard, that way these optimal settings could be applied. This might have to be a last-step feature, but something to keep in mind.

Whew, well, I hope these suggestions were helpful. I would love to test it out for you once you get a beta version going. And thanks for your commitment to the Mac and Clie! There are very few people out there with your skills who are, so I always get pretty excited when someone offers up his/her expertise.

~cure

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timbdotus

Okay, thanks for the response guys...
First off, at this point, I'm aiming for MP4 output, as it seems the easiest to obtain. I -could- go for MQV with the Quicktime engine, as I -DID- figure out how to change the MPEG-ATOM of the files so they are playable on the CLIE, however it's a lot of hassle, and the files don't always work. (Plus they are limited to 14.95 FPS.)

At this point, I think MP4 is best. I'll be using ffmpeg as the engine, since it has PSP mode, which injects the required header changes to make the video playable on the CLIE. Basically the idea as of now is to sort of make a "ffmpegPocket" program, sort of like "ffmpegX"... What it will do is, take ANY video input, and convert it for any type of handheld you specify. It'll have the following:

PSP Mode: Locks the video into the proper settings for the PSP.

CLIE Mode: Still gives you basic control over bitrate, size, framerate, etc but injects the proper header information into the MP4.

Normal Mode: Normal MP4 output mode for playback on BetaPlayer on PPC's and TCPMP on the Palm.

As of right now, the only output format will be MP4 video with AAC audio. This -DOES- drain the battery a smidge faster on non-clie devices using BetaPlayer, but it's not really that noticeable for me to care. Maybe if demand is high enough I'll add MP3 audio support for the normal users.

Currently my plan is to use the XviD codec for the encoding, and decoding of MP4 files. I'll also have the standard mpeg2dec for converting DVDs and SVCDs.

At any rate, this is all still up in the air. The other thought I had, was to wait for Quicktime 7 and Mac OS X Tiger at the end of the month... I feel fairly certain I can do the conversion through QT7, without the need for ffmpeg. The one downside to this, however, is you will need to say, download the DivX Codec, the MPEG-2 Codec, etc to decode those file types. However, I'm thinking QT7 will be a lot faster in terms of conversion, and scaling and rotating video.

That brings me on to rotation support. We will have full support for video rotation, cropping and resizing. I can't promise the cropping and rotation right off the bat, but it will happen.

-Timothy

tstreete

Thanks so much for even considering this. I'm a video illiterate, and so I vote for simple as possible. As close to one-click conversion as you can get, with as little fiddling with programs as possible. I'd rather it work with the Clie's built-in program because I have no interest in installing extra stuff if I don't have to. I'm one of those lazy, clueless folks who doesn't even know what the difference would be between .mp4 and mqv formats; as long as I don't have to worry about it, I won't care.

I don't mean to be obnoxious, but I'm just betting that the number of people out there like me far exceeds the number of people with knowledge and/or interest in the fine points of video conversion. But thanks for doing this in any case.

Cheers

billegal

Simple first, efficient later. Hide the hard stuff, even it is still available to advanced users.

I am sooo looking forward to this.

Will you have hardware requirements?

Approximately how long to convert a 1.5 hr DVD to Clie format on G3/G4/G5 at 1GHz? About how large will the file be in MP4? Does the TH55 play MP4 out of the box or will additional Clie software be needed?

snook_cs

Thanks for doing this project.

I've mostly been doing Clié video conversion with my VR100K.

I'm looking forward to this program...

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dilldapp

Hi Tim,

Are you making any progress in developing the tool?

I still would love to have an easier possibility to convert my DVD's straight to PSP format.

Thanks for your efforts

Knudy

Tim,

Just curious, any progress on the converter program?

Knudy

sciuk

me too waiting for your awesome converter!!!!!

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billegal

What about ffmpegX to convert to PSP and using TCPMP to playback the MP4? I've not done a conversion (no time to install on my new computer), but I have used TCPMP to playback MP4s that I've downloaded. It works great. The interface leaves a little bit to be desired, but running full screen, you only see the movie. It also rotates the video for you. (One does not need Landscape and in fact it crashes TCPMP if I activate it.)

All in all, it seems like it should work simply. I've given up on being able to convert to Sony's MP4 format that I think they call MQV. I've only ever heard that the Sony program can convert to that format.

Knudy

billegal, good idea. I was thinking of trying ffmpegx-TCPMP next. Unfortunately, I won't be able to try for about a week cause my iMAC is having surgery done this week. That will give me time to review the ffmpegx and TCPMP threads for installation and conversion. With my luck at getting video on my UX50, I am not very confident.

Any others want to weigh in on this approach?

Knudy