Coverting Movies Already

[rmm2131]

I've used MeGUI to convert to H.264 using the x264 codec to 720x400 in the mp4 container. It's complicated to use but the quality was outstanding. If you'd rather have ease of use I suggest AutoGK for XVID encoding or AutoMKV for H.264 encoding. Good for quality conversions of your DVD movies. You should have no problem playing them on Pandora afterward.

 

[Drack]

Saving space is still a good reason to convert video ahead of time. What I'd like is a utility (a bash script for an encoder perhaps) that I can run on my library to do the following:

-Don't touch audio
-If smaller than or equal to 800x480 do nothing, keep current file.
-If aspect ratio is wider than 5:3 (Pandora's resolution) shrink to 800px wide and resize vertically to keep aspect ratio.
-If aspect ratio is taller than 5:3 shrink to 480px tall and resize horizontally to keep aspect ratio.
-If aspect ratio is exactly 5:3 then resize down to 800x480.
-Transcode video using whatever codec is best for this size.

If I can do that, I can convert my videos to all use Pandora's screen to the best of its ability while eliminating wasted space.

 

[lulzfish]

This script seems to work okay, but slowly.

#!/bin/bash
# The script is Pandora-convert.sh

# MEncoder will whine if the directory doesn't already exist
mkdir pandora
for filename in `find . -type f ! -name 'pandora' ! -name 'Pandora-convert.sh'`
do
	mencoder $filename -oac mp3lame -ovc xvid -xvidencopts fixed_quant=4 -vf scale=800:480::::::1 -of avi -o pandora/$filename
done

It finds all the files in a given directory recursively and tries to convert them to xvid/mp3/avi while scaling the resolution down to 800 by 480, if necessary, without screwing up the aspect ratio.
Then it dumps the results in the "pandora" directory, probably.

I haven't tested it a whole lot.
Edit: Nah, I think it's messing up the aspect ratio...
This is really confusing shit.

 

[Poem58]

A few months back I ripped "Dances With Wolves" with a program called Fair Use Wizard ( I like this program ) and I wanted to make sure it looked as perfect as possible so I ripped it in two separate 2GB video's one interlaced and one deinterlaced both at 720x480 about 2000Kbps and I think 192kbps Mp3 maybe higher. The intention was to have the DVD preripped to easily convertible files for when my Panda arrived. The question I have is, can I just play them as is (assuming I REALLY want to use 2gigs of space to do it). I know it's overkill and I will probably end up using my old compression tricks, but I'm curious if that's too much. I will probably try it (would look amazing on TV that way)

For most stuff, it will be nice just to copy my divx/xvid files right to the card, but for DVD stuff I will probably stick with 720x480 res and keep it around 700-800MB. On my PDA I was able to get great image quality and sound at nearly 1MB per minute. While I don't expect that low for file sizes with this beautiful screen, I really am looking forward to so many pixels in such a small screen. Seeing the PSP was my last device, ghosting and all, it was still pretty good. Actually, if someone wants to share their settings, I might want to try H.264 again. What progs and settings are you guys using for ripping to H.264? I'll have to check to see if Fair Use Wizard does H.264 cause I like it's abilities and simplicity but don't want to encode 90 files to see what the best rates are, so if someone can tell me what they would use, then I'll give it a go...thanks.

 

[fischju2000]

For any people planning to rip DVD, I recommend Handbrake. It's a very powerful and easy to use program. I also wouldn't recommend messing with any rips anybody already has.

Converting a DVD rip just to use more pixels on the Pandora (resizing a video to 480 vertical or 840 horizontal) is just a bad idea, the media players on Pandora will be able to scale to full size if you'd prefer that over a 1:1.

meGUI and AutoMKV are very powerful programs, but equally complicated to use. Either way, keep the resolution the videos are at, and don't transcode or encode more than necessary.

The question I have is, can I just play them as is (assuming I REALLY want to use 2gigs of space to do it). I know it's overkill and I will probably end up using my old compression tricks, but I'm curious if that's too much. I will probably try it (would look amazing on TV that way)

Fair Use Wizard used Xvid or Divx IIRC, is that what you used for these 2GB files? Any way, it shouldn't be a problem. Remember the file size limits if your SD cards use FAT or FAT32.

 

[Poem58]

The question I have is, can I just play them as is (assuming I REALLY want to use 2gigs of space to do it). I know it's overkill and I will probably end up using my old compression tricks, but I'm curious if that's too much. I will probably try it (would look amazing on TV that way)

Fair Use Wizard used Xvid or Divx IIRC, is that what you used for these 2GB files? Any way, it shouldn't be a problem. Remember the file size limits if your SD cards use FAT or FAT32.

Yeah, I cut off the video's just before the file limit. So they should be fine. However, the full version of FUWizard does encode to H.264, and it's been a while now since I've encoded for PSP. So I need to figure out what settings will be best for Pandora. The reason I was asking for recommended settings is FUWizard is a decent speed program but I only have my laptop to work with, so for space and speed, it's best to have an idea of what will work best to cut down on encodes.

Oh, and realistically, I highly doubt I'm going to load up a 2 gig avi...lol
I really just ripped it that way so it would transcode with little loss anyway.

Edit: best tell me length of video and resulting file size of one of your encodes. I forgot that FUW rips based on your final file size and while I know the range of quality I get from Xvid/divx, I don't know what to set it for H.264 or what quantizer (also there are encoder settings for Lossless, quantizer rate,rate-factor rate, bit-rate based) as well as a separate alternate setting where you select profile.
So yeah, any info you can toss me to keep from having to encode every option would be appreciated!