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How To Put Videos on Droid

I ran my dvd through Handbreak using Mp4 and it came out all distorted in my computer folder on the c: When I went to drag it to my droid, it told me it was to large. I'm clueless how to get it to work.

If you are using Handbrake 0.9.3 the dvd probably didn't get decoded. I had this problem at first. It would rip the movies but it was a garbled mess of green and static. They took the decode feature out of handbrake starting with this version. An easy work around is downloading DVD43 It runs in the background and automatically breaks the encryption on any dvd you put in your drive. on my fairly slow laptop it only takes it 2-5 seconds after the dvd starts spinng for it to automatically break the encryption. You don't even need to open the program.
 
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i skimmed the entire thread. hope i didn't miss this but...

how do you get subtitles to show up using handbrake? under the "audio and subtitles" tab, i tried "autoselect" with "forced subtitles only" both checked and unchecked. no go.

video and sound both work fine. just no subtitles. :(

thanks for any help!




edit: after some interwebbing, it looks like it's not possible...

.
 
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check out ipodme. its a free program that quickly converts to mp4 format. I just converted a full movie in 20 minutes and quality is great for the droid. Was an avi file. will need to experiment with other types.

I just tried this with good (and really fast) results!
The dev's website is:
iPodME Noda’s Dev Blog
 
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i skimmed the entire thread. hope i didn't miss this but...

how do you get subtitles to show up using handbrake? under the "audio and subtitles" tab, i tried "autoselect" with "forced subtitles only" both checked and unchecked. no go.

video and sound both work fine. just no subtitles. :(

thanks for any help!




edit: after some interwebbing, it looks like it's not possible...

.

I need help with this too. Does anyone have an answer? I'm using the latest snapshot and it's a little bit different too, with it's own subtitle section (seperate from the audio) but am not sure how to select it.
 
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Ok so im using handbrake, and for some reason it takes me over 8 hours to decode a 4 gb mkv file to an mp4 format...it is a 1080p file so maybe thats why...i have an intel core duo...and i even tried the hanbrake option of putting the priority higher and using the cores...is it just the quality of the file that makes this so unbearably slow?
 
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Ok so im using handbrake, and for some reason it takes me over 8 hours to decode a 4 gb mkv file to an mp4 format...it is a 1080p file so maybe thats why...i have an intel core duo...and i even tried the hanbrake option of putting the priority higher and using the cores...is it just the quality of the file that makes this so unbearably slow?

what bitrate for output? video tab, try 500

what is input file size?
what size of 8hr output file?
 
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doubleTwist does it easier than anything else for me. Handbrake took FOREVER. Total Video Converter is fast and it does convert into formats that will play and look good, but it is more involved than doubleTwist. doubleTwist handles the convert AND the copy seemingly at the same time. TVC can handle the same, but you have to direct it to save the converted video to the sd card. In to convert and copy at the same time, the phone has to be connected and mounted on the PC and you cannot disconnect it while the conversion is taking place or you will lose the output file.

The only drawback with doubleTwist is that is doesn't allow you to reduce the bitrate to a more reasonable setting for the tiny screen. There's no need to have a bitrate beyond what the screen resolution can show, because it won't look any better and the added file size of a over rated file will waste space on your SD card and take longer to sync with the phone.

These are the settings I used successfully with Total Video Converter:

--------
Audio Channels - Auto
Audio Codec - aac
Sampling Rate - Original
Bit Rate - 96kbps (audio)
--------
Video Codec - mpeg4
Frame Rate - 23.97fps
Bit Rate - 640kbps (video)
--------
Under the Video Resize tab, Check "Original Size" unless the original size is greater than the Droid's screen size. In that case, you will have to reduce it proportionally to fit the screen. The width should not be greater than 848 and the height should not be greater than 480. There are cases where the video may not fill the screen.
Aspect ratio should be set to whatever the original file is.

If you connect your Droid while TVC is converting and select the Droid's sd card as the output folder for the converted video, it will convert and transfer at the same time.

At this point, the file should play on the droid with the gallery player
 
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The original file size is 4 gb, it made it 1.4 gb at the end....i had the bitrate at 1000, still super slow. It turned out great but it took half the day to do so...looks fantastic

try 500
I did a few at 300 and they looked decent but 500 better. Any higher and i couldn't really see any improvement on this TINY screen.
 
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How-to encode good videos for Droid:

1) Download latest version of HandBrake
2) Start with the iPod Legacy preset and create a copy (add button). Call it "Droid" or something.
3) Go into the user_presets.xml file is creates and edit it.
(On XP, this is in C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\HandBrake\)
4) Edit average bitrate from 1500 to less than 1000 (700-800 is good) and AAC audio from 160, to 128 or 96. Remove analyze=all: (keep one : between other parameters). Save file.

This will give good compatibility and decent file size to your encodes. There is no reason to go up to 1500 avg bitrate on a movie only 848x480 at best. 1000 is more than enough for transparent quality and could probably go even lower. Using CRF 22-23 instead of a set bitrate is okay too. The iPod-Legacy preset works fine, but the files are bigger than they need to be.

Make sure you choose other appropriate settings as necessary, such as de-telecine film, etc.

Sizing:
If you are using a HD or Blu-ray source, lower width to 848. The reason you shouldn't use 854 is because it is not divisible by 16 (compression works better this way.) Handbrake should remove top/bottom black borders on 1.85 or 2.35 AR material appropriately. Yes, the video will still show them during playback, but you don't want to encode them. For 1:77 material, it should end up a perfect 848x480 video. For 4:3 video, set height to 480 and let HandBrake choose the width. You will get side black bars during playback, which is okay (AR is correct).

For DVD or native sources smaller than 854 wide, set either Width (to 720 for DVD) or Height to 480 and let Handbrake choose the other dimension. If the source video is smaller than both 854(H) and 480(W), leave it be. Don't re-size it bigger.

And finally, download and buy Act 1 Video Player. It's worth it.
 
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Last night I tried converting .mp4 at 848x480 with a 640kbps bitrate. It was acceptable, but when there was high motion (I encoded Planet Earth and there was a scene with a lot of birds flying), it looked awful.

I think I'll stick with a 1000kbps bitrate as there is little sacrifice in video quality from 1500, but a nice reduction in file size.

For me, at least, a 1Gb file for a movie is fine, and waiting 45 mins for it to convert is also ok.

YMMV.
 
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Many thanks to you guys who have put this info together. I found that the Handbrake instructions in the first post work best for me.

Here's my two cents. Most of the instructions here say to set the width at 848 and leave the height blank. That's great for widescreen videos, but less-than-optimal for videos that aren't widescreen. If your video isn't widescreen (that is, if the aspect ratio is less than 1.77), I'd recommend that you set the height to 480 and leave the width blank. That should give you a smaller filesize and better playback.

I haven't heard much about tweaking the audio properties. Do you guys have any thoughts on that? If we're converting from a DVD, we probably want to downmix from Dolby Surround to Stereo, right? I'm not sure how Handbrake and Droid handle Dolby/DTS/AC3 tracks, but it makes sense to downmix with Handbrake to reduce the filesize and the Droid's workload.

EDIT: A couple of points worth noting about Handbrake 0.9.3 on Windows. First, the AAC (mp4a) audio input is broken. This means that certain MP4 files (those with AAC audio) cannot be converted. Other MP4's (those with MP3 or other audio) should still work. Second, Handbrake no longer includes a DVD decrypter. Most DVD's are encrypted so that they will only playback on licensed, region-restricted DVD players. This is intended to prevent piracy. Without the decrypter, video will exhibit strange artifacts such as random changes in brightness, distorted colors, and static. Most free software no longer include the decrypter due to legal issues and the DMCA. The workaround for the AAC issue is to download the latest development snapshot. The workaround for the DVD issue is to rip the DVD with other software that has the decrypter, then convert the ripped file using Handbrake.
 
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Last night I tried converting .mp4 at 848x480 with a 640kbps bitrate. It was acceptable, but when there was high motion (I encoded Planet Earth and there was a scene with a lot of birds flying), it looked awful.

I think I'll stick with a 1000kbps bitrate as there is little sacrifice in video quality from 1500, but a nice reduction in file size.

For me, at least, a 1Gb file for a movie is fine, and waiting 45 mins for it to convert is also ok.

YMMV.

Fabolous - if your video has a lot of movement and you want better quality, doing a 2-pass encode should increase the quality of the final video (but will increase encoding time by about 50%)
 
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not sure if someone mentioned this but DVD catalyst 3 is only $9 and has a Droid HQ setting! (its under verizon not motorola in the manufacturer selection drop down menu.) works great! full screen crystal clear and easy as pie! worth the $

Manufactures drop down menu... where?

what verizon or motorola site?


Supply a link or address please, THANKS
 
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not sure if someone mentioned this but DVD catalyst 3 is only $9 and has a Droid HQ setting! (its under verizon not motorola in the manufacturer selection drop down menu.) works great! full screen crystal clear and easy as pie! worth the $

Just for laughs, people like you are why everything is $9.95 (which is what this is) instead of $10. My bro-in-law same way.

The 'it's under Verizon' comment is in regards to finding 'your device' on the drop down list.

I want to try a few more before I comment, but nice job on the one I have tried so far.
 
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No one needs to buy DVD Catalyst at all. It's just another front end to x264 but since it hides the CLI (or parameters) from you, I have no idea what it's doing. You could probably get just as good or better results with HandBrake, Ripbot264 or HDConvertToX. Although with the latter, you'll have to hand create your own x264 options. This is why I recommend HandBrake for the purpose of our Android encodes. It's 95% there already and simple to use. Just read my post above to optimize it further.
 
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soooooooooo all this talk about CONVERTING video to h.264 to play properly.......

But when I want to take a video file with me, it's kinda a last minute thing, I don't really have time to "convert" the file, that's a HUGE drawback IMO. What are the chances that someday there will actually be a supported DivX/XviD CODEC for the phone?


From what I have read the processors on the current mobile devices cannot handle it. It is a pain, andf makes you wait, but what can you do? Carry a PC?


I use handbrake to encode and downsize. On a decent two year-old AMD dual core I can convert a one-hour video in about 10 minutes. I downsize big-time and set the quality level at only 50% in handbrake. Oh, and in handbrake you can do a batch so if I have a whole lot of videos I just downloaded from my favorite sports torrent site I can let them convert overnight and in the morning they are all ready for me.

Also, having them smaller (down converted) means the are smaller so I fit more on the device and even better they copy over MUCH quicker than the full-res file.

I hated the idea at first but now I don't mind. If I have no time to convert, I take an old laptop with me.

I'd like to think that in a couple years we'll be beyond this but in a couple years, people will be uploading even higher-res videos!

Good luck,
-Bob
 
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Maybe this is a stupid question, but has anyone figured out why some seemingly properly formatted videos only play audio? I have ton of mp4s (NewArtRiot rips, for those familiar with torrents) that won't play on my Droid. Using Media Player Classic, here are the stats from one of them:

Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 840x352 23.98fps [Video]
Audio: AAC 48000Hz stereo 1536Kbps [Audio]

According to the properties in Windows, the video bitrate is 1113 kbps. It would seem by looking through this thread that these videos should play without any additional conversion, but none of them will play on my Droid. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
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Maybe this is a stupid question, but has anyone figured out why some seemingly properly formatted videos only play audio? I have ton of mp4s (NewArtRiot rips, for those familiar with torrents) that won't play on my Droid. Using Media Player Classic, here are the stats from one of them:

Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 840x352 23.98fps [Video]
Audio: AAC 48000Hz stereo 1536Kbps [Audio]

According to the properties in Windows, the video bitrate is 1113 kbps. It would seem by looking through this thread that these videos should play without any additional conversion, but none of them will play on my Droid. Anyone have any thoughts?

Reference frames, b-frames, b-pyramids, base profile, high profile, etc. There are tons of parameters possible with H.264 and only certain ones are compatible. It had to be encoded properly. Most things you download from the Internet are not encoded for mobile phones.
 
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Any way i convert videos the end result is great video and audio quality, but i am having out of sync issues. The audio is late. Sometimes i can restart the device, play the same video again and it works fine. What conversion setting helps to fix this if any? I am mainly ripping my own DVDs. See attached screen shot for my settings.

Thanks!
moz-screenshot.jpg
 

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