Questions About Video Encoding For The 3x00

[icruise]

I don't yet have a Zaurus (at least of the Linux variety) so I can't test this on my own, but I kind of wanted to do some experimenting with video encoding for the 3x00. The video I will be using as a base are DVDs ripped with DVD Decrypter (this is on Windows). I'm not really up to using a command-line encoder, so I haven't tried mencoder. But I have tried a couple of other programs.

I found that PocketDivxEnconder will actually convert ripped DVDs directly, and with pretty decent speed. You can even adjust the picture to correct the color, which makes for pretty good looking results.  And it has a batch convert feature that allows yo uto do lots of videos at once. However, I've found that there are lipsync issues with many videos that I can't seem to correct. Plus, you dont' seem to be able to crop the picture to get rid of the black bars. When playing back the video on a Zaurus, I'm not sure how significant a problem this is, in terms of increasing files sizes, etc.

I found a tutorial on converting DVDs to Divx (here) using the program DVDx. This seems to work pretty well, although it is somewhat slower than PocketDivxEncoder (I think) and the settings are harder to figure out. You can crop the video and do a variety of adjustments, but I can't figure out how to adjust the color/contrast/etc.

So in other words, both of these have advantages and disadvantages, I guess. Any thoughts on this, or suggestions for other programs?

I noticed that no matter which program I use to do the encoding, only Mplayer will play the files back at the proper aspect ratio. Windows Media Player and even Divx player won't be wide enough. Does kino player (which is essentially a front-end for mplayer) render the aspect ratio correctly?

What about the size of the videos? I think most people talk about a maximum size of 320 x 240 for the Zaurus, but do larger sizes work? Does the quality improve with larger sizes, or does it decrease due to framerate problems? Is there a maximum bitrate that I should be using?

I've looked at most of the posts around the forums, but I would appreciate some help with these issues.

[ken]

player won't be wide enough. Does kino player (which is essentially a front-end for mplayer) render the aspect ratio correctly?

What about the size of the videos? I think most people talk about a maximum size of 320 x 240 for the Zaurus, but do larger sizes work? Does the quality improve with larger sizes, or does it decrease due to framerate problems? Is there a maximum bitrate that I should be using?

I've looked at most of the posts around the forums, but I would appreciate some help with these issues.

This has been discussed in quite a number of threads.  All the questions you asked have been repeatedly answered there.  Including the kino questions.  Please take the time to review them, or continue on the lines of those threads rather than to start yet another video thread.

[icruise]

Well pardon me...

As I said, I believe I have read all of the pertinant threads, but I found it difficult to track down the answers to these questions. If there is a central "video FAQ" then please point me to it.

[ken]

Well pardon me...

As I said, I believe I have read all of the pertinant threads, but I found it difficult to track down the answers to these questions. If there is a central "video FAQ" then please point me to it.
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search in the forums for:

kino2

There will be numerous threads related to kino2, video creation, mplayer, divx, vlc and so forth.

[lardman]

All the questions you asked have been repeatedly answered there. Including the kino questions. Please take the time to review them, or continue on the lines of those threads rather than to start yet another video thread.

I agree, however I do recognise that it's rather hard to trawl through and find what you're after if you don't really know (as I had to so the very same earlier this year)

If there is a central "video FAQ" then please point me to it.

Actually there is one:

https://www.oesf.org/index.php?title=Video

Also take a look at these pages:

http://home.earthlink.net/~cresho/start.htm

(This is for c7x0, but I think it was to be extended to the other devices too)
http://openzaurus.org/wordpress/howto/enco...r-c7x0-devices/

If you come up with any improvements/comments/etc., post them to the HowTo (top link) and if you're running OZ to the oz.org HowTo too please,

Cheers,


Si

[icruise]

Thanks for the links. I think there is a kind of cultural gap between me and most Zaurus users. I'm not a Linux user and hate the command line, so maybe my questions have indeed been answered in some form on the forums, but I wasn't able to decipher it.

[Stubear]

Have a look at PcketDivxEncoder (http://divx.ppccool.com/)

Keep you away from the scarry command line , but allows you to play around with various settings.

The best bitrates etc are quite user and movie specific, and what is acceptable for animation might not be for action movies.

Stu

[icruise]

Yes, if you read my initial post, you'll see that I've been using PocketDivxEncoder all along. You are correct about bitrates being somewhat subjective, but I was curious as to what the maximum that the Zaurus could handle was.

In case there is anyone else in a similar position, I'll give an update on my progress. I think PocketDivxEncoder is probably the best bet for someone like me who wants an actual GUI for encoding, since it's made with PDAs in mind. The documentation isn't the greatest (there are several options that the help files and even the web site don't explain) but I think I have come across the best combination of options for my use. I haven't actually tested these on a Zaurus yet, since I don't have my 3100 yet, but I think they should OK in Kino player.

First, I rip the DVD in DVD Decrypter. Then I point PocketDivx Encoder to the first VOB file on the DVD. (This will work with most DVDs, although ones that do fancy things with branching won't work. I tried the Star Wars DVDs and found that because they use branching to choose which language to display the opening credits in, PocketDivxEncoder didn't work (it used all of the languages one after another, and repeated them several times for some reason). I had to use DVDx for the Star Wars DVDs.)

As for the options to use in PocketDivxEncoder, the quality options (bitrate, sound quality etc) will be up to the user. I used max video quality and a sound quality of 3, with stereo sound. I also pumped up the saturation by 5%. I cropped the black bars using the Crop feature, but this was a little problematic. I don't know if it's my system or a bug, but the preview feature for cropping only works once. You have to restart the program if you want to crop another DVD. This is a problem when setting up a batch list for conversion, but if you save your options and the batch list after adding each DVD, it will work.

As for advanced options, I chose: Use 2-pass encoding, B-frames, and IVTC. This combination seems to give good quality and (I thinK) eliminates the lipsync issues I had at first.