Can't convert movie to play

[Coffee]

I've done the searches and tried many times to drag and drop and convert videos to play on my P3 but just cannot get any to play.

I set the transfer to UMS. First tried to drag and drop some mp4 clips but got an error on the player that it is an unsupported format. Then I tried to drag and drop a movie for my daughter to watch when we are in the car but got an error message that the data cannot be transferred.

Next I downloaded format factory and tried to convert this same movie but the conversion stalled out at the second data group and won't finish. Conversion is to .avi, and I didn't change any of the settings.

Can anyone tell me what the trick is to get video to play?, I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. I purchased this player in part because of the video capabilities and so far it has been a real PITA to even try and get something to play.

Thanks.

[CrowdAds]

[lebellium]

Here are the official video specs supported: http://media.generationmp3.com/lebel...cification.xls
Check your videos spec

[Coffee]

Thanks lebellium, the parameters I set for the conversion were correct according that info.

I just tried to rip the dvd using handbrake but when viewing the 'activity window' it is just a scrolling screen of 'error reading from dvd' messages.

So drag and drop doesn't work, converting from the dvd doesn't work, and now trying to rip the dvd using handbrake doesn't work. Is there a better dvd ripping software I can use?

As for the converting, I though this step didn't have to be done. Can't you just copy the files off the dvd and paste them to the video folder of the P3?

[BramDB]

Originally Posted by Coffee

Thanks lebellium, the parameters I set for the conversion were correct according that info.

I just tried to rip the dvd using handbrake but when viewing the 'activity window' it is just a scrolling screen of 'error reading from dvd' messages.

So drag and drop doesn't work, converting from the dvd doesn't work, and now trying to rip the dvd using handbrake doesn't work. Is there a better dvd ripping software I can use?

As for the converting, I though this step didn't have to be done. Can't you just copy the files off the dvd and paste them to the video folder of the P3?

Don't just copy the files off the dvd! It won't play and one movie will be huge. I always use DVDdecrypter for ripping. (It will even rip protected dvd's.) After you ripped the movie, convert it with FormatFactory.

Step 1 - Download DvdDecrypter here. Install it and open it.
Step 2 - Settings! Click on Mode at the top menu and click on IFO.
Step 3 - At the left, you can select your DVD-reader and your destination (where your video file comes)
Step 4 - At the right, click on VTS_01 and you'll see something like "PGC 1". If the number after the "PGC" is the same as the length of your movie, then click on it. If not there will be another file with the length after the "PGC". (Sorry if I'm not very clear, i'm belgian)
Step 5 - Click on the Decrypt-button in the left-bottom. It will start ripping.
Step 6 - When it's done, there will be an VOB-file in your destination folder. Convert that file with FormatFactory to .mp4 (AVC Wide) with 480x272 res.
Step 7 - Place it in your video-folder on your P3

AND DONE!
Please let me know if works!

Greetz.

[Carsten]

or... try to use the divX converter (in the divX 7 package)...it´s only 15 days trial, but the videos have very good quality... but you have to rename the extension from .divx to .avi adn then copy it to the video folder of your p3...

you have to use fw 2.07 or higher to play divx videos....

[Coffee]

Originally Posted by BramDB

Don't just copy the files off the dvd! It won't play and one movie will be huge. I always use DVDdecrypter for ripping. (It will even rip protected dvd's.) After you ripped the movie, convert it with FormatFactory.

Step 1 - Download DvdDecrypter here. Install it and open it.
Step 2 - Settings! Click on Mode at the top menu and click on IFO.
Step 3 - At the left, you can select your DVD-reader and your destination (where your video file comes)
Step 4 - At the right, click on VTS_01 and you'll see something like "PGC 1". If the number after the "PGC" is the same as the length of your movie, then click on it. If not there will be another file with the length after the "PGC". (Sorry if I'm not very clear, i'm belgian)
Step 5 - Click on the Decrypt-button in the left-bottom. It will start ripping.
Step 6 - When it's done, there will be an VOB-file in your destination folder. Convert that file with FormatFactory to .mp4 (AVC Wide) with 480x272 res.
Step 7 - Place it in your video-folder on your P3

AND DONE!
Please let me know if works!

Greetz.

Excellent instructions, thanks! I did what you list and so far so good.

There were quite a few "PGC" files that were the length of the movie so I just used PGC1.

Now I am doing the conversion with formatfactory but it has been stuck on the 2nd VOB file for half hour so I think something is wrong. (there are 6 VOB files in the destination directory of the ripped cd)

Originally Posted by Carsten

or... try to use the divX converter (in the divX 7 package)...it´s only 15 days trial, but the videos have very good quality... but you have to rename the extension from .divx to .avi adn then copy it to the video folder of your p3...

you have to use fw 2.07 or higher to play divx videos....

I have fw 2.18 so I should be good.

Really though this is turning out to be too much work, to rip the dvd, convert it and transfer it will be about 3 or 4 hours at the current rate. I just don't have time to do this on a regular basis. Bummer, I was really hoping these mp3 players and related software were more efficient.

[Coffee]

So it turns out I was converting a file from VTS_02. There are 3 VTS lists I can open and each one has at least 8 "PGC" files. Most of these PGC files is only a few minutes long.

It was in VTS_02, PGC 1 that was the first file that was the same length as the movie and that created 6 VOB files in the ripped dvd destination folder. Looks like the conversion process is just going to take way to long, I have a killer notebook computer I run extremely heavy CAD work on, I can't believe it doesn't have the juice to speed through a video conversion process.

You guys have been great, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this. Now I just have to figure out if I can speed up the conversion.

[Coffee]

I'm done. One hour and 45 minutes in and the 2nd VOB file is only at 22% complete for the conversion

There are still 4 more files to go, I just can't wait the week or so this conversion is going to take.

This entire experience has been a complete let down, from the persnickety screen accuracy to the pathetic data conversion I'm starting to regret buying this thing.

Thanks for all the info though.

[bamboozle]

Hi Coffee.

Here are a few things you should know: While the P3 is (IMO) an excellent media player you won't be able to watch DVD-files on it without conversion. In that regard your expectations towards the player might have been too high. That being said, I don't think there exist any portable media players out there that can play VOB-files right away. What you might be looking for is a portable DVD-player.
As for the conversion: Converting video files can certainly be a PITA while you're trying to get the hang of it. But once you know what you have to do you can start the conversion with a few clicks. On a up-to-date computer the conversion process itself shouldn't take longer than twice the movie-length (depending on the conversion settings). You can speed up the process by reducing the resolution, quality, etc. of the video file. You can do all those thing up to a certain degree as you'll be watching the video on a small screen and thus quality loss won't be too noticable.

If you have the time and you're determined to give it another try I'm recommending SimplexDivX to you. It seems that people that are new to video converting are getting along with that software pretty well - and it's free.

You can download it here: http://simpledivx.org/
Here you can find a tutorial on how to use it: http://www.simpledivx.org/Guides/Sim...sh%20Guide.htm

[BramDB]

Originally Posted by Coffee

I'm done. One hour and 45 minutes in and the 2nd VOB file is only at 22% complete for the conversion

There are still 4 more files to go, I just can't wait the week or so this conversion is going to take.

This entire experience has been a complete let down, from the persnickety screen accuracy to the pathetic data conversion I'm starting to regret buying this thing.

Thanks for all the info though.

When I rip there's only one Vob-file so maybe it helps when you do this:
Right click on the PGC and choose File Splitting > None. i hope that you'll become 1 vob-file. Then converting. It might go faster if you right-click on the task in FormatFactory and choose Thread Priority > Low. When I tried there was no difference in quality but it did go faster. So, hope this helps.
Greetz

[Coffee]

Thanks Bamboozle, as you can tell I just didn't know what to expect with the video capabilities of the player. After reading the reviews I guess I mistook multiple format support for ease of video transfer , oh well, live and learn. I am going to give the SimplexDivX a try.


BramDB, ripped the DVD again so the .VOB is 1 file but I could not find the setting for thread priority low. I right clicked on "task" but no pull down menu was there, I check the options but still could not find this setting. I am trying one more time to convert the single VOB file, we'll see how long that takes.

UPDATE: So far the single file .VOB has been 70% converted in 46 minutes. Looks like 1 hour to convert a 2 hour 15 minute movie, I'm good with that. I did forget to plug in my notebook computer and it shut down. DOH! started back up where it left off once the power was plugged in.

UPDATE2: Conversion complete. 59 minutes. Converted file 433 MB. The video is fine but the sound seems to playing 10X to slow. I tried to speed up the play speed but it only helped the sound a little bit. Looks like there is still more work to do.