1src Forums - Jim's Tips #19: Convert Movies to your hard drive

04-16-2003, 11:09 AM	#1
jbarr Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Anderson, SC, USA Posts: 539	Jim's Tips #19: Convert Movies to your hard drive This may be an obvious one, but it had eluded me until recently. Did you know that you can convert movies to a format that the Clie Movie Player can play using the Image Converter program without converting directly to your Memory Stick? The other night, I decided to try converting some video into a format that the Clie Movie Player could play. (For more information on ripping DVDs, and converting files using Image Converter, please do a search on these forums.) I followed some instructions and ripped a DVD using the DVDx program. The resulting file was a VCD-compliant MPEG file that was 780MB in size. The next step was to use the Sony Image Converter program included on the CD that came with my NX. This program converts the MPEG file into a highly compressed QuickTime format that the Clie Movie Player can play. The problem with this was that I had no way of knowing if this will fit onto my 128MB Memory Stick once converted using the Image Converter program. Every time I did a convert, I typically selected the drive letter assigned to my Clie after initiating an MSImport. But in this case, I didn't know if the file is going to fit, and it was going to take a long time to convert the 1 1/2 hour movie. So, all you have to do is just select a different drive number of a hard drive that has enough free space. The kicker is that when you do this, a dialog box pops up stating that the selected drive is not a Memory Stick drive. In the past, I blindly assumed that the conversion HAD to go directly to the Memory Stick, so I always cancelled out. This time, instead, I clicked on OK to continue, and Image Converter automatically created the proper directory structure on my hard drive and built the converted file onto my hard drive! At that point, it was a simple matter of checking the file size in Windows Explorer. (In this case, the file was about 79MB in size, so yes, it would fit on my Memory Stick.) I could also play the file in QuickTime if I chose, and it was a simple matter of transfering the file to my Clie using MSImport. In addition, having the movie on my hard drive lets me archive it so that I can keep a library of movies if I want and load them onto my Clie using MSImport as needed. The point is that sometimes, the included programs have non-obvious functionality. Is this in the manual? Probably, but who reads those things anyway?!? For this and other tips, do a search on this forum for "Jim's Tips" or visit my web site, jimstips.com __________________ Pilot 1000 > Palm iii > Palm Vx > Sony Clie NX70V > Tungsten T3 > Tungsten C > Palm Z22 Visit JimsTips.com for Palm Tips, Gmail Tips, ReplayTV tips, and many others! My Mom always said, "Jim, you're one in a million!" Given the current population, that means there are about 6000 of me walking around. God help us all!

04-16-2003, 05:42 PM	#2
archangel Next Sunday A.D. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: San Antonio Posts: 840	Doh! I always just cancelled as well. Thanks for the tip. __________________ My Current Gadgets: 16GB iPod Touch, PSP 2000, Nintendo DS Lite

04-21-2003, 12:23 PM	#3
ScottM M + M + M Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 258	i would to check with you guys, whether its normal for the MS image converter program to hang during file conversions past 10mbs ? cause mine does, and it hangs my clie too .. have to reset at both ends ... frustrating !!! __________________ Pass me the Pringles, baby

04-21-2003, 12:28 PM	#4
timw_de Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: the here and now Posts: 208	yeah thats the way i do it i use the following command (as a batch file) choose drive z and it neatly puts the resulting files into the directory subst z: c:\tmp\memory_stick_emulator

04-21-2003, 01:04 PM

cbulock

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Quote:

Originally posted by ScottM
i would to check with you guys, whether its normal for the MS image converter program to hang during file conversions past 10mbs ? cause mine does, and it hangs my clie too .. have to reset at both ends ... frustrating !!!

No, thats not normal. I've made movies that were over 100MB in size. Might want to try uninstalling and reinstalling the Image Converter.

__________________
-Cameron

04-26-2003, 01:00 AM	#6
darkness Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 28	AFAIK, Image Converter will actually limit each file size to 128mb. So if you convert a movie that requires > 128mb, it will break up into several files of 128mb.

05-07-2003, 11:03 PM	#7
ironswede Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 2	I need help please To Jim or anyone that can help. I am into putting movies on my Clie SJ-33 more than anything. All I want to do is learn how to make these huge movies that dont fit on my MS to fit. What can I do? Please assume that I dont know how to use a computer and dont use big words. I am just learning. I have Kinoma movie producer. Can someone please help me? Thank you so much Ryan

05-11-2003, 06:14 PM

Matai

Guest

Posts: n/a

Re: Jim's Tips #19: Convert Movies to your hard drive

Quote:

Originally posted by jbarr
This may be an obvious one, but it had eluded me until recently. Did you know that you can convert movies to a format that the Clie Movie Player can play using the Image Converter program without converting directly to your Memory Stick?

The other night, I decided to try converting some video into a format that the Clie Movie Player could play. (For more information on ripping DVDs, and converting files using Image Converter, please do a search on these forums.) I followed some instructions and ripped a DVD using the DVDx program. The resulting file was a VCD-compliant MPEG file that was 780MB in size.

The next step was to use the Sony Image Converter program included on the CD that came with my NX. This program converts the MPEG file into a highly compressed QuickTime format that the Clie Movie Player can play.

The problem with this was that I had no way of knowing if this will fit onto my 128MB Memory Stick once converted using the Image Converter program. Every time I did a convert, I typically selected the drive letter assigned to my Clie after initiating an MSImport. But in this case, I didn't know if the file is going to fit, and it was going to take a long time to convert the 1 1/2 hour movie.

So, all you have to do is just select a different drive number of a hard drive that has enough free space. The kicker is that when you do this, a dialog box pops up stating that the selected drive is not a Memory Stick drive. In the past, I blindly assumed that the conversion HAD to go directly to the Memory Stick, so I always cancelled out. This time, instead, I clicked on OK to continue, and Image Converter automatically created the proper directory structure on my hard drive and built the converted file onto my hard drive! At that point, it was a simple matter of checking the file size in Windows Explorer. (In this case, the file was about 79MB in size, so yes, it would fit on my Memory Stick.) I could also play the file in QuickTime if I chose, and it was a simple matter of transfering the file to my Clie using MSImport. In addition, having the movie on my hard drive lets me archive it so that I can keep a library of movies if I want and load them onto my Clie using MSImport as needed.

The point is that sometimes, the included programs have non-obvious functionality. Is this in the manual? Probably, but who reads those things anyway?!?

For this and other tips, do a search on this forum for "Jim's Tips" or visit my web site, jimstips.com

Can ayone tell me a good program to rip DVD's? I am using DVD-to-Mpeg and Amigo DVDRipper and they seem to only rip 20-40mins of the movie. I can never rip a whole movie. Any advice?

05-12-2003, 12:05 AM	#9
Wayne Guest Posts: n/a	So you're saying you can convert a 780meg MPEG file into a 79megger viewable on Clie?

05-12-2003, 12:13 AM	#10
cbulock Moderator Bronze Contributor Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 3,116	Yes, thats quite possible. __________________ -Cameron

05-24-2003, 01:47 AM	#11
wobly Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 20	EazyVCD is the easiest and cheapest ripper I have found. www.eazyvcd.tk

05-25-2003, 11:36 AM	#12
fiftyracer Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 8	We definately need to talk!! If I am reading this right, it says that you can shrink down a full movie to 80mb. Can this small file be played back on a pc then as well? If it could, or be brought back to life somehow, a person could theoreticaly fit a massive film library on a 100g hard drive. Right now I see films at roughly 700,000kb with a Divx or avi codec. Do you know the codec on the shrunk file?

05-25-2003, 12:01 PM	#13
cbulock Moderator Bronze Contributor Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 3,116	Divx files won't usually shrink down. They might even increse in size. Getting a 700MB MPEG file down to 80MB is quite possible since the codecs are quite different. __________________ -Cameron

05-26-2003, 12:13 AM	#14
fiftyracer Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 8	and what codec should i use to get to 80mb?

03-03-2004, 05:40 AM	#15
f1_smiley Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Manila, Philippines Posts: 15	hmmm.... the prog was asking me for ASPI drivers too but i just went through without installing them and it still worked! thanks for the tip!!! you rock dude!