[sanfrancisco]

OK, there was another thread asking about BlackBerry Video Creator that was on Handango for $20. I searched the Net, found it for sale at $15. So I said what the heck, $15 won't buy a decent dinner in this town.

So I bought the program [there is no trial version] installed it and gave it a whirl. I have to say I was super surprised at how easy it is to work and the quality of the conversions. A good thing because there are absolutely ZERO instructions or help, neither on the downloaded program or on the Net.

Anyway, as I suspected, the program is the publisher taking the FREE mencoder program and configuring it so that we do not have to fool with DOS, etc. This program does it all for you. And for $15 that makes the program worth it to me since I could not figure out how to use mencoder.

I guess I'll run through the steps.

To buy it you go to this site

The program seller will ask you to create an account, including providing your DOB. Just make up a DOB, but make sure you show that you are 18.

You can use your credit card or PayPal to pay. I chose PayPal. The site sent me to PayPal where I confirmed I was really at PayPal. I then paid the $15.

After that I got a "download here" link where I then downloaded the program. It's about an 18.5 MB file.

After downloading I installed it. It is an exe file so there was no unzipping required.

I then opened the program by clicking the icon. This is where it got funky because all it did was open up Windows Explorer and asked me to open the file I want to convert.

I selected an FLV music file and the next thing that happened confirmed the program was using mencoder. This is because a DOS window opened and the program started to convert the FLV file into an "avi" file that would play on the Pearl. At the top of the interface it said "mencoder."

At the end of the conversion it tells you the conversion went fine and to "copy and paste the video into your Pearl."

I opened my Pearl's file folder, went to the video folder and pasted the newly converted file into the Pearl.

Then I opened to play the video on the Pearl and it played perfectly. There was no lag in the controls like there was with my Super C 3GP conversions.

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I then tried converting a WMV file. That did not go well. While the converted file played fine with my PC media player, on the Pearl it was intermittent and "scratchy" on the sound.

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I then tried converting an avi file, that went fine.

I did not try other formats such as quicktime or DVD files.

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The FLV files converted extremely fast. A five minute video converted in about 1 minute. AVI to Pearl was a little slower.

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One of many things they do not tell you is that wherever you select the file to be converted, that is where the program will place the converted file.

E.g., if the video you select for conversion is in C:/My Documents/My Videos, the converted filed will be placed into that same folder. Easy concept to understand unless you are not paying attention.
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Conclusion: for $15 this product is fantastic. It cranks out conversions fast and the videos play on my Pearl. Heck I would have paid $15 if it only converted FLV files.

Here are the FLV and AVI files I had converted. Load them on to your Pearl and try them out.

http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/U...alStorm_BB.avi

http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/U...RedRock_BB.avi

http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/W...onewild_BB.avi

http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/elvis1_BB.avi

Here is the screen showing mencoder is being used. (attached)

[sanfrancisco]

As I mentioned TWICE, this $15 program is simply some programming repackaging of the FREE mencoder, which is a DOS based video conversion program.

I could NOT get mencoder to work as I did not know how to set things up, notwithstanding all the help offered in the video section.

So for me, it was worth $15 for someone to make using mencoder a one-click process.

So you can make up your own mind. Heck, I think I spent over $500 in time in trying to make video conversions, so even if this program was a wash, I was prepared to pay $15 on the gamble that it would work.

And since it converts FLV files [e.g., from Google and YouTube] turbocharger fast, I would have paid $15 just for an FLV converter.

[ericugs]

Thanks for the heads up sanfran

[sanfrancisco]

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so what is a video worth, 10,000 words?

I made a quick video of the Converter in action.

I opened the program and converted a 10MB FLV music video.

As you can see, the conversion took about 40 seconds.

I then copied the file and pasted it into my Pearl.

Then played it to complete the demo.

The video of the video is not that clear, my little camera does not take video of LCD screens all that well [most digital cameras don't].

As you can see, the program works quite well. It is as simple as one click operation.

My demo is below was converted into a format to play on the pearl, so it's resolution is small.

http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/B...corderDemo.avi

[sanfrancisco]

Forgot to mention, the converted videos, those made with BB Video Creator did NOT have any lag when using the on screen video controls.

Recall my Super C 3GP conversions suffer lag, e.g., when pressing "stop" it would take 20 seconds for the video to stop.

Also, the BB Video Creator videos are 2X larger than my Super C 3GP conversions. But I can live with that, at least until I am getting close to capacity on my 1GB MicroSD card.

[apw100]

Thats great! I think I'll buy it. SuperC and about 5 other programs couldnt get the results I wanted. I'm glad I found this on Handango. Thank for putting up the money to test it!

[apw100]

By the way, why arent there any 3rd party media player apps for the BB? Also, why is the video performance relatively poor on the BB? It has a 300+mhz processor, it should be able to easily handle full screen video. My MDA only had a -200mhz processor, and it could play beautiful 320x240 videos....

[sanfrancisco]

Originally Posted by apw100

By the way, why arent there any 3rd party media player apps for the BB? Also, why is the video performance relatively poor on the BB? It has a 300+mhz processor, it should be able to easily handle full screen video. My MDA only had a -200mhz processor, and it could play beautiful 320x240 videos....

I don't see any video performance problems on my Pearl. I dunno, maybe I'm too enamored with the fact it even plays video, so I am not being critical in terms of resolution, frame rates, etc.

Most of the FLV videos I converted play in full screen and on those where the original had good color and sharpness, they play just as well on the Pearl.

I mean, I am taking public transit, wearing headphones and playing music videos. If a video plays with good color and in stereo, I'm not demanding anything more. I am happy and don't even have to remind myself that the Pearl is a cell phone, not a DVD player.

[apw100]

I downloaded a couple of your U2 videos, and I noticed alot of compression(looks like pixelization "blocky"). Especially on "Electrical Storm". Is there a way to increase the video bitrate using the "Blackberry Video Creator"? I really wish that RIM or a third party would develop a more powerful/less picky media player. The 8100 should have the power to play full screen, 30fps, unpixelated video with no problem. I would like to see better codec support, not just .3GP and weak .mp4. Xvid would be nice. Maybe someone could port TCPMP to the 8100? That would be heaven......

[sanfrancisco]

Originally Posted by apw100

I downloaded a couple of your U2 videos, and I noticed alot of compression(looks like pixelization "blocky"). Especially on "Electrical Storm". Is there a way to increase the video bitrate using the "Blackberry Video Creator"? I really wish that RIM or a third party would develop a more powerful/less picky media player. The 8100 should have the power to play full screen, 30fps, unpixelated video with no problem. I would like to see better codec support, not just .3GP and weak .mp4. Xvid would be nice. Maybe someone could port TCPMP to the 8100? That would be heaven......

Electrical Storm was crappy before the conversion. The beginning was choppy and pixelated badly.

I thought the Elvis sample was decent [and probably as good as an FLV video is gonna get when converted?].

Most of the YouTube videos are somewhat degraded on the upload and when downloaded I think they degrade further.

[sanfrancisco]

Originally Posted by apw100

I downloaded a couple of your U2 videos, and I noticed alot of compression(looks like pixelization "blocky"). Especially on "Electrical Storm". Is there a way to increase the video bitrate using the "Blackberry Video Creator"? I really wish that RIM or a third party would develop a more powerful/less picky media player. The 8100 should have the power to play full screen, 30fps, unpixelated video with no problem. I would like to see better codec support, not just .3GP and weak .mp4. Xvid would be nice. Maybe someone could port TCPMP to the 8100? That would be heaven......

I copied and converted one of my DVD's [Basic Instinct 2] to see what you are complaining about. I only put up the ending of the movie so to make the size manageable for upload here.

I think the movie plays fine.

Other than attaching a dedicated video player to the Pearl I don't see what more RIM could do, especially since the camera, MP3 player and video player are not meant to be top notch features, nor are they designed to compete with devices like the video iPod.

I mean, it's a $200 phone [upgrade price].

The camera is not going to perform like a standalone 5mp camera, the MP3 player is not going to sound as good as an iPod and the video player is not going to play movies like a portable DVD player.

And of course, as my sample below shows, the video is only as good as the original recording.

P.s. I thought the U2 Bloody Sunday looked great. Maybe I don't have a discerning eye [nor ear for that matter because I think MP3 files sound the same as my CD's].

Note: my sample is a spoiler for the movie. Don't watch it if you don't want to see the ending. Only reason I converted it was because it was the smallest VOB file. I only wanted to see how well the converter did with a DVD.

http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/1...nstinctDVD.avi

[apw100]

The Basic Instinct clip looks MUCH better than the U2 ones. I think I might purchase the software now. I am still disappointed with the BB media player though. All other smartphone media players are alot better than this one, both in file compatibility and in features. This is what I would like to see in later versions of the media player...

-Full screen video option.(Sure, you would have to hold the phone sideways, but who cares)
-Compatibility with Xvid and other non .3gp based files. My year old $50 Samsung Verizon phone plays more types of video files than this "Smart" phone.

I understand that RIM is new to the media player game, but lets hope they catch on or someone develops an alternative player. TCPMP(a great media player for other smartphones) would be awesome to have on the BB.

[ricwms]

I may have missed this earlier, but how do you convert a DVD?

[sanfrancisco]

Originally Posted by ricwms

I may have missed this earlier, but how do you convert a DVD?

You did miss it. There are many threads talking about video conversion, including DVDs. E.g., see the sticky on video converting.

Or buy this $15 program. When I opened it, I went to the DVD disc and the files where there. Said to open and the conversion process commenced.

[ricwms]

Thanks for the guidance, as always.