[j llama]

Not sure if anyone saw this in the encoding sticky, but this is awesome.
app is by fellow stacker "baconismidog". its incredible, its stupendous, its....
its...FREE (my fav of course)

any who, it takes like four button presses with this app and alakazaam.
instant video sized perfect for the pearl to handle.

no need to fuss with uber confusing settings and so forth.
i downloaded the app and within five minutes i had already taken a
full size music video, compressed and fit on my pearl great to test.

mad props once again to baconismidog
lets all let him know how much this rocks.


here is his site where you can download the official
Blackberry Video Converter

http://www.seabyrdtech.com/bbvideo


------------------- update as of 4/19/07

Originally Posted by baconismidog
Seabyrd Technologies has officially released version 1.13.07 of the Blackberry Video Converter. We have submitted it to Snapfiles, Handango, and Download.com and it should be available there over the next few days. In the meantime, you may download it from our website: http://www.seabyrdtech.com/bbvideo

If you had not subscribed to the newsletter, the announcement is available at our website.

http://www.seabyrdtech.com/announcement

New features include:
• 8800 support
• File manager
• Help file
• Ability to specify default device, input and output directories, & colors
• Debugging options made very easy
• Increased DVD support
• Subtitles (beta)


The Blackberry Video Converter is the premiere utility to put video on your RIM Blackberry 8100 (pearl) and 8800. It also happens to be free! It Does NOT work for Verizon 8830 models. Verizon changed the type of video they use. Please use the Verizon supplied Desktop Manger for video conversion (available at Verizon's site)

Don't forget to check out Baconismidog's preconverted FREE movie selection of a few golden oldie films (Nosferatu, Night of the living dead, Reefer Madness) on the link at the top of his page.
(you have to download to your PC and transfer them via USB to BB)

[peterbabiy]

Thanks j llama

Ima have to give it a try

[j llama]

oh yes working great folks

[mctommy]

WOW

J Llama - you are my hero. This program is Awesome!!!

[j llama]

Hey I just found it. I didn't make. But ill still be your hero. Ha ha
~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

[I7oobie]

Thanks for the info!

[bbpearlrox]

this is sahweet! does anyone else have links to sites where they have movie download links just like the download site given above has?
the only movie i saw that i would like to try was the living dead movie, so thats downloading as we speak.
also, another thing i saw on this program i downloaded was the option to set the screen size.

i thought that the pearl screen was 240 x 260?
but when i went to the Pearl Screen option, there was small, medium, large, and i would think large meant "full screen"? but the pixels on the large option was like 240 x 320? would that cut off or distort the image sicne that seems larger than the screen?

[peterbabiy]

17oobie, I like your little quote or signature

[Team Arli$$]

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~
THX 4 the knowledge!

[bbriand]

Works great and simple to use. I finally have my first video played on my Pearl.

Thanks!
Bill

[dutchbrown]

Also posted a pretty easy and flexible version (collaboration/guide of the mencoder command line stuff) in the other post... here it is:

Ok, there seems to be a lot of questions on this board as far as exactly how to convert a file to play video OPTIMALY on the pearl. Since I just spent the last week figuring out 1. how to get one that just plays at all (no error), 2. one that plays full screen (at least the full screen that is available on the existing media player), and 3. one that looks and sounds decent. I tried Super, and I got results using the H.263 encoding but could not get the right screen size (either too big or too small). So… here is my method. I’ll try and write it for Newbie’s to make it nice and easy.

First… I used .ty files that I uploaded from my hacked DirecTv Tivos via MFS_FTP, a 1 hr show is ~1.3 GB. Used TyTools to convert to .vob file.

What is important here is that you end up with a file Mencoder will recognize. I chose .vob as it is the easiest for my tivo files to convert. Not sure what other file types work (.ifo? .avi (larger size or type)?). Note, I’m not going to cover here how to convert files to .vob, I’m assuming you already know how to do that.

So…. Now that I have a .vob file (with original encoding, still ~1.3GB/hr of show), I need to use Mencoder to do this. I am not using a skin nor the mplayer itself, just the mencoder, but I have not spent the time to figure out the minimum I need to do this. If you want to, go ahead. This is the easy streamlined version to use a command line to convert the file to something you can use on the pearl.

First, I’ll go into how to set up your Mencoder folder in windows.
1.Go to mplayer website (www . mplayerhq . hu/design7/dload . html) - note, remove spaces in address for it to work due to posting limitations (can't post URLs)!
2.Go to “Source and Binaries”, click on “US” next to “MPlayer 1.0rc1 Windows” to download the zip file
3.Go to “Binary Codec Packages” , click on “US” next to “Windows x86 20060611” to download the codecs file
4.Extract the source zip file: “MPlayer-mingw32-1.0rc1.zip”… it will create a “Mplayer” folder wherever you specify to extract (using winzip)
5.Extract the codecs zip file: “ windows-essential-20061022.zip” INTO the Mplayer folder created in the step above … it will create an folder with the same name
6.Copy the files in the “windows-essential…” folder into the “codecs” folder (should both be located under the ‘mplayer” folder created in step 4.

Now you are ready to convert your file.

• First take your .vob file and put it in the mplayer folder (the script looks in the same folder as the executable for the file to convert, and will put the new file in the same folder as well).
• Then go to “start->run” on your windows desktop. Enter in “cmd” and hit enter to start the command prompt.
• Navigate to the mplayer directory. I have mine on my desktop and my command prompt starts in the c:\windows\system32 folder so I enter: “ cd \”, hit enter, then “cd \documents and settings\brown\desktop\mplayer” and hit enter again.

Now to the settings. Off of the blackberry website (Doc ID : KB05419 under their blackberry tech solution center), you can obtain the settings needed for the pearl. However, NOT ALL COMBINATIONS WORK as they list.

Supported Video: Mpeg-4 Part 2 & H.263, file formats .avi, .3gp, .mp4, .mov, up to 320x240 (optimal 240x180), up to 800 kbps bitrate (400kbps optimal), up to 30fps.
Supported Audio: MP3 or AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, MIDI, AMR-NB, or WAVE, up to 44.1kHz sampling rate, up to 128kbps bitrate

Supposedly the optimal settings are 30fps, but I found that slowed down my pearl (as did 320x240) or even refused to play. However, 15fps was not good enough quality for me. Here are the settings I used with great results: Mpeg4, .avi, 240x180 resolution, 598kbps video bitrate, 25fps, MP3, 44.1k sample, 2 channel, 128kbps.

So… how do convert it? Simply enter in this in the command line (assuming you are in the mplayer folder and have your file to be converted in the same folder, here I’m converting an episode of House from .vob to .avi):

mencoder –vf scale=240:180 house5Jan.vob –o house5Jan.avi –of avi –ofps 25 –ovc lavc –oac lavc –lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=598:acodec=mp3:arbitrate128

Note that this did not seem to work when copied and pasted, but worked flawlessly when typed in. Replace the “House” file names with your file names obviously… and note, you DO need to include the extensions for both input (house5Jan.vob) and output (house5Jan.avi).

Then once the encoder was done, I had a ~325MB file to copy over via the Desktop Manager/Media Manager. Once done copying, navigate within the pearl and open the file, and you are off and running with full working controls, good sound that is in sync, and best yet, clear full screen!

Next steps: trying it with a full length movie… Hope this helps everyone!! (and best, it’s FREE!) Thanks to all who posted info before, this is just an effort to consolidate it for those that hate looking everywhere.

[j llama]

Wow thanks for that in depth step by step guide. So I have a degree in film and video production so optimizing video for the pearl with settings for me is not all that tedious. Although I think for people that want to do it much faster and a lot easier, I think the the program at the top is the way to go. Just my opinion for what its worth
~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

[Team Arli$$]

i dl'd and installed the app but my system said that there was a trojan in it so i cancelled it. wtf is the deal with the virus warning when i tried to install it? anyone else getting this?

[j llama]

Plot thickens

I didn't get that warning

[Team Arli$$]

ya im unable to fully install this thing cuz i keep getting virus warnings and im not gonna try it again unless someone can find/send me a safe link. i tried the multpile mirrors on the site but all yielded the same results. help!!

[Stonebreeze]

I have been using this for a month now with no problems (see my post "Worked Great!! Video Converter for BBP":
Worked great!! Video Converter for BBP
permalink

http://www.seabyrdtech.com/bbvideo

This app works like a charm! The only glitch/bug I found was when I tried to use the quick DVD convert the app couldn't get past the encryption on the DVD. TO work around this I used DVDdecryptor to load the DVD onto my hard drive once this was done I just clicked on the quick DVD convert button again and viola!

On Seabyrd's website they say they are continuing to develop the direct DVD convert so maybe with the next release I won't have to do the DVDdecryptor step.

Awesome!! I converted some of my Simpsons DVDs and some of my Looney Tunes!! I am livin' large!!

BRZ

[baconismidog]

Originally Posted by Team Arli$$ ya im unable to fully install this thing cuz i keep getting virus warnings and im not gonna try it again unless someone can find/send me a safe link. i tried the multpile mirrors on the site but all yielded the same results. help!!

Greetings,

I have multiple queries placed with AVast about their hueristics detecting my program. I assure that it is not a virus, and I have only received 2 people reporting that it is detected as a virus. Curiously, those 2 people notified me on the same day at about the same time - I suspect they received an update that is incorrectly detecting the program as a virus.

I can send you a freshly compiled copy, guarateed to never have been tampered with. FYI - the handango and snapfiles copies are scanned throughly when uploaded and as far as I can tell are read only - so they are the same as when they left my hands.

If you want to uninstall it, you might have to go into safe mode or disable your antivirus to remove it. If you do disable your antivirus, you should be sure to unplug yourself from the internet while you do it.

That said, it is NOT a virus. Your antivirus program is mistaken (they do that from time to time).

If you are not using Avast, please let me know what program you are using.

P.S.
Thanks for everyone's support!
I am going to release 1.13 soon. Email me at bb@seabyrdtech.com or by clicking on the link in the program to be notified of the release. I will announce it here as well.

Lates,
B :D

[starwatcher]

I just want to add my 2 cents. I have installed this and used it a few times. It is fantastic. Perfect video. Really quick and easy. And quick responses to questions, plus it explains in the help how to add the proper drives to get the final copy working on your computer (sound and video) to make sure it looks good before putting on the Pearl.

Thanks for such a good and FREE product.

Allan

[Team Arli$$]

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~
Ya I'm using AVast home edition and I would appreciate it if you could send me a clean version. THX for your help!

[RyanM]

can someone post how to condense the size so they fit on your bb pearl? thanks!

[c2k]

wow it works!! thank you so much, it was so easy to use

[Einherjer]

I love the seabyrd's app but i wish it would remember where i last opened a video. All my videos are saved in the same directory but i have to get there everytime because the default folder the app check is my documents. Awesome program anyway. Love it!

[bfournier]

Is there a media player that uses the entire screen unlike the current OEM BB player?

[j llama]

You can set where to save finished vids and I will do it every time

[bbpearlrox]

hi j llama,

for some reason when i download this video (wmv) it works on my pc, but when i convert it, it gives an error on my pc and my blackberry and won't play except for some sound. any reason why?

i've had success with many videos and music videos, but this one is being hard headed, can anyone help me?

http://viral.lycos.co.uk/vroot/2293/index.html

[bbriand]

hehe hilarious. It converted for me first try. Perhaps its some sort of windows codec error??

I slapped it on my BB and it also plays fine.

I used the "Quick Convert File" button.

Bill

[atarimaster]

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~this app is uber cool

[bbpearlrox]

hahaha you like that video bbrian? hahaha

yeah it says its some codec error when i try to play it on my pc or blackberry, is there a setting i have to adjust? i just hit the quick convert button but it doesnt' work?!

[baconismidog]

Originally Posted by Einherjer I love the seabyrd's app but i wish it would remember where i last opened a video. All my videos are saved in the same directory but i have to get there everytime because the default folder the app check is my documents. Awesome program anyway. Love it!

The beta does it, on the advanced tab you can choose you default input and output directories.

Get the beta from my website and then you can drop it into the install directory (default is c:\program files\Seabyrd Technologies\Video Converter)

Thanks guys!

[baconismidog]

Originally Posted by bbpearlrox hahaha you like that video bbrian? hahaha yeah it says its some codec error when i try to play it on my pc or blackberry, is there a setting i have to adjust? i just hit the quick convert button but it doesnt' work?!

Not sure why it is not working for you. I just downloaded it. I converted it first try in a few seconds. Looks great on the small screen.

The only thing I can recommend to you is to uninstall the program and then download a fresh copy and install it. I am using the beta here for testing, but it works well in the stable as well.

Good luck, PM me or email me from the program if you still cant get it to work and I can email you a working copy of the file and we can rule out file corruption that way...

B