I would like to check out some vidcasts but don't have a video ipod. But I do have a new palm with video and a decent sized flash card, so I was wonderin if anyone knew of a converter that would convert mp4 to a format that the palm media play can read?

daryl

Let me be the first to say YOU DON"T NEED AN IPOD TO LISTEN TO PODCASTS!
Nor do you need any sort of portable media device.
The same rule applies for video podcasts.

I make a video podcast and I don't even know anyone with a video ipod so I've no idea how they look.

I personally watch all the vidcasts I'm subscribed to on itunes.
Most of my viewers watch my show in their browser straight from my site (which annoys me as my stats stay low on itunes).

The important thing for videocasters is to be there - to be resonably well known for when all the new owners of whatever device log in and investigate.

IMHO Anyone who takes an interest in video podcaats at the moment are ahead of the game, both those who watcha and those who make them.

No need to yell. Daryl is a much loved member of this community and knows the info you just gave. I am sure that if you look into what he was asking rather than jumping the gun, you would see that what he wants is a way to convert mp4 to work on his portable for when he is away from his system.

No need to get testy.

I havnt tried it Daryl, but I'm sure quicktime pro could do the job.

The Palm website isn't too helpful. It says about their latest product "almost any format that you can play on your computer is automatically converted and optimized for handheld viewing", and then the disclaimer reads "there are numerous video formats, and not all types can be converted to a format that is viewable on your handheld."

But the Rev is right - Quicktime Pro (although not cheap for a program like that) can export to a fairly extensive range of video and audio formats. If you are planning on a video Podcast at some point, I would definitely recommend it. For converting video for your Palm device check the manual to see if any of the export options are supported. Word of caution - if AVI is your only option, don't buy. The Quicktime AVI export option is iffy at times.


Click to view attachment

If you use windows or a Mac you can convert the m4p files to mp3 with the program jhymn. The palm will then work great.
Here is a link to the site:
http://www.hymn-project.org/
Hope this helps!



If you want to convert video m4p to avi then follow this link:
http://www.boilsoft.com/download.html

These will also run on the palm OS

I try that when I get home.

Thanx for the defence, but I didn't take any offence.

daryl

Hey Poddog,

I'm in a really similar position and would love to know if the suggested solution works.

I just got a Palm TX and haven't succesfully mastered importing video or figuring out the stupid Pocket Tunes program. The screen has a really good resolution for the sample video that came on the device so I'm really looking forward to trying out a a vidcast on it.

Please let me know what you discover.

sorry daryl, and anyone else who took offense.
Reading it back I realise my eariler post does come across as a little aggressive.

I would say it's because I'm in a lot of pain due to a neck injury but that really boring so instead I'd like to draw you attention to this site about mpeg 4 on palm players.

There is mention of some software that may be useful but it suggests that some palms play m4v already.
What's the model number, I'll have a another look for you later.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2004/12/02/kinoma/index.php ://http://www.macworld.com/news/2004/1.../index.php

Conrad

I tried the kinoma player but the demo does not allow for it so I could not test. As for the free option, it does work and the end result looks ans sounds good. But....., it watermarks the file (so you get a bunch of words over the Rev's face) and it takes a long time to convert and upload.

Daryl

Sounds like and improvement to me!

Daryl, the other thing you could try, instead of re-encoding the video, is to install a different media player on your Palm. I found this one that says that it supports MP4 files and a variety of codecs:

http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about

I haven't used it myself (my Palm is too old to even consider running video off of; it's basically a glorified checkbook at this point), but maybe that or something else will be able to play the vidcasts without reencoding them. And really, that'sa the whole point, right? If you have to do work in order to watch them, how long is that going to last?

Anyone know how to port and watch vidcasts on a PSP?

i thought h.2364 or whatevers were already viewable on psps....movs too

OK, i installed that software, its pretty good. A few videos I tried played fine, WMV didn't (it does say WMV's are iffy though), but when I tried to play an MP4 i'd created, the video played but the audio wouldnt because it didn't have the right codec. Anyone know of the correct codec and where it is. I have the Palm Zire 71

I use PSP Media Manager (another $20 to Sony), which converts to Sony's proprietary AAC format for view on the PSP. You can subscribe to feeds in Media Manager, then convert them. Tedious and lengthy process vs. automagically updating using iTunes and a Video iPod. But then, I have no Video iPod

I wish Sony would get with the program and adhere to standards...but then, they learned from Apple.

I watch video casts (and listen to audio casts) on my crazy cell phone with a 1gb miniSD card and a 320x240 screen.. i have to convert some video formats to play on it, but I convert ALL of them to "save space".

I love to hear "YOUR WATCHING A MOVIE ON THAT THING???"


does anyone make a feed for their video cast that is in a "mobile format".. like 3gp or such?

Ok, first thing you do is google vlc media player, and see if it has an os version that works on your pda, if so, then your problem is solved. Vlc will play any format, including the mp4 you got. If that's not an option, then use quictime7 to export the file into avi, encoded with the xvid codec. That should work standard for any pda with vid playback. As for the psp playing h.264, yes it does, but only a lower level h.264 version, it doesnt have the processing power for a max output 264 file. Hell, most desktops would have trouble playing stuff encoded over about 700kbps in h.264 AVC. It does play the lower level stuff, but requires it to be encoded at 320x240 only. fortunalty, that very setting will also work with the ipod, so it becomes a dual use portable encode, and even more portables can access it if they can use qt7 or VLC. A really good way to always be able to convert from anything to anything is to learn how to use AVS scripting commands. We teach that process in the pod2peer casts. With that, you can convert an mp4 into a format that can be played on whatever you want it to.



Heh, I got a nokia ngage qd that I can watch up to two full movies with a 128 meg memory card, at near dvd quality clarity, using a real media encoder. If your phone uses realplayer at all, you too can do it. I made a mini rmvb tutorial once, dunno if I still have it or not though, but it showed how to convert movies, tv shows, or any other video to be played on any portable device that had real player on it

I've tried video on my pocket pc with a 1 gig card but the play back was all choppy, any suggestions?

rocketboom do a 3gp version of there vidcast

thanks for the tips p2pcj.
In the end I used the TCMP software on the palm. then i convert to a 320 x 240 mpeg file if it isnt already like that using WINAVI Video Converter, it converts from AVI, WMV, MP4, etc (Plenty of other programs will do this)


Mostly News - what was the framerate, size etc of what you were watching? because if my palm 71 can play vids, i'd expect your pocket pc to work.
On mine, if the video is over 320x 240 most dont play and I get a memory overrun error. Maybe yours doesnt give the error (i expect yours has higher memory), but this is causing it to be choppy. Try the software I just said, or if you dont want to pay (for the conversion software, the player for the palm is free), I can send you a short video of a file that works on mine if you want

Can I plead ignorance and say I'm not sure? The Pocket PC comes with Windows Media Player (the handhled version) with WMV codec 9. I didn't need to convert the file, I think it was an .avi file. Your comments about screen resolution gave me an idea. I'll see if it works.... Thanks!

After much experimenting I found that TCPMP with the Divx Encoder worked the best for my little HP pocket pc. By itself, TCPMP, couldn't play anything formated for a iPod (.m4v, .mp4, .mov). I also tired the Divx pocket pc program, which didn' t work. The JHymn program only converts audio files and Boilsoft, didn't work, and reacted strangely with my PC (It killed my built in DVD player until I uninstalled it). The Divx Encoder has a paid version of the software, Lathe, but the free version works just fine and has a nice interface.

good to see you got it going. its funny how everybody's different portable has to do something different to get things working

if it plays vid via real player, you can encode your video with the real8 codec. That and an audio setting of about 64k, will stop the chop and give ya good playback. a free encoder is realanime, which is a good encoder. If ya got questions lemme know, I think I might be able to find my mini rmvb guide I made a while back.