Ultimate Video Conversion Thread

.modthis. · 12-07-2005, 12:57 AM

I'm doing this more for my own sanity because I am tired of seeing these people constantly posting threads about the same thing. So i'm to bury this issue now. Lets Get going.

Getting Started-
So, you've got a few DVD's laying around, maybe looking for a way to put them onto your PSP? Well, you've stumbled upon the right place to do that. But before you jump around like a sugared-up 7 year old and break something, you need to know how to do this process. First off, you need a video you want to convert. This can come from a number of sources, i.e:

DVD Video
Trailer/Other Video Content Off Web
Downloaded Movie Rips, etc.

Trailers and teasers, and the like, are the easiest and fastest to obtain, because they are widely available, with most websites with game trailers such as www.gamespot.com already providing PSP formatted videos.

DVD Videos are second easiest to obtain, yet take more time and effort to convert to a pre-format such as an AVI or MPG movie file, as no program can do a DVD-rip straight to MP4 format, or not very well at least. This will be explained in greater detail later.

Downloaded Movie Rips are a harder to find, but when you do get them and they are of high quality, conversion is painless, and will output with the same quality as a DVD rip made by you, as they are mostly DVDrips themselves. (If You PM me, I can "hint" you to where to find these, possibly. Maybe. *cough*BitTorrent*cough*).

You will also need some good software to do the conversion and possibly DVD ripping. uh, I mean, backing up of legally purchased DVD videos, right?

For the DVD ripping process, in order to stay within pspmod.com's rules, I can only give you help on where to find these programs and the like, not link you to them because they are possibly infringing some copyright laws. I can name the programs, though. You will need DVD Decrypter and Gordian Knot Rippack. To find these, go into google and search "doom9". The first link might give you what you need

There are tutorials and other information on that website, and I will not discuss those in this post because that is not my main focus.

For the good stuff, the conversion software to MP4, some people might point you to PSP Video 9.(Or the latest version, what have you.)I believe, though, that the pretty UI and such involved with PSPV9 impairs its converison capability, so I recommend you use 3GP converter. (found here.) This is a program with a very simple UI, but a powerful and quite speedy conversion engine, with output files of DVD quality, movies that are 1.5-2.5h long, with a max of only 250MB or so. But to get high quality conversion like this, you should read on.

The Conversion-
Once you have downloaded the program, you will be given a ZIP file and will be presented with a word document and a folder named 3GP_converter###(where the ###is a 3 number combonation, ignore this). Extract these files, and open the directory they were extracted to. You may disregard the Word document if you wish, because I can assure everything in this tutorial is what or better than whats in that word document. Open the folder 3GP_converter###, and choose the Setup .exe file. Note: this program does not install to a nice start menu folder and desktop Icon, what you see is what you get. You will want to make a desktop shortcut for 3GP_coverter.exe, as this is the conversion engine.
When you run setup.exe, you will be asked to choose a coversion profile. CHOOSE Customized:MP4, for PSP (this is important)!!!DIRECT,RENAMED!!!. Then the program will close. Run the 3GP_coverter.exe. You will be presented with this screen.

Go to the drop down menu that contains the quality selections and choose the bottom selection.
Choose your output directory.

And last, but not least, drag and drop files into the box, and let the conversion begin.

This method will output you with a file size of about:

~250MB

EDIT: I spent yesterday fiddling with the quality selections on the 3GP converter and found some new information.

The method above will give you a good quality movie at about ~250MB (1h30m), but if you have a large memory stick (1GB+), then you should use the method i'm about to describe.

All settings are as stated above, except for the quality selection.

your 3gp_converter.exe should look like the picture above when opened.

EXCEPT for the Model: MP4, for PSP (Direct,renamed) drop-down box should read:

368x208/29.97fps/768kbps Stereo/128kbps

This will give you an amazingly crystal clear setting for the video.

Now you may be asking, why not use the

368x208/29.97fps/1500kbps Stereo/128kbps setting?
The reason is because this will only raise the quality of the sound, but at 768, you won't notice much, maybe not even any difference between the sound of the two files, and it will save you about 200MB of space.

After conversion using the
368x208/29.97fps/768kbps Stereo/128kbps setting, you will output a file at about

550MB(+/- ~75MB)

EDIT: Thanks to pspmod.com member psp_bro, I am happy to add a tutorial explaining the slightly complicated matter of the transfer of movie files to your PSP.

In order to put movies on your psp, you must:

MP4 video and the optional THM. is on your computer, hook up your psp and hit "open file to view folders"(On Windows XP)
Visit the root of your memory stick, where there will be a folder named PSP, and whatever else you may have put in there.
Create a new folder and name it " MP_ROOT" All caps and without the quotes, if you don't have this folder already.
Inside MP_ROOT, Create a new folder, and name it "100MNV01" once again, without quotes and all caps. Sometimes, a folder may appear that has a similair name, but they don't mean anything to you in this tutorial, so leave them alone.
Copy your MP4 (and optional THM file) into your 100MNV01 Folder. Now, exit USB mode, and go to videos, and there you go.

NOTE:You must make sure your MP4 File is named in the appropriate manner, and if you used 3GP Converter and the method in this tutorial, you will get the properly named .MP4, as well as the .THM. But if not, ensure the naming is correct, and that the .THM file, if applicable, is named the same as the .MP4.

Hope this guide helps.

Botulism · 12-07-2005, 01:46 AM

very nice tutorial. glad someone finally took the initiative to do this. i would sticky it for you, but i don't have mod powers over this section

bitmcloud15 · 12-07-2005, 02:10 AM

STep By Step How To UsE 3Gp:"First, lets select the setting of 3GP. When you unzip the file, and start up
the .exe file for 3GP. You'll be greeted by a list of garbled characters, which
are just Japanese characters trying to be interpreted by your PC. Select the
English radio button, and select the setting "Customized: MP4, for
PSP (Direct, renamed)" Then make sure that setting and the English radio button
are selected, then click on "Apply." This setting will have these compression
methods by default and will rename your file to a correct name the PSP file
will recognize.

The window will open and will have a drop down window, a white upper window
where you drag and drop the files, the lower window showing the compression,
and the rate. And a "Select" command button. Make sure you click on the
command button "Select," and select a folder that you can access easily and
view the files on your PC before you transfer to your PSP.

3GP has these compression settings as default in the drop down bar:

QVGA/15fps/216kbs Mono/32kbs
QVGA/15fps/216kbps Stereo/64kbps
QVGA/15fps/384kbps Mono/32kbps
QVGA/15fps/384kbps Stereo/64kbps
QVGA/29.97fps/768kbps Stereo/128kbps
QVGA/29.97fps/1500kbps Stereo/128kbps
QVGA/29.97fps/QB4 Stereo/64kbps
QVGA/29.97fps/QB7 Stereo/64kbps
QVGA/29.97fps/QB10 Stereo/64kbps

All the videos will end up with a resolution of 320x240; unless you go through
the edit .ini file method I explained earlier and change it yourself. There are
also 3 QB settings that are variable bitrates. These compress the file
differently, usually in helping you save file space, but give lower quality to
parts that have black coloring. These can be recommended, but parts with black
in them may have pixelization. The QB4 setting has the highest quality for
default variable bit rate compression, while QB10 has the lowest quality but
may save a nice a nice amount of file space. I will explain in another section
on how to edit the Variable bit-rate.

Now, open up a window that has the file that you want to convert, drag and drop
it into the Upper white window bar. Make sure you only do this after you select
the compression method you want. The file will be dropped into the white
window, then vanish, as the program starts converting. Depending on your PC
and the compression method you chose, will determine the amount of time it
takes to convert a file.

During the compression, if you wish, you can put files on queue by putting
more into the white box. The files will be converted one after the other with
the current compression on the drop down bar. You can also press the abort
command button if you wish to only keep part of the file, sometimes useful if
you only want intro videos or small clips. There are other programs to split
such files into clips though.

On an interesting note, Raiserblade2003 of GameFAQs mentions:
"if you didnt know, you can place your cursor over the 3GP program while its
running and it will tell you the ETA/Estimate file size..."

When the 3GP window stops showing the label "Processing." with no file name
underneath the label, then your file is finally done being converted and
will be in the output destination folder. Check the destination folder for
the converted .mp4 file, as well as the .thm file (thumbnail file that you don't
need)."
ThNX 2 j ChIlIN MY FREIND 2 HELPIN ME WITH THIS?/
for the newbi in need OF convertinf stuuf I F U DONT FEEL LIKE REEAD IN THE WHOLE JUST GET IT OFF GAMEFAQ THE ORGINAL IN WHICH WAS CREATED BY ME AND MANNY FRESH LOL

drizzle · 12-07-2005, 03:50 AM

Yes, very nice. I say move it to "All about Movies" or what ever that section is named and sticky it... not too sure why it was in software, well sorta makes sense but I think the movie section is more appropriate.

coolkenny13 · 12-07-2005, 06:50 AM

I use The "Im too Psp Video Converter".Although i think this tutorial will help the noobs

.modthis. · 12-07-2005, 01:16 PM

to drizzle:
The reason I posted this in software was because this is where it seems all the n00bs come to look for information, so it seemed appropriate to be here, however moving it is just as well, as long as people see it so the n00bs will please stfu.

to coolkenny:
Does ImToo's PSP coverter work well? I've used their DVD ripping software, and I have to say, I was impressed when using it. but it was only a trial edition

. So I use my method as stated above cause its free

jsh · 12-07-2005, 01:24 PM

it doesnt matter where the noobs go, this should be in the movies section, nice tutorial btw. deserves a sticky

.modthis. · 12-07-2005, 01:28 PM

lol thanks alot. Maybe they'll actually read it? That'd be the day. :-P

TriPod · 12-07-2005, 03:10 PM

hey good job on the vid tutorial mang

jsh · 12-07-2005, 03:11 PM

also you should think about updating it since its note very ultimate, its just one method.. write about different ways of ripping and try to include more programs, if you dont wish to write more ill rename it to a better suiting name

.modthis. · 12-07-2005, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsh

also you should think about updating it since its note very ultimate, its just one method.. write about different ways of ripping and try to include more programs, if you dont wish to write more ill rename it to a better suiting name

no don't worry about that, i'll be going into more detail on the DVD methods/other programs that can be used when I have time to write them. I have a science paper due tomorrow and I havent started :\

But if I finish, i'll add a new post with more information, and if not today, tomorrow.

I see this as an ongoing project of mine