AVI to WMV Conversion for Smartphone

[Darklighter]

Greetings...

I have an LG IQ (800x480) Smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.5. I am trying to convert AVIs ("extracted" from YouTube) to WMVs to play on my phone. They seem to come out too choppy or too grainy depending on the settings I use. I have tried playing WMVs which I converted for my Cowon D2+ (320x240, "Auto High Quality" settings)... and they play smooth, but the quality is a bit lacking. I am using the Free Zune Video Converterfrom Pazera.

I have not been able to get smooth playback on a WMV yet, having started from 800x480, 1500bit, 30FPS, now down to 350x210, 500bit, 14.985FPS.

My question: What settings are optimal for this? What setting should I be turning up/down for smoothest playback without the graininess being unwatchable?

PS: Using WMVs for file size/ease of use.

Thanks...

[El Heggunte]

Just my 3 dollars ( yes, inflation is evil ):

The "best" ways to convert any video to WMV are:

--- use WmNicEnc + an intermediate AVS file ;

OR...

--- use cscript.exe + WmCmd.vbs + an intermediate AVS file ;

in either case, one should always choose the "2-pass + unconstrained bitrate" mode,
to ensure that NO frames will be ever dropped/duplicated by the stupid
Windows media codecs.

My question: What settings are optimal for this?

Each source compresses differently. Sorry, there are
no "prêt-à-porter" solutions for "optimal" results.

I have an LG IQ (800x480) Smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.5.

Your device is not so "smart", then.

[Darklighter]

Thanks for the help... unfortunately, I have AVI files to convert.

[Ai Haibara]

Yes, and that's what the methods El Heggunte posted will accomplish. You use an AVISynth script to stream the AVI through WmNicEnc, which will convert it to WMV.

[Darklighter]

OK, when I run WmEnc, I only get the option to input AVS files... do I just change to "All Files" and select the AVIs? Also, I don't see the options ("2-pass + unconstrained bitrate"} he's talking about. Is that the "MultiPass Encoding" checkbox? By "Unconstrained" Bitrate, he means Constant bitrate?

[Ai Haibara]

No, you have to use an AVISynth (.avs) script to stream the files into the encoder, rather than load the AVI files directly. (Of course, AVISynth must be installed, as well.)

I don't actually use WmNicEnc, so I likely wouldn't be of much help with its options.

(Sorry for the late reply - I've been trying to fix one of our computers.)

[Darklighter]

OK, thanks... this is getting a bit more complicated than I had hoped, but I'd like to get the best method figured out for future conversion as well the tons of AVIs I have waiting. I'll give it a shot this weekend.

[marioval]

Why convert at all? Just use TCPMP to view the AVI's on your phone.

Depending on your device, you may get jerky playback if your video is a higher resolution than your screen, for example watching a 1280x760 movie on a 800x480 screen. If you do need to convert/resize down to 800x480 you can use pocketdivxencoder (beta version 0.4.5) then view it with TCPMP.

Link to pocketdivxencoder_beta.

http://www.pocketdivxencoder.net/EN_index.htm

I think your phone is WVGA so you get this version of TCPMP with a pretty skin.

http://www.modaco.com/content/i8000-verizon-sch-i920-omnia-ii-http-i8000-modaco-com/30.../#entry1212914

[Darklighter]

marioval - Thanks, I will try that tool (yes, I have WVGA)... if it can play the AVIs, great! However, for filesize reasons I will still need to convert to WMV at some point...

[Darklighter]

Tried TCPMP, get an error: "Video codec (Microsoft MPEG-4 Version 2) not supported by the player!"

[Schmendrick]

Why don't you use the mobile DivX-player:
http://labs.divx.com/MobileDownload
I am using it on a HTC Touch HD also with 800x480 WVGA-display resolution and it works well.
As always the video-bitrate determines whether the video is paying smooth or if it stutters (if the bitrate is too high).
Well and I think it only supports DivX-codec- or XviD-codec-encoded videos from version 4 onward, so no
DivX 3 support as this was a hacked Microsoft-codec.

Good luck

Schmendrick

[Darklighter]

Will give it a try.



UPDATE: Won't play my AVIs... gives an error msg.

[Darklighter]

For those who might stumble upon this thread, after more experimentation and research I have discovered .MP4 (MPEG4/AAC) plays perfectly on the IQ, currently converting AVIs to MP4 at 800x480, 1000KBits/s, 30FPS, 128Kbps audio, and it's smooth as silk - looks great.

Thanks to all who helped.