Recommendations for dvd-to-zune software? -Corel dvd copy does the trick!

[yoda313]

I bought a 30gb ZUNE this morning. I love it already! Sad to say my dell dj 30gb mp3 player died last night, it won't boot any more. So I decided to take the plung and go ZUNE.

The features are great. It does pictures, video, audio and radio (built in fm tuner). I would like to know if you could record the radio. I have already set the presets to my usual stations. Recording would be sweet.

I have the pinnacle hdtv usb device and I have tested it out with the mpeg4 recording. It has a psp mode and I tried that and it works perfectly - 320x240 resolution. I can record straight to avi and transfer to the zune without transcoding. SO that will be my method of choice for recording.

Now about transcoding dvds - I'm about to check out some software in the tools section but what do people recommend for transcoding dvds to zune. I am fully under the impression that psp software for dvd transcoding SHOULD in all likelyhood be fully zune compatible given the pinnacle experiment. Is this correct?

[GMaq]

Hi Yoda,
WinFF comes with PSP presets, and other portable presets that could be tweaked to your Zune's liking. In Windows I use DVD Decrypter with AnyDVD with file splitting set to "none" to rip DVD's into one big VOB that WinFF converts flawlessly, An alternative would be the ever popular DVDFab with VOB2MPEG or VOBMerge. If you go this route let me know what types of video work best for the Zune, I am involved with WinFF as the "presets" guy, Zune presets would probably be a good addition for the next release, I don't have a Zune myself (I have an old iPod) but I'm willing to look into it.

[yoda313]

Thanks gmaq.

I actually sort of got 3gp converter to work. It took the vob and converted to mp4. However it still wasn't fully zune compatible in the mobile profile. Zune ended up converting it again while transferring it. THe quality was decent though.

I'll give winff a try. I'm also looking into using super. THough I haven't got a copy of it yet. Will check both out.

EDIT - winff did allow me to edit the psp profile to 320x240. However it still converted the file upon syncing.

I downloaded the latest Super and it worked great. It took the vob and spit out a fully compatible wmv file. I'll use this for the movies and tv shows. Thanks for the advice.

[yoda313]

BUMP

Well I'm ending up using 3gp converter and then converting again during sync with the zune software. A bit laborious but at least it works and is free. Super didn't like my dvd shrink whole movie file. It worked on a clip vob but not a full 4gb vob. So for now I'm using a double conversion method. Since we're talking portable video here I'm not obsessing about video quality.

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One other note - I LOVE WIFI SYNCING! I finally got my zune configured for my dlink wifi router. I have now synced a few songs wirelessly! No cables. How cool is that? It doesn't have direct store purchase options that I know of. I can't browse the zune marketplace on the zune as far as I can see. But its still cool to transfer without a cable.

[yoda313]

BUMP!

Well I have finally settled on some software. I bought corel dvd copy 6 at bestbuy for 50.00 today. Works well. Of course it doesn't have a decss ripper on it but can rip homemade dvds. The important thing is that it reads vobs just fine. So I can rip with any ripper and then convert with the software.

I was impressed. This has multiple ZUNE profiles for wmv and mp4. The wmv works great becasue I don't have to have the zune software convert it during synching. Once the file is converted the zune software simply transfers it without reencoding.

The conoversion time for a 2 hour 20min vob is just over an hour and ten minutes. It is not exactly fifty perecent faster than realtime but it is pretty close. The quality on the statndard mode is suitable for the portable world and comes in under 500mb for a 2 hour movie.

This did not choke on the vob and it did not create a noncompliant file. This processesed the entire movie and created a perfectly compatible wmv file for my zune with no additional processing needed.

Now I can convert dvds for zune in three short steps - 1 rip the disc, 2 convert to wmv at nearly 50% of realtime on my amd dual core 2.7ghz vista pc 3 - synch to zune with no reencoding needed.

All in all this is better than doing realtime captures with an external dvd player. I am happy with this purchase and would recommend it to others for dvd to zune conversion with an external ripping software.

[FulciLives]

I'm playing around with the idea of getting the 2nd generation 80GB Zune model. Here is a link to the model I'm talking about: CLICK HERE

However I'm wondering what software I can use to do video conversion. I was hoping XVID4PSP would work but there is no "ZUNE" preset although I'm thinking it might still work by "adapting" one of the presents to something that the ZUNE likes.

So I guess I am looking for software suggestions on video conversion for the ZUNE as well as just general comments about it.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[yoda313]

I haven't tested it personally but xvid4psp has a mp4xbox 360 option. That should do it. However it will reencode it since the zune software only takes 320x240 wmv without reencodes. You can try super or windows media encoder also.

I do like the zune a lot. You can also get a video cable adapter for video out. If you get the charging dock it has component output - only the 80gb supports component out my 30gb doesn't.

You can also hook a zune directly to the xbox 360 and it has seemless integration via usb.

If you set your tv card to 320x240 wmv you will be able to synch to the zune without reencoding. However of course that is not ideal for long term archiving but things like talk shows or "throw away" tv shows that would be ideal for recording and quick transfers. If you wanted to record in dvd mode for later archiving you would of course have to reencode the mpg to wmv for synching.

[FulciLives]

Now I'm thinking of the Samsung P2 which is a clone of sorts of the Apple iPod Touch. The P2 has a 3 inch 16x9 WS screen that does 480x272 so I'm thinking of going that way (instead of the ZUNE) but it only does WMV and I'm not crazy about that format.

I'm tempted to just get the iPod Touch since it has a bigger 3.5 inch 16x9 WS screen and I can use XVID4PSP which i like and know how to use.

I really hate giving Apple any of my money though LOL

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Samsung P2 link:
http://www.mpfreedom.com/us/p2/index.html