3GP and MP4 plugins

DarrenD · Post by **DarrenD** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:55 pm

I recently tried to convert a .VOB file to my mobile phone using the SUPER program as recommended on this group (see post "Free Stuff for use with Ulead Products"). I renamed the .VOB to .MPG, dropped the .MPG onto SUPER and told it to convert to 3GP (Sony Ericsson). It generated the .3GP file and it plays on my phone. My problem is that the audio was out of sync at the start.

I got to thinking about the 3GP and MP4 plugins for MSP 8. Is there a trial version of these that I could try, e.g. big red X across the screen (just like on MSP 6 trial)? I am loathe to spend £14.99 to find I still get audio sync problems when SUPER does the same (and also on principle - the plugin is free for VS10 users and I paid more for MSP).

For those with the plugin is it simply a case of dropping the .MPG file into MSP video track and choosing File->Convert->3GP and creating a template just like when creating .MPG or .AVI files? Does the plugin simply give me the create 3GP option or allows me to drop a .3GP file into the video track? Also, if I can use SUPER to create an .MP4 file that my phone will understand would it be better to buy the 3GP or MP4 plugin?

Cheers
Darren

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 4:54 pm

I cannot answer your questions, but renaming VOB to MPG is not recommended and may well cause audio problems, as the sound has to be demultiplexed. As you have MSP8, you would be far better to use the DVD capture plug-in to generate your MPG. I don't guarantee the results will be better, but you will have eliminated one potential cause.

DarrenD · Post by **DarrenD** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:25 pm

Thanks for that tip Brian. I will try it later.

DarrenD · Post by **DarrenD** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:30 pm

Brian
The video format for my phone needs to be 176x144 size and .3GP encoded.

If I have to use MSP to create the .MPG file to feed into SUPER to convert to .3GP format do you think it would be better for MSP to resize to a 176x140 .MPG file or for keep as 720x576 .MPG and let SUPER resize it?

Cheers
Darren

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:02 pm

As I don't know SUPER, I can't answer, but my gut feeling is to keep the better resolution to the last operation.

DarrenD · Post by **DarrenD** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:19 pm

I think it was Terry that first mentioned SUPER (http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html)

It seems my audio sync problem came from renaming the .VOB to .MPG so you were right that VOBs and MPGs are not identical. I used DVD Shrink to rip my home DVD and "backup" the first audio stream (my DVD had the normal camcorder soundtrack and a second stream of music [because I could

). Now I had a DVD compliant hard disk folder with the single video and single audio stream that I wanted on my phone (it is not a DVD player after-all so some compromises had to be made - no alternate music track).

I used the video capture within MSP Video Editor with the DVD capture plug-in and selected all of the chapters. I selected them individually rather than ticked title 1 thinking this would create 20 small files (20 chapters). After that I used the batch convert tool to convert the 20 .MPG 720x576 files to .AVI (PICVideo-MJPG) 176x144. The file sizes were about the same (approx 200MB each) and then used SUPER to convert them to .MP4 format (approx 7MB each) to play on my phone.

The main benefits of splitting the files by chapters is that SUPER doesn't like files bigger than 4GB and also my phone can only fast-forward/rewind slowly and if I press the wrong button it starts playing from the beginning of the file (better to restart a chapter than the whole film).

That was all "too early" this morning so I didn't notice the similar file size of .MPG and .AVI so now I might just go straight from the .MPG to .MP4 and save a step (also keeping the original MPEG-2 information - no conversion to MJPEG or resizing).

Once again Brian thanks for your input

A lot of the above is mostly for other people's reference if they ever stumble across this thread.

Cheers
Darren

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:37 pm

Devil wrote:As you have MSP8, you would be far better to use the DVD capture plug-in to generate your MPG.

Where can I find the DVD capture plugin please?

DarrenD · Post by **DarrenD** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:08 am

Ormond

Start Video Capture and select Setup->Change Capture Plug-in... and select "Import DVD Plug-in" from the drop-down list. Click the RECORD button and you will be asked where to store your captured clips and then where the source DVD is (either a DVD-ROM drive or folders on a hard drive).

You could also use the similar capture from within Video Editor under Capture->Video Capture...

Hope that helps
Darren

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:18 am

Thanks Darren!

I don't use this software on a very regular basis, and sometimes I find it difficult to find what I need to know from the manual, especially if I don't know the correct terminology!

You guys, here seem to know everything and I value your help greatly!

DarrenD · Post by **DarrenD** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:31 pm

Ormond

I am far from an expert but I did know that answer!