vB Easy Archive - Encoding 3g2 files for the LG VX8500 Chocolate

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Encoding 3g2 files for the LG VX8500 Chocolate
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Posted by: Midnight Mover

Encoding 3g2 files for the LG VX8500 Chocolate

Introduction

The older VX8300 and VX8100 phone were designed to handle a native video resolution of 176x144 pixels. Consequently, these phones had screens that were 176 pixels wide when held upright. Playing a video in the standard "pixel perfect" mode had a very clear, albeit small, picture. The VX8100's full screen mode was very poor due to the lack of advanced real-time image scaling. (I don't know how well/poor the VX8300 is at full screen display.) It was unbearable for me to watch videos in full screen mode.

The VX8500 display's screen is 240(w) x 320(h) pixels. Not surprisingly, the native video resolution of the Chocolate has been increased to take advantage: 240x192. Using the "full screen" option on the Chocolate is much improved and is preferred by most.

When encoding video files for my old VX8100, I pre-processed my videos to account for the different aspect ratio of the screen. A standard TV broadcast is 4:3, but the 176x144 format has an aspect ratio of 11:9. This means I had to crop the left and right sides of the frame during processing to keep the image from looking stretched vertically.

The new resolution of the VX8500 is 240x192; an aspect ratio of 5:4. But wait! We don't actually view the video at that resolution on the Chocolate. The full screen mode of the VX8500 is 320x240. That's an aspect ratio of 4:3! We don't need to crop the image at all, because the phone is going to stretch it to 4:3 when we view it in full-screen mode.

Tools:

The best tool I've found for encoding videos for the VX8500 is called SUPER:

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

It relies on having the correct DirectShow filters installed. If you encounter any errors trying to convert your videos, then try installing FFDSHOW:

http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDShow_download.htm

SUPER will accept AVI, MOV, MPG, and VOB files. However, I've found that if the audio tracks are AC3 format, the volume will be very low.

We will see in a moment that it's important to know the frame rate of the file we are trying to convert. For examining the format of AVI files, use AVICodec:

http://avicodec.duby.info/

I won't get into how to extract the VOB files off a DVD here. You can Google how to do that. Instead, I'll assume your video is in an AVI file.

Settings

Here are the settings you should use:

The only setting that you may need to change is the "Frame/Sec". The goal is to encode your video at 1/2 the frame rate of the source. Most NTSC videos are encoded at 29.97 fps, so 14.985 should be used. Some DVDs and QuicKTime trailers are encoded at 23.98 fps, so you would use 11.988 on SUPER. If your source is PAL (25 fps), use 12.5 setting.

Click on the "Other Opts" button. If your AVI file isn't interlaced, uncheck the "Deinterlace" option. (The only interlaced video sources you should encounter would be VOB files ripped from DVDs. Almost every AVI file I've seen has not been in an interlaced format.)

Note the "Options" section. We're stretching the video to fit the 240x192 frame completely. Remember, we don't care that it looks distorted when played back in native 240x192 format. The VX8500 will stretch the video to the fill 320x240 display, which is 4:3 in full screen mode. This also means that 16:9 format video will need to be letterboxed to 4:3 BEFORE you convert it. There are many ways to accomplish this, but are beyond the scope of this document.

Converting a video file

Simply start up SUPER and drag-and-drop your files onto the SUPER window. Click the Encode button and your 3g2 file will be placed in the output folder of SUPER.

Common issues

For some reason, there's more skipping/jumpiness at the beginning of videos. This is probably due to the VX8500 not caching enough of the video before displaying it. It could also be that the phone's processor is too taxed and can't keep up during the beginning of playback. I noticed the video is perfectly smooth if no audio is encoded.

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Here are some sample videos:

Click here to watch Love-Mummy
Click here to watch Spider-man-3-Trailer
Click here to watch Maxwell-Edison
Click here to watch Mad-Capsule-Markets---Pulse
Click here to watch The-Ultimate-Showdown-of-Ultimate-Destiny

View the page source to get the url to download the video if you want a copy of it.

Posted by: BlackGS01

Thanks! This is great! I vote this be turned into a sticky

Posted by: Midnight Mover

More vids:

Click here to watch Casino-Royale-Trailer-16
Click here to watch Adam-Android-Strikes-Back
Click here to watch arcadehi
Click here to watch 222320-shadow-brian

Posted by: themopedwhiz

chosing 'other options' will let you increase the volume, with the volume slider

and many of the TV/cable programs i DL from the web are in 25fps, I will change the frame rate for animation, BUT for regular TV i will leave it at 25FPS sometimes the choco will play it sometimes NOT if it doesn't play i re-doit at 15 FPS, my 8100 will play 25fps but NOT 30fps

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Maybe they're from England (PAL)?

Posted by: Alphy88

Im yet to get super working on my PC. Installing directshow did stop it from giving a popup error regarding memcoder.exe(i think thats what it was), but not it just says error beside the filename in super and doesnt output the video

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Did you check the check-box next to DirectShow like I have in the image in the original post? If so, try unchecking it.

Posted by: Alphy88

well, i finally got it to convert one file I have into 3gp after about 100 attempts. Problem now is that by the end of the video the audio and video are off by about 10 seconds.

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alphy88

well, i finally got it to convert one file I have into 3gp after about 100 attempts. Problem now is that by the end of the video the audio and video are off by about 10 seconds.

How did you get it to work? Do you mean the clip got truncated or that the video and audio is out of sync?

Also, here's an article about getting videos From Google Video, YouTube to your phone in 3 steps

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alphy88

well, i finally got it to convert one file I have into 3gp after about 100 attempts. Problem now is that by the end of the video the audio and video are off by about 10 seconds.

what phone are you encoding for chcoc, 8300 9800

if you encode 3gp instead of 3g2 ( which I use, and is the one selected in this tutorial ) you might try Xvid for the codec instead of mpeg4

to summerized 15fps, 240*192, 3g2, mpeg4, bit rate 192

15fps, 240*192, 3gp, Xvid, bitrate 192

audio bitrate 56

Quote:

Maybe they're from England (PAL)?

most likely. since it's cable/sat TV and the programs air there hours earlier than they air here

Posted by: mistemojorizin

I am probably missing something, but since you watch the videos in full screen at 240x320, why not encode the videos at that resolution?

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistemojorizin

I am probably missing something, but since you watch the videos in full screen at 240x320, why not encode the videos at that resolution?

Because it looks terrible. The Chocolate doesn't seem to be designed to handle that resolution. Try it and you'll see.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midnight Mover

Because it looks terrible. The Chocolate doesn't seem to be designed to handle that resolution. Try it and you'll see.

the screen is native at 240*320 vertical NOT horizontal 320*240

so the phone is trying to fit 320 pixels into a 240 space and can't do it

it has to be playing BEFORE you can hit the up button for expanded screen in the horizontal mode

the native/natural mode is 240*192 fills the display area perfectly, then push the up button to expand to full screen/sideways at 320*240

trust me, we have gone thru all this

as far as i know, i was the first to use the 240*192, when everybody else was using 3gp conveter and QCIF = 176*144 res, like the 8100 & 8300
I think i was the first to post these specs

I was NOT the first to use SUPER, I found it here on HOFO and really dove into using it

Posted by: Alphy88

I have been converting everything to 3GP. Whats the difference between that and 3G2? Will the chocolate handle either?

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by themopedwhiz

I just created a 240x320 mp4 video. I did it by rotating and resizing AVI file. The file plays very slowly and does not fill up the screen at all.

The actual screen may be 240x320, but I have not seen anyone able to get the phone to play back such a video file at that resolution. Do you have an example file you can upload?

Quote:

Originally Posted by themopedwhiz

the native/natural mode is 240*192 fills the display area perfectly, then push the up button to expand to full screen/sideways at 320*240

trust me, we have gone thru all this

That's what I said in the OP.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

yes midnight

I know that, I was agreeing with you and pointing out it has been tried, and the reasons why didn't work, because that was what was asked

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alphy88

I have been converting everything to 3GP. Whats the difference between that and 3G2? Will the chocolate handle either?

Yes. It will also handle MP4 format.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

3g2 = 3gpp2 = 3gpp2ndgeneration

supposely gives better compression, fidelity and play back

slightly different 'improved' ?? encoding, a more 'refined' ? standard

Posted by: free4all

ack, sorry. I should've read the pinned FAQ....

Posted by: Midnight Mover

More vids!

Click here to watch Touchtone-Genius
Click here to watch Honda-Cog
Click here to watch Singing-in-the-Rain---Golf-GTI
Click here to watch Pi

Remember, view the page's html source to get the direct link and you can download them for your phone!

Posted by: mistemojorizin

thank you very much for the videos. I put the maxwell edison one on my phone. Could everyone post more vids? thanks

Posted by: free4all

okay, I've stumbled into a problem. I'm testing this technique on some episodes of a TV show. A few of the episodes lose sound completely after around 20 secs into the video. Once, I successfully fast forward-ed past a problem spot and the sound worked for about 10 seconds longer than usual before crapping out again. I've tried encoding them again at a bitrate of 192kbps (I was using 240), and still no luck. It's strange because some of the episodes of the TV show I'm testing this on work perfectly the whole way through, whereas others have the audio cutting out at 20-30secs in. These same problem videos play fine on my computer with no audio issues, and I even burned them to a DVD-R and play them in my home DVD player fine. The episodes that have the audio problems also seem to "skip" more (visually) than the others. When I try fast forwarding after the sound has ceased, it seems to skip back and forth between two frames (and not fast forward at all really).

any tips or will these episodes never play correctly?

Posted by: Midnight Mover

What format are the audio tracks? MP3 or AC3? Did you install FFDSHOW?

Posted by: free4all

hmm, I'm new to this but there aren't audio tracks... (should there be? my other videos play fine.)

The video files are in .avi format. Yes I installed FFdshow.

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Install the AVICodec program and it will tell you the format of the AVI.

Posted by: free4all

well I installed AVI codec pack plus, not sure what it did or how to check the format of the AVI's with it.

in Super it says, Use Audio Codec: AAC

I don't think that helps, but I don't really know what I'm doing either.

Posted by: Midnight Mover

To everyone: I've been experimenting with using other codecs. XVID seems to play fine, but looks a little more "lossy" than the MPEG4 codec. I tried making a MP4 file using the newer H.264/AAC codec. It does play, but it's very buggy. It also made the whole video player unstable! I had to shutdown and restart the phone to clear out the problem.

I've been using the version 5 3g2 option in SUPER and I don't see any difference.

I've got tons of new vids I'll be posting real soon. Does anyone have any requests?

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Click here to watch Robot-Chicken---Deathstar
Click here to watch Spy-vs-Spy---Hallway
Click here to watch Spy-vs-Spy---Helicopter
Click here to watch Star-Wars-Orchestra

Posted by: themopedwhiz

request " i can't aford my gasoline "

I have tried with out success to get that from utube or creators website

i have watched a dozen times but can not snag it, or even capture/strip a working url for the vid

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by themopedwhiz

request " i can't aford my gasoline "

I have tried with out success to get that from utube or creators website

i have watched a dozen times but can not snag it, or even capture/strip a working url for the vid

Click here to watch "I Can't Afford My Gasoline"

Posted by: themopedwhiz

thanks, love that video, laughed my *** off the first time i watched it,

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Here's one in 176x144 resolution. The other is for the Chocolate.

Click here to watch I-Cant-Afford-My-Gasoline-176x144

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Click here to watch Bill-Plympton---25-Ways-to-Quit-Smoking
Click here to watch Final-Fantasy
Click here to watch Dad's-Home
Click here to watch Shiggity-Shiggity-Schwa
Click here to watch Progenies-of-the-Great-Apocolypse

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Click here to watch Bunny-Kill-3
Click here to watch Lawful-High
Click here to watch I-Love-Death

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Click here to watch Platform-Hero-1
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-2
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-3
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-4
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-5
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-6
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-7
Click here to watch Platform-Hero-8

Posted by: Huskerfan

how can I convert a 3g2 file to mpeg4? other words I downloaded a movie FROM my cell phone to my desktop and want to convert to a movie file.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

same program 'SUPER'

it converts loads of formats into other formats

http://www.erightsoft.com/S5E01.html

Posted by: Modarola

themopedwhiz you figure out how to snag it yet?

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huskerfan

how can I convert a 3g2 file to mpeg4? other words I downloaded a movie FROM my cell phone to my desktop and want to convert to a movie file.

Why do you want to convert it to mpeg4? Quicktime plays 3g2 files just fine.

Posted by: Midnight Mover

A friend of mine gave me some of his webspace to host wallpapers and vids for the vx8500!

http://vx8500.rowdyruff.net/

I could use some help getting it set up. PM me if you want to help.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Modarola

themopedwhiz you figure out how to snag it yet?

midnightmover snagged it for me,

then gave a link that led to website that will catch them off 'utube' but not from atom films

http://keepvid.com/

it has been very useful

Posted by: Midnight Mover

BTW, I updated the guide and there's lots more new vids and wallpapers on the site.

Posted by: vedubbn

i don't get how you use these vids from that putfile website???? i want to get some dave chappelle skits on my phone

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Don't bother using the putfile links. All the vids and more are at the site in my sig.

Posted by: Magic-O

Quote:

Originally Posted by themopedwhiz

midnightmover snagged it for me,

then gave a link that led to website that will catch them off 'utube' but not from atom films

http://keepvid.com/

it has been very useful

If you use firefox get the "VideoDownloader" plug-in. It puts an icon at the bottom right corner of the browser that you can click to download any videos on the page you are browsing.

Edit: This plug-in does not work on atom films.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Yep !

Tried That

Posted by: Trav002

Hey has anyone figured out how to stream videos through A2DP?

If not how do you watch videos if when you have the ehadphones plugged in the phone can't sit on its side so you have to hold it

is there a way to rotate the video 180 degrees so that it can be watched upside down with the headphones?

Posted by: Wootlax

this is what i dont get

i get this error when i drag the encoded video over to bitpim "videos"

=\

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wootlax

this is what i dont get

i get this error when i drag the encoded video over to bitpim "videos"

=\

Are you trying to store the video on the phone's internal memory or on the MicroSD card? If you are trying to get the video on the MicroSD card, buy a USB adapter for your PC instead.

Posted by: Wootlax

nah internal memory
can you do that through bitpim?

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wootlax

nah internal memory can you do that through bitpim?

I've never tried it. You better be careful; you don't want to overload your phone's memory.

Verizon has a deal where if you buy the MEK and the 2 GB MicroSB card, you a $30 rebate (essentially getting the MEK for free.) I think today was the last day.

Posted by: Wootlax

awww haha
thanks anyway
ill find some good deals online i guess becuase i already had the MEK

Posted by: hotwired

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wootlax

this is what i dont get

i get this error when i drag the encoded video over to bitpim "videos"

=\

If you must, you can still use Bitpim to transfer the video although it will be really darn slow. But don't use the GUI->Video, you must do a direct transfer using "File Browse".

You can search further here where exactly is that (i cant remember offhand). Or take a short video (using your phone) and look for that file (3g2 ext) in the folders then put your VIDEO there.

...

Posted by: hotwired

You just got this resolved with a thread below this! Why post here again? ooh well!

...

Posted by: Wootlax

sorry,
i was saying thanks.

Posted by: hotwired

Cool, no prob.

...

Posted by: TeamMargay16

when i try to convert this chappelle's show video skit....for some reason about 1min into it the audio starts to go faster then the actual video is there a way to fix that..?? it doesnt do it with any of my other videos

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeamMargay16

when i try to convert this chappelle's show video skit....for some reason about 1min into it the audio starts to go faster then the actual video is there a way to fix that..?? it doesnt do it with any of my other videos

The avi file is probably corrupt in some minor way and it's causing problems with SUPER.

I had a weird problem with a wmv file where the audio cut out completely after 20 seconds. The only way around the problem was to convert it to a uncompressed AVI using SUPER, then use VirtualDub to rencode the video to a new format. It then converted fine.

Posted by: Trav002

Why can't the videos audio be streamed over stereo bluetooth like the music can?

Posted by: Trav002

anyone have an idea?

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trav002

Why can't the videos audio be streamed over stereo bluetooth like the music can?

I have NO idea, why it is NOT implemented, but it's in the phones OS-firmware so there is NOTHING we can do about it.

there is NO hack, you can do

Posted by: AxiuM1485

Hrmm i seem to be having problems with the format .3g2 but .3gp works fine for me. For the .3g2 conversions i hear audio for the first 5-10 seconds then audio disappears but works fine for .3gp, is there really a big video quality difference between the two?

One more thing, anyone know places where i can dl clips other then youtube/myspace/google video/putfile and where i can get a good deal on a 2gb microSD card. Thanks

Posted by: Midnight Mover

Quote:

Originally Posted by AxiuM1485

Hrmm i seem to be having problems with the format .3g2 but .3gp works fine for me. For the .3g2 conversions i hear audio for the first 5-10 seconds then audio disappears but works fine for .3gp, is there really a big video quality difference between the two?

I haven't tried it in a while, but there's no reason why the 3g2 format shouldn't work. I had that issue myself when converting WMV files using SUPER. The work around was to use SUPER to convert the WMV to an AVI, then convert the AVI to 3g2. I have no idea why that works. I suspect there's an issue with SUPER converting the WMV audio format directly to AAC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AxiuM1485

One more thing, anyone know places where i can dl clips other then youtube/myspace/google video/putfile and where i can get a good deal on a 2gb microSD card. Thanks

You can download a sh*tload of videos (and wallpapers) from here:

http://vx8500.rowdyruff.net/

Verizon had a great deal last month on the 2gb microSD card. They were bundling it with the MEK for $99 after rebate. Not anymore.

Now it's $99 for the card itself. Not a terrible price for a 2gb.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

for the card try

www.frys.com

Posted by: ne3ek

super doesnt work on vista huh? ):

Posted by: aferber

Anyone know how to convert video files using a MAC for VX8500??? any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Posted by: firefox15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midnight Mover

Now it's $99 for the card itself. Not a terrible price for a 2gb.

Are you being sarcastic? That is a terrible price for a 2gb. I just got one off ebay for $65 shipped.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Quote:

Originally Posted by aferber

Anyone know how to convert video files using a MAC for VX8500??? any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

look for a mac program that will create 3gp OR 3g2 files in 176*144

do a google search for mac OS and video conversion

I don't have any first hand MAC knowledge.

maybe somebody in thread can help you

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1063292

Posted by: larryganz

Quote:

Originally Posted by aferber

Anyone know how to convert video files using a MAC for VX8500??? any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

www.visualhub.net has a good product that will convert almost anything.

Posted by: RadYOacTiVe

I've used Super and it works great. The only problem i've had and it's minor is that the volume is just a bit low. I read in a thread somewhere on HF that there is way to increase the volume when converting. I can't find that option in Super...can someone please point me in the right direction.

Also...thank you for the write up...this works perfect and the new version of Super will work with .vob files.

Posted by: firefox15

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadYOacTiVe

I've used Super and it works great. The only problem i've had and it's minor is that the volume is just a bit low. I read in a thread somewhere on HF that there is way to increase the volume when converting. I can't find that option in Super...can someone please point me in the right direction.

Also...thank you for the write up...this works perfect and the new version of Super will work with .vob files.

You have to click the "options" tab, and it will pull up another window where you can change the volume.

Posted by: themopedwhiz

Quote:

Originally Posted by firefox15

You have to click the "options" tab, and it will pull up another window where you can change the volume.

the little button sqbox on the upper right handside , says options -other bottom one in the stack of boxes

Posted by: RadYOacTiVe

Quote:

Originally Posted by firefox15

You have to click the "options" tab, and it will pull up another window where you can change the volume.

Hey Firefox,

Thank you for the reply. I saw this earlier but didn't look close enough. Thanks again!

Posted by: cugliett

Does anyone know how to overcome the problem of the audio and video being out of sync by the time the video is over. It was mentioned earlier on but i dont think it was solved

Posted by: themopedwhiz

most of the time IF it is properly synced in the file you are converting, it will stay in sync

but if the file to be converted has sync problems, they will get worse

also, using the wrong FPS and/OR to high a video bit rate will cause sync problems on play back, as the player suffers video LAG and then drops video frames because it cannot keep up

Posted by: vic2178

hi there ive used super to convert my terrorist video from ******* 2 (the 1 at the end of it with the guy in taxi) but i cant get the volume seting to work to make it go up could some 1 please convert it for me so the volume goes up btw im using super a bit differnt as im converting ti to the 200 to 176 size for my lg 8600 thanks in advance enclosed is the link to the video after it encoded send it to mystcshadowwalker@yahoo.com thanks in advance

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles...error_Taxi.html

Posted by: themopedwhiz

super has a volume change option

choose options/ other

a new window opens, that has a volume control, check mark the box and adjust the volume slider for the PERCENT of sound. from 0 to 200 %

then process your video, you can do this with the Dl file so that you are doing your volume change at the same time as the recode

have you tried 220*192 i think it will play on the 8600

BTW you tube flv are 25fps so encode at 12.5 fps 192k video bit rate

Posted by: vic2178

ive done all youve said and it wont make the encode it with the sound up as i said in my original post

Posted by: danonymousman

i use teh setings mentioned above, but my video looks like a slideshow, and the audio runs normaly(ahead) whats wrong?

thx

Posted by: themopedwhiz

what phone ?

Posted by: estat

I'm having trouble decoding audio in WMP11. Video works fine, and I've installed a few AAC codecs, but not the right one apparently.