So now you've got a P-2000, but it's not an Apple product, doesn't have a suite of slick software like iTunes to make video import easy, has a PC formatted Fat32 HDrive...how the heck do you make movies that fit, and import and play well into the viewer?

I spent about 2 weeks researching this deal, and I've got the winning formula. It takes a long long time to encode a 640-pixel VGA sized movie, but it's worth it. The movie viewing experience of the P-2000 is literally twice as large as a video iPod's, and the screen is so fine, so clear, so crisp with 260K+ colors available compared to the iPod's small 320-pixel screen with only limited colors.

First, don't bother with iSquint, HandBrake, or other free applications for encoding a ripped Video_TS file, or let's just say don't use them at all. Get a copy of Geezerbuttz MTR v3.0 r-12 by going to the MTR discussion group, visiting awhile, finding GButtz himself and PM'ing him, and he'll tell you what to do next. The new MTR v3.0 is so friggin' good that it's scary. It's waay better than v2.6.6, which is quite good as we all know. You'll need to make a small donation to "the cause" and Geezerbuttz himself will send you via email a coded URL where you may download the v3.0 r-12 software, and be entitled to future upgrades of MTR. So get that done first. Support the cause. If you don't want to, just use v2.6.6 but v3.0 r12 is waay better and faster.

Go to ripdifferent.com, "A Macintosh User Forum For The Rest Of Us", and you'll find raging discussions and humor, tech talk, on everything from MTR to Popcorn, Toast 7, Ripping, DVD Media, DVD2OneX etc. You'll have to register to PM Geezerbuttz. It's worth it really it is:

[www.ripdifferent.com]

Next there's a slick new software suite called Forty-twoDVD-VXPlus, and it works magic on movie encoding for PSP, iPod, and of course, with proper tweaking, the Epson P-2000. At least it gets us 1/2-way toward a finished movie for the P-2000. You have to finish any P-2000 movie project with QuickTime Pro's Export feature, to synch the sound properly, or it won't play worth a darn in the P-2000.

[www.macupdate.com]

Use these settings for 42DVD-VXPlus to get the ball rolling, after you've ripped the Video_TS file with MTR:
Format MPEG4/Audio Format MP4/Resolution 640/Discs 1DVDR/Quality setting one click over from the left, generating a 1-Pass encoding...we don't want the file size to get to be over 2GB, so 2-Pass encoding for the P-2000 is out unless you have a very short film, say one that's less than 4GB in size before ripping/encoding

About 5 hours later, you end up with an .mp4 file on the desktop, and now we need to run the movie through QTime Pro to synch the sound and finish the movie for the P-2000.

Open the movie in QTime Pro Player, and choose Export from the File menu:
Settings: Export Movie to MPEG-4/Video Format "MPEG-4 Improved"/Data Rate 1000kbits/sec/Image Size 640 x480, 640x360, or 640x352/Frame Rate 30fps/Key Frame Every 24 Frames-then we have to deal with audio...

Audio Format: AAC-LC(Music); Data Rate 192kbps/Channels Stereo/Output Sample Rate 44.100klhz/Encoding Quality Better...let it rip...and about 5-6 hours later you're done!

Voila! I flat guarantee that the 10-12 hours of encoding and work you've just done will result in a PERFECT playing movie, with synched sound and video. It seems like a long process, and it is, but playing a movie on the P-2000 is well worth it.

I have 9 full length feature films in my P-2000 now, and there's still more than 29GB worth of storage left for more movies, or photographs, albums, whatever. Don't be afraid to be different and get a P-2000 in your stable. Look how much a Video iPod costs, and all it does is play music and videos. The Epson does *everything well* after you master the movie-making technique.

Enjoy, and may you prosper!

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What's the difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make some sense.

So you're saying that this is THE iPod-killer?

Many have tried, but this comes closest, eh?

It's not an iPod killer (for one thing, it's much bigger than an iPod, but show me how you fit a 3.8" screen on an iPod)... it's just a beautiful piece of hardware with a gorgeous screen.

Nice tutorial, Rexzer.... there's gotta be an easier way. Using MTR3 & Final Cut, perhaps?

how is this better than a PSP?

Rexrzer.

I sure do hope you really enjoy watching movies on a little tiny screen. Jezz people, or, people who are doing this a whole lot.....tilt your head up straight, look at people around you, buildings, the world in general, some unencumbered thought...all this electro crap...mebbe a book?

Pretty much seems like a whole lot of fidging to get a movie onto a pea sized device.

Hey, Im not being judgemental...BUT I am sick of seeing the world SO wrapped in their electronic crap...cell phones, ipods, movie viewers..Sort of creeps me out....of course, IMHO



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2006 09:01AM by Kraniac.

Please take it easy on Kraniac. You must understand the entire story.

Kraniac has been bitter ever since the Borg attacked his home world.
Eventually the team of researchers were able to remove all of
the Borg installed hardware throughout the body - but not the "techno-phobia."

.

Thanks Jimmy, I was wondering what the deal was, now I know.

Actually, I am surrounded at this very moment by tons of techno stuff, macs, scanners, printers, naked women, digi vid & sound...They all collaborate to help me with my tasks. then I leave and go into the world where I tear radio antennae off of cars and engage strangers in swordfights. Bitter? Yes. Fun? Also yes.

I just feel that there are limits and at a certain point you have to sort of recognize what of the electronic @#$%& you shouldn't ought to buy.

Don't try to portray me as bitter because I might be.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2006 10:21AM by Kraniac.

I was considering starting a forum about being bitter.

K, "The Bitter Bastard Blowhard Board"

All the bitters and ankle tendon biters could get together and really slam into those that stake a claim on the "not one bitter bone in my body" demographic. Itss really a good idea, Ill be the King...make you sure you serve my vodka warm and in a plastic bottle, k? Oh, and I like my ciggies and my women straight out of the gutter, gutter fried.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2006 11:44AM by Kraniac.

Big Daddy Cool Wrote:
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> how is this better than a PSP?


It has built in card reader for SD and CF cards for on the go field work for photographers.

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Join team 38910 folding! [folding.stanford.edu] multi cpu-[calxalot.homeip.net]

Sorry about the long delay in response time, but I have WORK to do today!

No, I'm NOT saying this is an 'iPod Killer' by any means, but if you want to view movies on a personal viewer, the P-2000 just kicks *ss compared to the iPod's tiny little screen. You have to see the P-2000 in person to appreciate how good the 3.8" 212ppi 264K colors LCD screen really is. It's just about unbelievable how good it is, that's how much I like it. Read about the P-2000 at DPReview.com if you don't believe me.

The P-2000 is the "Gold Standard" by which other multimedia viewers are measured. Mostly people/photographers use it as a tool for storing/viewing JPG and RAW photos that you download from a SD or CompactFlash card, directly into the P-2000's card reader slots. I've used mine for that purpose also, and although it's not the fastest downloader I've seen, the P-2000 does work as advertised.

The tutorial I gave on making movies for the P-2000 has been published now in three forums, the Forty-two DVD-VXPlus forum, MacUpdate.com, and now here. I'm hoping that other Epson P-2000 owners, who have been frustrated with making movies that work from a Mac perspective, will read it and be able to do what they couldn't get down. I tried many different formats, settings, and software packages before I arrived at the solution above, over a period of 2 weeks, finally getting it right.

The one key that I forgot to mention (stupid moi) about the whole Epson P-2000 movie making experience, is that the viewer has a 2GB file size limit on movies. If you import a movie that's larger than 2GB, the P-2000 won't play it, ie you'll get an error like "The movie XXX may not be of a file type that's supported, or it may be corrupt." And guess what happens, every time, if you use high-resolution settings in 42VX to encode a 640-pixel movie? Right, a 2-hour movie comes encoded larger than 2GB.

I've been in contact with Epson about the ridiculous movie file size limit, and have spoken with a senior tech support supervisor, and he agreed that the 2GB limit was unrealistic if you want to make high-definition movies. Epson has already addressed a file size limit on RAW and JPEG images with a firmware update, and I suggested that Epson address the small movie file size limit with a similar firmware update. I don't know if it will happen, but the supervisor said he would present the idea to the powers that be at Epson, as he thought I had made an important point about the P-2000.

QuickTime Pro is a strange piece of software, to wit: sometimes using it, as in my tutorial, will result in a *reduced* file size, while other times it results in a slighly increased file size. Mostly it reduces the file size of the movie, so that's a good thing.

And yes, it's a long, long time to spend, 10-12 hours with a fast G4 processor like my 1.8GHz DP (Giga Designs)/1.5GB RAM/Tiger 10.4.5/just to make one movie. But like I wrote, it's worth it. I swear by my tutorial. It just works. And I hope it helps other P-2000 owners with Macs make movies that they can enjoy as much as I do.

________________

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What's the difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make some sense.