New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Hi all,

I've added a video encoding guide to the wiki specifically for the N900. It describes using Handbrake and also goes into the details of the various hardware and software limitations and the consequences of them.

You can see it here.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Looks really nice, thank you.

But I think that some of the article doesn't meet the wiki standards, in example you write in a sentence "I didn't nailed it down." where in wiki there shouldn't be any "I", especially because the poster is unknown and the article should be written by many users.

Also, "The two codecs that most people will consider" in wiki there shouldn't any "most", its called weasle words.

I'm editing it a bit now, but there are more sentences to be changed for the article to meet the standards, but I'm not that good with English.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

FYI,
There is some problems with current release of 0.9.4 handbrake with transcoding and downmixing 48 khz source audio to N900. Problems occurs on both 48 -> 48 stereo and 48 -> 44.1 stereo . This can be tested with trailers from Apple. Sound gets really slow.

If someone knows quick and easy fix for this which can be used with handbrake please share your information.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

i've done a lot of 48->48 dvd conversions without seeing this problem. might be a build specific problem. I compiled my own handbrake for linux (32bit)

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Perhaps add a short paragraph or a sentence about DVD Decrypter with this link included

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

I see. The Apple trailers are 6 channel AAC - I guess Handbrake can't wrap it's head around those.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Philipl, might want to modify the wiki to specify that preset only works for Mac/Linux for the moment. I have two windows users say it's not working for them

I am over in this thread trying to help them get settings that work.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Wow. Windows Handbrake is a disaster - doesn't import correctly and doesn't even open media files reliably.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

i have been using the free converter PSP Video 9 since ages, only for pc and mac though.
converts to more or less all known formats to smaller file sizes and custom screen sizes.

most users dont experience any problem, but if you do just have a look on the forum they have (read first) section.

I might be able to post some settings as soon as I put my computer back in one piece.

Thank god for the N900 meanwhile.

Just google "free movie converter" if you dont this one.
There are tons of them, some good some bad.

Or if your desperate/ crazy and want to go for a fullblown media solution that will take over your computer buy NERO :p

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Hmm. It worked for me. Win xp sp3. Transcoded trailer from apple page. Only thing i had to change was resolution but that was expected as you described in wiki. Only problem is multichannel 48khz downmix to stereo. I can see video but sound is slowed down.

Eventually i did demux sound with winff and muxed it back and encoded video with avidemux. Works fine now, but too much work :|

.edit
fatalsaints preset didn´t work for me but preset what you provided did work.

..edit
And problem concerning Handbrake and multichannel aac downmixing:
http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic....w+audio#p68312

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

The article should probably be merged with the existing http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding (also note the capitalisation standard for titles in our wiki).

I don't think the differences are so large that the wiki needs two pages on it :-)

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

thanks so much! my recent hanbrake encodes gave me mixed results.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

I'm going to write a 'dummies' guide for people who just want to 'make it work' and I'll link off your page, if that's ok. I'm currently gathering some screenshots.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Im waiting for my phone, 3 day shipping is taking 7 days :( but when I get it I may add some extra stuff to the wiki.

handbrake is a pretty good program but I know a lot of other programs to encode with the one I like most is MeGUI it has presets as well, and we can easily share a preset that is perfect for the N900. Though I suspect the ipod touch/phone preset is almost a perfect place to start.

Shame its only basic 3.0 support I expected better out of the N900, but as long as its lag free with no sync issues like my Sony W760 has I wont complain.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Ok folkd, a very VERY basic guide is now up here

http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_Encoding_Basic_Guide

Improve it, change it, edit it... and if it works, please could it be linked from the informational page.
:)

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

I tried merging them:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding

Please tell me what you think. I think it looks logical, one subject for N900, another for the older devices (could write that one better), and the streaming and the manual encoding also as a different topic as they apply to both.

If you really don't like it revert/improve but if you do then the N900 video encoding should be redirecting to that page.

p.s - What is the capitalisation standard? Every letter capital?(except "to", etc)

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

There are two things which people should be interested in:

1. What tools can I use for my N900, N8x0 and 770 for various OSes to transcode video/rip DVDs?
2. What are the limits of the device if I'm doing it myself manually?

I think the separation between N900 and "older devices" is a little artifiicial as most of the information is common to both; the only difference is in the maximum qualities supported.

Wiki page names are initial capital, rest lower case. For example:

• Video encoding - consistent
• N900 Video Encoding - inconsistent (if nothing else, should be N900 video encoding)
• Video Encoding Basic Guide - inconsistent (if nothing else, should be Video encoding basic guide)

However, the intention of http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding was always the "basic guide". People who want a detailed walk through of all the options of a specific tool are best dealt with with a sub-page.

Suggested organisation:

• Video encoding - overview of tools for quick easy-to-use tools which support all tablet versions (tablet-encode, ITVC, Media Converter, Handbrake (with preset)); and mention of maximum recommended resolutions/bitrates.
• Video encoding/Manual - how to manually use mencoder/Handbrake/ffmpeg/other random tool. Details the limitations (codecs, resolutions, bitrates etc.)
• Video encoding/Handbrake_on_Windows - detailed step-by-step instructions for very inexperienced users who can't extrapolate from the overview.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

^Great. By all means edit and rename accordingly. :)

(I have problems with wiki capitalisation: if you search for 'user faq' you get no result - you have to search for 'user FAQ' which bugs me every time. :p)

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

I'm not convinced that an un-separated guide is helpful (I have no problem with a single page but honestly, pages are cheap so a landing page that links to N900 and pre-N900 guides makes the most sense to me).

The considerations are so different between N900 and pre-N900 that you'd end up with every section having two parts. Even the choice of encoding software isn't clear - Handbrake is a good fit for the N900 but as the newest version has only very basic xvid support, it's unlikely to be the right choice for the older models.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Oh, and on the subject of 5.1 AAC downmix, there's another handbrake thread with a patch:

http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14084

and a blog post regarding this in ffmpeg:

http://muzso.hu/2009/02/25/downsampl...ls-with-ffmpeg

However, you've got to patch and build your own Handbrake in either case

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

I tried merging again, next step could be to arrange it like Jaffa said.

Check it out:http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding

Tell me what you think.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Pages are cheap to create but expensive to maintain. How is a user to know the page they've found is the maintained up-to-date one?

As someone who's been playing with video encoding for Maemo since the 770 came out, the considerations are honestly not that different. Diablo/Fremantle provide more support for H.264, but MPEG 4 video/MP3 audio in an AVI container (with a "DIVX" FOURCC for 770 compatibility), i.e. DivX/Xvid, is the best bet across all Maemo versions.

The biggest changes are resolutions and bitrates which are the highest you can reasonably push to. A simple table is enough for that.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

In the Handbrake section, I think the so called "N900 Optimized Handbrake Preset" and the "2. Quick step-by-step to convert DVD to MP4 (H264+AAC)" need some more testing/verification that they are indeed optimal before graduating to Wiki status.

Both use the anamorphic setting, yet further down the Wiki it says that the N900 default media player doesn't support anamorphic and that you must encode your video with square pixels. Either I am missing something here, or someone is wrong ????

I tried the N900 Optimized Handbrake Preset on S1 Ep1 of IT Crowd (PAL DVD source) and got a pillar-boxed picture that, to my eyes, still looked distorted (stretched vertically).

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

why do all .plist files refer to http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd?

is this necessary? my computer i use for transcoding is not on the web and so i had to reference that file thru a local path, but handbrake is giving me some weird cs errors ive never seen before when im trying to rip so im wondering if lack of web connectivity is the problem.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Me being pedant I am sure but FAQ is an abbreviation and therefore correct to be capitialised in normal English.

Re: New N900 video encoding guide added to wiki
 

Indeed it is. But by and large one avoids using unnecessary capitals on the internet.

I think both should direct to the page for ease of use, as pedantic as you wish to be. :)