GUIDES
3GP
CONVERT YOUR DVD MOVIES INTO A FILE TO PLAY ON YOUR CELL PHONE
TURN DVD INTO A 3gp PHONE MOVIE
Here's what you'll be doing:
Short version: Taking your DVD and getting the data onto your computer, then putting it into a file format playable by your phone.
Long version: What we're doing in the Tutorial is we will be taking the data from the DVD's using DVD Decryptor, and putting it onto your hard drive in a format recognized by your computer. The files (.vob) will be playable in certain programs, like Nero Showtime and VLC media player. However, the Zune itself can only read files with an extension of .wmv . The software that comes with the Zune will be able to transcode (change the file) into a .wmv file only if it is a .mp4 file or h.264 file. So the next step is to take the data from your DVD that is now on your hard drive (in the .vob format), and use the program Super to change it into a .mp4 file or a .wmv file.
Step 1: Getting the Necessary Programs
We'll be needing two programs for this - DVD Decrypter and Super - and both are free. DVD Decrypter will get the data off your DVDs, and Super will take the data and put it into a phone-playable file.
Step 2: Getting Everything Ready
Now install both programs - each comes with self-explanatory instructions.
Next, pop in the DVD. Close out any programs that might pop up to play the DVD, then start DVD Decrypter.
Step 3: Ripping the DVD
If you have more than one CD/DVD drive in your computer, you may have to change the source to the appropriate drive. The correct one should come up with a bunch of data on the right side of the screen as shown in the picture.
Next, change the mode from File mode to IFO mode. To do this go to "Mode" at the top of the screen, and choose IFO mode. Easy, huh?
Now, we need to select the video files to rip. On your right will be many different tracks you can choose from; these are the different video files on the DVD. If you have just one movie on it, then in almost all cases it will be the longest track (e.g. [01:30:43] would represent an hour-and-a-half movie). If you're not sure or have multiple movies you might want, you can try playing it in Windows Media Player to identify the track you want. In our example, we want the second track on the disc, so that is PGC 2.
Now that you have your track selected, the final tweaks can be made. Click on the little folder on the left side to choose where you want the file to go. Make note of where you are sending the file, so you can find it later.
The final thing to do is to change a setting in DVD Decrypter. Go to "Tools", then "Settings", then click on the "IFO Mode" tab. There will be an option for "File Splitting", and the default should be 1 GB. Change that to "None". This way we will have one file to work with rather than many.
Once it gets to 100%, CONGRATS! You just successfully took the data from your DVD and made a backup on your hard drive!
Step 4: Converting the Files
The next step is to convert the data you got from your DVD.
First, open up Super (it's a slow loading program, so don't worry if it doesn't come up right away), and open up Windows Explorer (by going to Start, then clicking on My Computer/My Documents). Now, remember where you sent your files? Head there, then go into the folder (NextGen2 in this example), then into Video_TS. In there should be 2 files, an .IFO file and a .VOB file. Drag and drop the .VOB file (it will be the largest file) onto Super.
NOTE! Currently Zune will not play .wmv video encoded by Super, because Super only encodes with mp3 audio - and Zune can only play .wmv with .wma audio). I would guess that in a month or so Super will be Zune compatible, but until then the only option is to create .mp4 files.
So, choose .mp4 for the first box. Next, choose H.264/AVC in the second box, and make sure that AAC is in the third box.
For the Video and Audio options, many things will depend on your opinion of Quantity vs Quality. First double click on your file in the job list, a window will come up with the details of your file. We'll start with video first.
For aspect ratio, chose either 320x240 or 640x480. The former is the same size as the Zune, the latter is in case you want better quality, for playback on a TV or something like that. Keep in mind the larger it is the more space your file will take up.
Next is the Frame rate, this is determined by the frame rate of the original video. Go to that little window I had you open up, and in there under Video should be the frame rate. Mine is 29.97 so that is what I'll choose; yours may vary.
The bit rate is next; DVD's often have really high bit rates. I recommend around 624 - it's what most videos on the web are at, and you won't notice much of a difference on the Zune's small screen.
My setup (yours will vary):
Audio options are next. In the window with all the information about your file, there should be something called "Sampling Rate". Mine is 48 KHz, so I will choose 48,000 in my audio area. You can choose anything, but lower than what it is will result in lower quality (lower file size as well though). If you choose something higher than what it is in the original file, it will be a larger file, but there will be no increase in quality. The same thing goes for the audio bitrates. Most of the time you probably won't notice a difference between bitrates, so I would go with 160.
The last thing to do is specify where you want the file to go. Right click on your file in the job list, and choose "Specify the Output Folder Destination". Then go to where you want it to be sent.
You're ready! Click "Encode" and it'll start going. Don't pay attention to that progress bar, though. It just loops around and around forever until you're done.
So, now that your file is converted to .mp4, it will sync to your Zune (after some conversion through the software) or do whatever you want with it.
You can also clean up the files from DVD decrypter - you can delete them or save them, but they take up a lot of space so I would recommend the former unless you want to do some more stuff with them.
Troubleshooting: Error messages may come up during the transcoding, it will usually be one of two things:
You have too many programs running at once, leaving little memory for Super to run on. If too many programs are running, the software just gives up on it and reports an error, most often this occurs when two things are converting (like the Zune software and Super).
It's a mistake made by Super. Occasionally Super will make a mistake and report an error about the file. If it's still encoding, don't push the error button to see what it's all about, because once you click cancel it'll quit the transcoding. Let it continue until the end, then just skip through the file in the Zune software to make sure the entire video was converted. Do the same thing if you notice an error when it's done transcoding.
Using SUPER Encoder for a Display : 2.4” 320x240 65K TFT
VIDEO SETTINGS
- OUTPUT CONTAINER:3gp (Sony Ericsson)
- OUTPUT VIDEO CODEC:MPEG-4
- OUTPUT AUDIO CODEC:AAC
- 320X240
- 16X9
- 15FPS TO 29.97
- 144 VIDEO BITRATE
- NOTE: I FOUND THE USING THE EXACT SAME FRAMERATE WILL PLAY THE MOVIE SMOOTHEST.
AUDIO
- AUDIO SAMPLING:22050
- CHANNELS:1
- BITRATE kbps:48