Mv player/Video Converters

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These are converters to convert your videos to .mvpd

Windows

Option 1 - Supported encoder w/ tut

Another way to encode videos (This method works 100% , however it takes the longest)

If you are trying to encode .mp4 or .mpeg videos and the Python encoder or other methods didn't work for you here is an alternative:

1. You need to download the original movie pod encoder (mv_encoder) here.
2. You need to also install quick time pro, I use QuickTime Pro 7.

Note: The PRO version is not free, you must purchase it. When you purchase online you will receive a s/n.

3. When you have your s/n go to Edit->Preferences->Register and type in your serial number
4. Once it is registered you need to export your movie as bmp frames.

  • To do this go File->Open and choose your mp4 file.
  • If the movie is not 176x132 then you have to convert it first into the right resolution, otherwise skip to Step 6.
  • To export as a 176x132 movie go to File->Export.
  • Under Export: Option choose movie --> quicktime movie. Then click on Options-Size-Enter (for nano 176-width, 132-height).
  • After this, click on Sound Settings and choose the bitrate (44100) and the channels (I prefer mono to keep the file size small, smaller bitrates should also work, however I have not tried this).

5. After you have adjusted all of the above settings choose a folder where you will export your 176x132 .mov file and choose a name (ex. call it nano.mov)
6. Open Quicktime and then open your 176x132 video. Choose File-Export-Movie to image sequence, click on Settings->Options and chose best-depth and 10fps.
7. Click OK. You are now ready to export your movie as a .bmp image sequence required for mv_encoder. In the "save as" field type in *"nano1"*- VERY IMPORTANT- you must have put a 1 after the nano otherwise mv-encoder will not be able to distinguish between "nano00001 and nano10000,so just name save them with a prefix of nano1 (this will result in your files to be named nano10001, nano10002, nano 10003, which can be read by mv-encoder)
8. Almost finished... after video has finished exporting( this will take a while, it may freeze if the movie is longer than about 60 minutes, so you will need to split it if this is the case) , we must export the sound from the movie .Go to File->Export->Movie to wave sound. Choose 41000 and 1 or 2 channel. Click save and call it "nano.wav"
9. Make sure you have your wave file with your bmps and also mv_encoder.exe in the same folder. I place this folder into C:/Documents and Settings/username/nano

  • Now fire up cmd prompt (Start->Run->cmd), and type in: cd/nano (nano being the folder where you have all files necessary, that means the folder path is C://Documents and Settings/username/nano)
  • The display should now read- C:/Documents and Settings/yourname>nano
  • ( Make sure the mv-encoder.exe files is in the nano folder , with all the other .bmp files) Now type this into the command prompt: "mv_encoder" -s first frame number(first .bmp that you see) -e last frame number(last .bmp that you see) -f nano -o nano.mvpd -q 10(10-the default quality of the output video, for better quality but larger size you can use 20) -x 176 -y 132(176:132 resolution for nano) -m 100
  • example: "mv_encoder" -s 100001 -e 164501 -f hello -o hello.mvpd -q 10 -x 176 -y 132 -m 100
  • Hit enter and wait till it finishes converting. Do not press any key while converting. If all is successfull it should say Converting Frame 1000 Of 30000. This process may take a long time, depending on the size of the video and your cpu.


Option 2 - Python script

Thanks to fxb we have this easier encoder. You will also need:

Or try this, it should have everything included. If the above "everything included" pack doesn't work for you, you may want to download the new one. The download link is given on the tutorial page mentioned below...

Option 3 - MvEasy

Thanks to Romo97531 you can also try this which is like the python script but doesn't require that you install Python, mplayer/mencoder, SoX, or Python Imaging Library and it is in .EXE format. It supports the codecs:

  • MPEG-1 video
  • MPEG-2 video
  • MPEG-4
  • MSMPEG4 V1
  • MSMPEG4 V2
  • MSMPEG4 V3
  • WMV7
  • WMV8
  • H.261
  • H.263(+)
  • RealVideo 1.0
  • RealVideo 2.0
  • MJPEG
  • lossless MJPEG
  • JPEG-LS DV
  • HuffYUV
  • FFmpeg Video 1
  • FFmpeg Snow
  • Asus v1
  • Asus v2
  • Sorenson Video 1
  • FLV
  • ZLIB


The encoder discussion can be found here.

Option 4 - Smoovepod

Smoovepod is a Windows GUI that makes it extremely easy for Windows users to batch convert their video files. Drag, drop, click, done.
Smoovepod supports just about any codec you care to drop on it.
Download Smoovepod here.
Discuss it here.

Mac

Option 1 - Supported encoder w/ tut

Using quicktime pro 7. Open your video file (preferably an .mp4) then go window>show movie properties (or apple J), Then choose Video track and edit the size (uncheck preserve aspect ratio) to your ipod model (nano - 176 x 132, photo 220 x 176). Then go file>export choose to save it as "nano" in a folder (in this case called called "video") on your desktop. Export : movie to Image Sequence. Then click options:

  • Format: bmp
  • Frames Per Seccond: 10 (or higher if you wish)

then click ok. Once that has finished exporting go file>export then choose export : sound to wave click, options and choose:

  • Format" : Linear PCM
  • Channels : Mono
  • Rate : 44.100 kHz

then click ok. Name the wave "nano.wav" then click save.

Once that is done quit quicktime, you don't need to save changes.
^^^Note : you do not need to use Automater, simply save your images with a prefix 1, so that your first image is 10001 (depending on how many frames you have)^^^


Open up Automater (sadly only on Mac OS 10.4) and choose finder>Rename finder items and drag it to the workflow area. Choose 'don't add' when it asks. Then:

  • choose "Replace text"
  • in the find box type  : nano000 (add or subtract the number of zeros if you have more frames)
  • replace box : nano
  • then drag your files [nano0001 to nano0009] to the top of automater's workflow box and hit run. Once thats done, repeat exact same except you need to edit the number of zeros in the find box. ie. nano0001, nano0010, nano0100.

Once all files are remaned so they have no zeros inbetween "nano" and the number, then put the encoder in the "video" folder. Then open up terminal and type "cd" then drag the video foler to the terminal window and drop it there. Hit return. The terminal window should now say somwthing like this :

Last login: Tue Oct 17 10:31:34 on console
Welcome to Darwin!
John-Youngs-Computer:~ christopheryoung$ cd /Users/christopheryoung/Desktop/video/
John-Youngs-Computer:~/Desktop/video christopheryoung$

Then type ./mv_encoder -s 1 -e (number of bmps) -f nano -o nano.mvpd -q 10 -x 176 -y 132 (if you have a photo ipod it should be " -x 220 -y 176") -m 100 then hit return and the video will start converting.
Once converted, take the nano.mvpd file and put it in any folder on your ipod along with mv_player.
Reboot and enjoy!!!

Option 2 -Mac tut w/ MacMV

Since MacMV came out theres a much easier way to convert your videos, and with the mac preview encoder out you can customize your encoding. So lets start (this tutorial does not need automator and uses the preview "advanced" code) : First off open your video in quicktime (pro) and export it to your desired frame rate and desired audio settings. Once your video is done exporting run it through MacMV (this saves the hassle of deleting the zeros....) and let it extract the image sequences and .wav file, once it has done that force quit out of MacMV!!! Add the preview encoder to the folder also

Now here comes the easy part...kinda.... Open terminal and type 

cd (drag the file that has the bmps and wav in it)

Now here come the customization When MacMV exports the bmps the prefix is "movie" and so the code needs to be :

./mv_encoder -s 1 -e (number of bmps) -f movie -o nano.mvpd -q 2 -n --b_frame_dist 10 --size_importance 3 --quality_importance 1 --quality_cut 30 --size_cut 30 --stats

(note, this is jsut a example, but you HAVE to leave the code like that from everything behind "q 2". If you are do this the quicktime way, tutorials tell you to name the bmps "nano" but since we used MacMV the bmps are named "movie". This is what all the arguments mean in the code behind "q 2" (-s, -e, -f, -o)

-s [int] Number of the first frame to encode

-e [int] Number of the last frame to encode

-f [string] Prefix for the bitmap and wav file

-o [string] Name of the output file

Normally people post codes with "-f nano", if you use that in terminal with movie.bmp's terminal wont read it, so you have to change the code to -f movie. now its time to edit the arguments after "-n". Here are gaspodes recommendations/meanings:

--b_frame_dist: Anything between 8 and 16 should be reasonable fine. I normally just take the output fps

--size_importance / --quality_importance These are used in conjunction, so the ratio is more important than the actual values. (1 / 1) will give the same results as (3 / 3). I usually adjust the video quality with the -q switch. Therefore i want the smallest file for the given quality, so i use (3 / 1) or (5 / 1) If you want highest quality use (1 / 10).

--quality_cut If you want high quality you might want to set this to 10, i usually use 30 or 50 but 100 should still look okay.

--size_cut If your main goal is small file size, you would set this to 10 or 5, otherwise you could go up to 100 or more. I usually use 30 or 50.

I would also recommend converting a video or a set of videos (action, cartoon, soap, etc.) to a series of bmps, and then running the encoder multiple times with --stats enabled and comparing the actuall improvments in the resulting file size and quality. These options are mostly for finetuning.

example: ./mv_encoder -s 1 -e 10000 -f movie -o nano.mvpd -q 2 That should work well with most if you replace the 10000 with the number of bmps

NOTE: Almost all of the bolded/italic font are quotes of Gaspodes

well have fun!!!

Option 3 - MacMV

MacMV is the best choice for Mac users. You will need to export the video to the correct framerate before running it through the encoder, you can do this with quicktime pro or if you are ripping a DVD use handbrake. To downlaod get this you will also need iMagine Photo
For help/bugs see the forum.

MacMv now gives you the option to use the new preview encoder.

Linux

Option 1 - Supported encoder

  • For Linux it can be compiled from here.

Option 2 - MvpdMake

For linux and possibly others try out the MvpdMake app. This is a GNOME frontend to convert your videos to .mvpd easily using mplayer, mencoder, sox, Python Imaging Library, and mv_encoder.

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