Re-encoding TV video/audio for playback on the Flip Ultra
Hello everyone, first post, glad I found this forum. I have a Flip Video Ultra Series model: F230W camcorder. I would like to encode some TV programs and upload them to the Flip for viewing on the LCD, and also watching them using the Flips video\audio output cable to a TV. I am able to somewhat achieve this, but the video has some big blocks when watching on the TV from the Flip. I’m doing the re-encoding using VirtualDub, and using the XviD codec for the video compression, and the audio is compressed using IMA ADPCM 4 Bit Mono. I have tried every variation of settings when configuring the XviD codec but I’ve yet to achieve quality playback on the Flip. The re-encoded videos look fine with no blocking when playing them back on the computer using VLC Media Player though. Has anyone been successful in re-encoding external audio/video files and having them playback looking as good as the video/audio the Flip itself takes?

I managed to get a fairly decent video playing on the cvs cam using the download in this thread and a script I posted on there that lets you play with various settings. You'll have to play around with it to see what works for you. http://camerahacks.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1463&highlight= The link to the encoder appeared to be down so I reuploaded the file at the end of the thread, but you should read the thread too.

Thanks for replying bando, and also thanks to startreker for the original script. A few days ago I did try your script, it is modified well for an cvs cam, but does not have the necessary parameters needed for the Flip Ultra Cam. One of the big differences between the two cams is the audio the Flip records with. It uses 1 channel mono Microsoft ADPCM 4 bits, 176.4 Kbps, sampled at 44.1 KHz. I tried editing the audio/video clip output by mencoder & your script in various audio/video editors but the editors would not load the file. Below is a report made using MediaInfo that shows what the Flip Ultra specifications are for a video/audio clip the Flip itself records: General #0 Complete name : I:\Temp Edit\Mar 08 2008 - VID00001.AVI Format : AVI Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave Format/Family : RIFF File size : 16.0 MiB PlayTime : 36s 751ms Bit rate : 3659 Kbps StreamSize : 45.3 KiB Video #0 Codec : XviD Codec/Family : MPEG-4V Codec/Info : XviD project Codec profile : Streaming Video Profile/Level 1 Codec settings, Packet bitst : No Codec settings, BVOP : Yes Codec settings, QPel : No Codec settings, GMC : 0 Codec settings, Matrix : Default PlayTime : 36s 733ms Bit rate : 3473 Kbps Width : 640 pixels Height : 480 pixels Display Aspect ratio : 4/3 Frame rate : 30.000 fps Resolution : 8 bits Chroma : 4:2:0 Interlacement : Progressive Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.377 StreamSize : 15.2 MiB Writing library : Zoran Audio #0 Codec : ADPCM Codec/Family : ADPCM Codec/Info : Microsoft ADPCM Codec settings : Microsoft Codec settings, Firm : Microsoft PlayTime : 36s 751ms Bit rate : 176.4 Kbps Channel(s) : 1 channel Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz Resolution : 4 bits StreamSize : 796 KiB You can see that the video Resolution is 8 Bits, and your script/mencoder produces video at 24 Bits. The Flip Ultra is very strict as to having all the settings being the same, or it shows “Video Not Playable” when you go to play the transferred video clip on the Flip itself. If you (or anyone else) have the time & interest in producing another script that meets the Flips requirements I, and others with the Flip Ultra would appreciate your efforts. Of course I will understand if you do not wish to do so, being that you probably don’t even own a Flip Ultra. By the way I was able to purchase 2 of these 30 minute cams new for $50 each. They were both missing the TV audio/video output cables, but I was able to modify one from a standard cam cable. These cams appear to me to be pure digitals successor to the cvs cam, as they have better specs, like 640x480 video resolution, and record the video at a higher bitrate. The higher bitrate must be VBR because I am able to record an hour and a half of video/audio on the 30 minute cam if the cam is recording a low motion subject from a stationary position. It would be great to be able to use it as a Portable Media Player with uploaded TV, and other video clips, and play them back on a TV at a friends place.

I downloaded mediainfo and opened a file, but I can't find anything about a bit resolution in there. Can you upload a short sample video shot with the flip. I'd like to study it. I also cannot find any info on setting bit resolution in mencoder. EDIT: ok I found it in the command line version, was using the GUI Have you tried converting with SUPER? A video I converted came out with an 8bit resolution

I am able to get 8 bits with VirtualDub and all of the other specs correctly. I was just thinking that maybe mencoder and a modified script would be the key to getting rid of the large blocks and artifacts that I’m seeing when playing the uploaded video clip and watching it on a TV connected to the Flip.