Branching off the psp video thread

What are other fellow mac heads using to encode video for their psp? I've been trying to use ffmpegx for a week now and all it does is give me movies with bit rates too high to play on the psp even though I'm using the psp pre-set. I checked the 2nd pass to fix an audio sync issue I was having, but I still can't get them to play on the damn thing. Am I missing something here?

No, you are not.

I too have been having this same damn problem.

I can put pretty much anything on my ipod video and it plays it. The PSP is rediculously tempremental when it comes to file types and encoding perameters.

I am trying something now that might give some results.

By the way -don't bother with iPSP, it is a bucket of crap, and it costs money to boot.

Blue Mary Mania 8 said:

By the way -don't bother with iPSP, it is a bucket of crap, and it costs money to boot.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. Let me know how you make out, I don't feel like throwing my power mac across the room, it just wouldn't go very far LOL.

Well, it's good you have a power mac, because this worked, but it takes two lengthly encoding processes.

Step 1, turn your dvd or source into a standard MPEG, using Handbrake. Download Handbrake, it's free, and it works really well for encoding ipod video. Anyway, the settings in Handbrake...

Pick longest track on record
File format->MP4
Codecs-> MPEG-4 Video/AAC Audio

Average bitrate->1000
check 2 pass encoding

Keep pictrue settings to whatever they are, but scale it down and make a note at what the resolution needs to be for the psp (in next step), for example:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkiban is widescreen and defaults to 720x304, when scaled down to a width of 368 (max width of psp) the result is 368x160. I need to know what the size is for the next step.

Anyway, when all set up, go ahead and rip the MPEG-4.

Do something for about 2 hours.

Now, the next encode step occurs in ffmpegx...

Open the new file you made.

In target format use the psp setting.
In video chnage bitrate to 450.
In video parameters change the video size to the size you noted from handbrake, so for the movie I just encoded, it would be 368x160.
In audio change the audio bitrate setting to 128.

Then hit encode. Go do something for another hour.

Put the new file on your psp in 100MNV01 folder.

It works! And is free!

The resulting file was a little over 550MB, and it is a 2hr 16min movie.

Consequently, I will say that ipod video is superior to psp video. The max bitrate for the psp is 450, the ipod can handle 750, there is a visable difference. In black areas and in transistions, quick movement, the quality loss is clearly seen. Not to say it doesn't rock, because it does!

I am also going to try a slightly different approach to get the video quality a bit better...

Stay tuned.

I did it this way as well and it turned out OK. I just got the wrong version of the video I was using, meaning it went through the whole process giving me the bonus materials inserted in the video. You know that option where you can "insert" deleted scenes during movie playback?

Ok, I'll try it again using handbrake (I was using MacTheRipper before) on those settings. I'll let you know how I make out after I get back from work.

You are the man btw.

Okay, I am currently attempting to re-encode this movie at higher screen dimensions, I think, as long as the number of pixels is below 76,800, it will work on the psp.

So in my example, my movie's native resolution was 720x304, and if I scale it down to 432x176, do some math, that is 76,032 pixels, that is the best resolution I can do. It will improve image quality as it will basically fill up the psp screen proportionally, and probably make my file a little bigger (but I am sure my 2 gig stick is fine with that). I'll find out in about an hour or so.

Also, ffmpegx has a nice feature where it will let you know a good bitrate, in this example it claims that 450 is too low (text becomes red), so I am going to bump it to 550 (text becomes green). Now, I was told the psp can't handle that bitrate (anything over 450), but "whatever, big whoop, you wanna fight about it?"

I will let you guys know if it works.

Also, important! I am using software 2.6, which may make a difference.

Alright! It worked. Big improvement. It made my file size increase from 558MB to 611MB. Worth every byte. So don't believe what the faqs are saying, the psp CAN handle more bitrate than 450. The only issue is the pixel dimensions!

So yes, this works. Mac/PSP users rejoice, you can encode video for free.
The Handbrake/ffmpegx method is a working solution!

On a side note, I think UMD movies are a total rip off. If I bought a legit DVD copy of a movie, I should be entitled to re-encode it for whatever device I choose. I just think that making me buy a dvd copy and a umd copy is just criminal.

This is much better, debateably better video quality and uses less of the battery to boot!

OK, I finally got it working. Thank you so much, and like you said, it's a damn good thing I'm using a powermac for this. I get my eps of ATHF ripped and converted within 5 minutes each. Now I can finally catch up on all these dvds I have...

It will take quite a bit longer if you are ripping/encoding a 2hr+ movie.

My Powerbook does the job, but, it does take a while...
for the Harry Potter movie above, it took 4 hours to rip the full size MPEG, then another hour to encode the PSP MPEG.

Cripes...

Luckily I have access to a Powermac at work, so I will do the first step there, cut that time in half, then encode to PSP from the Powerbook.

It's work, but the video looks great on the PSP!