Video HOW-TOs
From PSPWiki
There are a variety of solutions to get video from your TV screen (or computer monitor) and onto your PSP™. The Memory Stick video player has the same limitations as the Sony Cli�, namely:
Video Limitation
Resolution: 320 x 240 (QVGA)
- Nonstandard Resolution are now supported by ffmpegx 0.0.9t.
Codec: MPEG-4 SP (Simple Profile), which has different headers than the more common MPEG-4 formats. As such, many programs that export to MPEG-4 create files that the PSP™ won't play.
Audio Limitation
Codec: AAC
Sampling Rate: 24000hz only
Bitrate Limitation
1-768kb/s & 1500kb/s. Any combination of video and audio bitrate that is equal to or less than 768kb/s is acceptable (i.e. 640kb/s video + 128kb/s audio = 768kb/s total, or 300kb/s video + 32kb/s audio = 332kb/s total) The bitrate you select will directly impact both the quality and the file size of your video. The PSP™ also supports a bitrate of 1500kb/s, but no bitrates inbetween 768kb/s and 1500kb/s.
| Table of contents |
Memory Stick
Movies on a Memory Stick will only be selectable if they observe the following file structure:
\MP_ROOT\100MNV01\M4Vxxxxx.MP4
Where "MP_ROOT" resides in the root directory of the Memory Stick, and 100MNV01 is a directory contained within. All video files must observe the M4Vxxxxx.MP4 naming convention, where "x" can be any digit from 0-9, such as M4V09844.MP4.
A thumbnail file can optionally be included, and will give a visual indication of the video's contents, as well as include any custom title. It must share the filename of the video it belongs to, but ends in a .THM extension instead of .MP4.
How To Encode Video for the PSP (Windows)
Encoding video for the PSP in Windows can be found here (PSPCrazy.com) (http://www.pspcrazy.com/dvdtomp4.html).
How To Encode Video for the PSP (Macintosh)
From a DVD
- Required Tools
There are two workflows. The VOB Workflow has you toying around with fewer files, but many times can lead to having commentary audio or video improperly used in the final video for the PSP. To ensure that you only extract the main video track, and the audio track that you want, use the Stream Workflow. Yade X (http://www.macetvideo.com/dl_center/dl_center.html) is recommended over other DVD extractors as it merges the VOB files into a single file during extraction, saving a step and tons of time.
Stream Workflow - Mac
Extract Streams
- Insert a DVD and start Yade X (http://www.macetvideo.com/dl_center/dl_center.html)
- Select the track for the main title. On most DVDs, the filesize listed next to the track is a dead giveaway, but if it's not, use the preview found at the bottom of the window to check its contents.
- Choose "File / Save Streams..." (⌘R), and select a folder to save the files to. This will save each video, audio, and subtitle file associated with that track as seperate files to that folder.
Encode Video
- Drag and drop your source video file into the "From" area under 'Source format' on the left in ffmpegX's "Summary" tab.
- In the "Audio" tab, click "Add audio..." and select the correct audio file for the track desired. On most DVDs, this will be t#-00-en.ac3, indicating the track number, 00 for the primary audio stream, "en" for English, and encoded with AC3.
- Go back to the "Summary" tab and choose PSP from the "To" dropdown menu under 'Target format' on the right.
- If desired, adjust the bitrate for the video and audio under the respective tabs. Take care to not change other settings, or your video will be unplayable by the PSP video player.Optional: you may choose a different resolution to acheive higher quality video from 16:9 and 2.35:1 aspect ratio films. See Nonstandard Resolution Instructions
- On the "Options" tab you may specify the name/text to be associated with your video when displayed in the PSP menu.
- Click "Encode". The progress may go beyond 100%; just let it go until it displays "Finished".
 ffmpegX 'Summary' tab |
 ffmpegX 'Audio' tab |
 ffmpegX 'Options' tab |
VOB Workflow - Mac
(Not recommended, as encoding from a multiplexed VOB to the PSP's video format can often cause problems. Optimal results are obtained using the Stream Workflow)
Extract VOB Files
Encode Video
- Drag and drop your source VOB file into the "From" area under 'Source format' on the left in ffmpegX's "Summary" tab.
- Choose PSP from the To dropdown menu under 'Target format' on the right.
- If desired, adjust the bitrate for the video and audio under the respective tabs. Take care to not change other settings, or your video will be unplayable by the PSP video player.
- On the "Options" tab you may specify the name/text to be associated with your video when displayed in the PSP menu.
- Click "Encode". The progress may go beyond 100%; just let it go until it displays "Finished".
ffmpegX 'Summary' tab |
ffmpegX 'Options' tab |
From Video Files
Required Tools: ffmpegX (http://homepage.mac.com/major4/download.html) 0.0.9t or greater
- Drag and drop your source video file into the "From" area under 'Source format' on the left in ffmpegX's "Summary" tab.
- Choose PSP from the To dropdown menu under 'Target format' on the right.
- If desired, adjust the bitrate for the video and audio under the respective tabs. Take care to not change other settings, or your video will be unplayable by the PSP video player.
- On the "Options" tab you may specify the name/text to be associated with your video when displayed in the PSP menu.
- Click "Encode". The progress may go beyond 100%; just let it go until it displays "Finished".
ffmpegX 'Summary' tab |
ffmpegX 'Options' tab |
Nonstandard Resolution Instructions
Required Tools: ffmpegx 0.0.9t or greater (Mac)
Any pixel resolution divisible by 16, and fitting within the confines of the native 76,800 pixel resolution of the PSP is playable, by patching the file's headers to report its size as compliant when it is not. The PSP takes the file's word for it, so to speak, and plays it. This allows you to waste less pixel bandwidth on black letterbox areas in 1.78:1 (16:9) and 2.35:1 aspect ratio films, allowing them to play full screen at the proper aspect ratio. The best compromise of quality, file size, and compatibility appears to be 368x208 pixels.
Follow the directions above that pertain to the workflow you chose. Before encoding, but after selecting the PSP Preset, change the resolution in the Video tab of ffmpegX to 368 x 208 pixels. If you are working with 2.35:1 source media, you are done, and can encode, or alter the bitrate as desired. If you are working with 1.78:1 source media, go to the Filters tab, and crop the top and bottom by 38 pixels (values 38, 38, 0, and 0). You can double check the cropping by hitting the Preview button. A movie window will pop up with a white rectangle indicating the cropped region. It is important to only crop 1.78:1 source video, as 2.35:1 needs the small bit of black bars in order to not be stretched vertically when playing fullscreen on your PSP. Now you are ready to return to your other options and/or encode.
Further processing used to be required for "widescreen" video. This is no longer required with ffmpegx 0.0.9t.
