installing movies

[oneillmark2003]

Hi everyone,

Sorry posted this in wrong place before. Now where it should be

I have just purchased a scroll excel for my kids to watch movies on long flights and car journeys.

I was wondering because they have so many Disney DVDs is it possible to burn the DVD movies onto my desktop and then transfer onto a micro SD card or direct to the scroll or other storage device that can then be loaded onto the excel?

Also does it need to be any special format, if so which format and how would I convert the movie into this format?

Thank you in advance

Mark

[Edmundblackadder]

The simple answer is yes because I am doing the same. The thread link here, viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2242 , gives some good information towards the end of the thread on how to do this. There are a number of bits of software out there such as Handbrake, DVDFAb etc. Some will need an extra gizmo to remove the software protection on the DVD but some do it straight off.

Once the DVD is ripped onto your computer you then simply drag it/copy it onto your sd card and pop it into the device. I would recommend putting them on the SD card as that has more space, will not slow the device and is easier to amend via an SD card adaptor in your computer.

I find each film is around 550-650mb, mainly because Disney do films at around 90 minutes long. I did Tangled the other day and that was around the 550mb mark. I did the second Lord of the Rings film and that was 1.2Gb.

I save them in MP4 format, most including Handbrake actually gives you the device name to save them in, eg Ipad, Android etc so it is not as difficult as it could be. Bear in mind it take anywhere between 3-5 hours to rip a DVD which is quite a shock when you have been used to cds taking 5-10 minutes.

I have found it great for this, I have just used it for a train trip from Newcastle to Paris and back this weekend and it was ideal.

[oneillmark2003]

Thank you for your reply. I have just tried DVDFab HD decrypter and ripped two DVDs into AVI format and both took and half an hour each to rip to my laptop hard drive, ready to transfer onto 8GB micro SD cards.
How to train your dragon file is 1.02GB and Tinker Bell the lost treasure 0.99GB, forgot my SD card adapter so will have to transfer them tonight and see if they work.

My results look at odds with yours. Could it be because mine are in AVI and yours are MP4?

[Edmundblackadder]

DVDFab does seem to do it very quickly, is simple and gives a good quality picture. I used to have a version with the passkey and it was perfect but they did an upgrade recently that meant mine no longer worked. The free version leaves a watermark which you can get rid of, I think by converting again, but it all became a bit too techie for me. I suspect I may end up just buying the new version but I have become used to open source software so paying for some hurts.

The size of file does vary with format you save into. I have found that MP4 gives a perfect picture for the Scroll Excell so I tend to use that. Others use stronger formats as they can then hook them up to their tv's and the better quality is needed at that point. I don't intend to do that so I stick with MP4. If AVI works for you then stick with it. I think computer software is a little like a strike partnership in football, if you find a formula that works for you then don't mess about, stick with it.

I was smiling at the two films you ripped. My daughter is 9 so I know those films well. It is amazing how at 42 I have become an expert critic in animated/kids films. We watched Up and Yogi going down to Paris and Tangled coming the other way, we were too tired for a second film. How your life changes..........

[oneillmark2003]

Nipped home for the card reader at dinner to transfer onto micro sd card, but laptop only recognising reader as a device and not as a mass removeable storage device, so I am unable to transfer them.
Tried via a usb pen drive and plug into scroll with adapter cable and movies work, but with a 6 and 4 year old I don't think having a cable dangling on the outside is a good idea.
Anyone got any ideas why the laptop is not recognising the card reader as a mass removeable storage devices?

[Charlie]

,<nip>
Anyone got any ideas why the laptop is not recognising the card reader as a mass removeable storage devices?

Could be a bad card reader, issue with the laptop, issue with the card? Not sure TBH

[Trashcooky]

,<nip>
Anyone got any ideas why the laptop is not recognising the card reader as a mass removeable storage devices?

Could be a bad card reader, issue with the laptop, issue with the card? Not sure TBH

A few point s here @oneillmark:
1. If your sd card is sdhc and you have an older PC then you will need a dedicated sdhc card reader.
2.The Scroll will not recognise your sd card if you have formatted in NTFS. It will recognise FAT32 OK though.
3.The size of the finished film depends on the amount of compression applied during the conversion process.

Usually (but not always) larger film files tend to be better quality. AVI is not a film format in itself, it is a film container and the container not only holds the film but the necesaary code to unpack it. Your apparently larger films can be made smaller and still be in AVI format if they are compressed more. However, this will reduce final quality, but on a small screen like the Excel, you may not notice it.

Whatever package you are using to rip your DVD's will almost certainly have a menu in its options somewhere for you to choose the level of compression you want. There is also a reverse side to this, although a more highly compressed file will be smaller, it will take longer to create. So the world is your oyster on this one. If it looks OK to you, then it is OK. Personally I use H264 standard which I find gives very good quality but does result in larger files.

I am confident, that if you overcompress a file, that whilst it may still function on your PC apparently OK, it will give your Excel processor a caning when trying to unpack it for you to watch - which will result in poor performace, or in extreme cases refuse to play at all.

[Mitre]

once again trashcooky a very informative post i know its a bit of a cheek but could you take the time to make a HOW TO in a new thread on this subject dont go into all the variables just your way, others will no doubt interject with their opinions but thats cool you dont have to do it or answer this post mate but it would be good
no ETA needed if you do it

[Slipstreem]

@Trashcooky: The custom H264 profile I created for use with MediaCoder given in the other thread referenced above pushes the Essential as far as it will comfortably go and produces results far superior to those achievable with a Handbrake default profile. Maybe you could try it out and let others know if the same files play nicely on an Excel?

I'll be writing a step-by-step guide shortly, so your feedback would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Slipstreem.

[Trashcooky]

once again trashcooky a very informative post i know its a bit of a cheek but could you take the time to make a HOW TO in a new thread on this subject dont go into all the variables just your way, others will no doubt interject with their opinions but thats cool you dont have to do it or answer this post mate but it would be good
no ETA needed if you do it

Thanks for the request Mitre, I'd be glad to do a how to, just never had the confidence - thanks for the push.
Going away for a stay with friends in Ipswich then onto Norwich to see relatives so it may be a week or so but I will get around to it.

Update: Posted How To here viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2343
(still here till the weekend.)