The higher quality setting you use = the longer the processing will take. One thing I noticed (running Catalyst on three very different machines at the moment) is that if you find your CPU usage/% (as shown on the Catalyst window) not at 100% and your DVD drive light is steadily lit - then your DVD drive is holding you back. Get a faster drive. The reverse indicates your CPU is holding you back (ie. CPU % is < 100% and DVD is lit only sporadically). Ideally, it should blink a nice 4/4 pace with your CPU at 100% - ie. system is running optimally.
DroidForums.net | Android Forum & News
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
DVD Catalyst
- Thread starter daddyd302
- Start date
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
Quick question...I've tried the trial version and really like it. Problem is I tried it on my work laptop (at home, not during work) It's a pretty decent core2duo machine. My home computer however is a older Celeron processor. I understand that this will make the process slower, but will it also have an impact on the quality? I'm not really suppose to have commercial software on my laptop unless the license it owned by my company so if I buy it I will need it on my home computer. Time doesn't matter since it's an always on machine that is used only to keep skype working and a photo show for my daughter
Thanks
Thats correct, speed of the computer will not affect quality.
In another post I promised I would write up something today in regards of quality, but I've been swamped. I did write some, but its not finished yet.
I did gave some tips to speed things up a bit, with little impact on quality. I will link that here.
Just an added note for anyone who is just starting with video on their Droid.
The quality of the video entirely depends on you.
Some people want the best possible quality, and use the maximum settings the Droid can handle (1500kbps for video), regardless on how big the video file is, while other people are perfectly happy with a good looking video thats less than half the filesize.
The quality also depends on your own needs. If you take your Droid on a trip, would you rather have 4 movies that are perfect, or 20 movies that are perfectly watchable.
Of course you can mix and match, put a super-quality movie on there to show off to your friends, and fill the rest up with a couple of seasons of your favorite TV show. I believe the Droid comes with 32GB of memory, I can fit 10 seasons of Friends and 6 seasons of 2 1/2 Men (total about 120 hours of video) on that in a good enough quality that its enjoyable to watch. Not perfect, but still good enough for me to watch. While for some people the quality might not be sufficient, but it all depends on your own idea of quality.
There are very few people who can tell the difference between 1000kbps and 1500kbps. There is a difference, but for me it's only noticable when I view the files on a big screen, such as a laptop. On a device such as the Droid, you have to look really close to see. The difference in filesize is about 33%, so if the 1500kbps file is 1.5GB, the 1000kbps file is 1GB. On the 32GB memory of the Droid, this basically means that you can fit 20 1500kbps movies, or 32 (12 more !) 1GB movies on it, with only a small difference. If you are comfortable with a little less quality, 800kbps will gain you another 3 movies or so.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is, find your own sweet spot of quality. Because a device can handle a certain quality setting, it does not mean you actually have to use that, you can use less, and put on more movies
Play around with a few different settings, (use the same movie to compare it though) and find your own setting.
install the (free) boosterpack, it will speed things up. In addition, you can turn off the CPU indicators, which will gain you even more speed (global settings > advanced)
Still can't get it to convert multiple devices. No matter what the added device always defaults to the original device and will appear as Droid 02 or 3gs 02 and I cannot manipulate the settings on the second device. I have tried deleting all my profiles and starting from scratch, but no luck. I did however love being able to select multiple files to be converted since I made about 20 movies for my droid I was able to select all 20 mp4s and convert them to settings that better suit the Eris. The sound was a little off and did not match exactly. Any ideas how to remedy that or was it just because I took an already converted file and converted it again? Thanks
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
Use the following steps.
1. Start DVD Catalyst, rightclick somewhere, select Help > Reset DVD Catalyst
2. After DVD Catalyst restarts itself, select your first device using the dropdowns, and click "Modify" change the settings the way you want them
3. At the bottom right, click on Add Device.
4. Change the device to your other device, and change the settings the way you want. the dropdown on the right that shows 01 xxx, 02 xxx does not always update when you change the device on the left, but if you save the profile and restart DVD Catalyst, it will be displayed correctly.
Important note, if you save the profile and make changes to the profile, they will be used for that conversion session, however, unless you save these changes, the saved profile will not be modified, so the next time you start DVD Catalyst it will load the originally saved profile.
You can also just drag your files and folders onto dvdcat. It will filter out what it can handle, and ignore things like pictures and documents. It will look for files in subfolders as well. So if you have a movie folder with a bunch of group folders in there, just drag the movie folder, and it will all be sorted out.
Your sync problem could be due to the re-conversion. When you play the re-converted files on your computer, do they have the same problem? If not, it's the likely quality setting you used
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
Sure, on the touch screen we have those four buttons. Back, Menu, Home, Find. When I play a video on the Droid it sure would be nice to turn the lights off on these buttons. I know you developed the app for converting DVDs but if you have the resources may be you can make an app that would turn these lights off when a video is playing. My previous post sounds confusing - sorry about that (I sent it to both Act 1 video and you)
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
Ah, that explains a bit better.
Unfortunately, I can not offer much help in that area, since my app runs on Windows and not on the device itself (would be cool to convert video directly on the Droid, but don't think it would be useful
)So, I guess Act1 would be your best chance. I'm pretty sure that if there is a way to turn off those lights in code, they will find a way.
There is one suggestions I can offer, that might be helpful (or not).
It might sound as a joke, but some people with other devices have mentioned to me that they have used black tape (electricity tape) to cover buttons that stay on like that.
If you use your Droid on a daily basis, I'm pretty sure you already know those buttons blindfolded, and if you have a nice protective sleeve over it, you wont even be able to tell the difference.
I'm not sure if it works, but I can honestly say that you would definitely not the first one who uses a similar technique.
edit. Just noticed you mentioned "on the touch screen"
It might be safe to put a protective sleeve on the screen first to avoid issues with damaging the screen.
************************************
Better solution:
************************************
Last edited by a moderator:
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
You are welcome, Glad it's working for you now.
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
Thank you
Yes, MKV files work. Just drag them onto the program, (or a folder that has more of them in there)
Yes, subtitles work as well, both from DVD, MKV and from avi's with srt subs. Just add your files, and click on them one at a time, and when you select one, the found languages and subtitles become available. If your file has multiple languages, you can select those as well.
T_T when I put the .mkv in the program it does its five step process in the beginning and it just opens up my destination folder afterwards like when it finishes converting. But it didn't do any converting and there is no file in there... Could it be something with my .mkv file? its a 1280x720 episode of anime.
D
dvdcatalyst
Guest
It should work just fine. Do you have the boosterpack installed or not?
Troubleshooting like this on a forum is a little tricky, and will most likely fill it up with a lot of smaller posts. Can you send me an email using the "Email Us" button in the program. Besides contacting me directly, it also provides me with a little information in regards of your settings.
Thanks.
Thanks for all the help dvdcatalyst! I decided to try to find another version of the episode I was trying to convert. Worked out much better. The subtitles were the right size and the sound and video were in sync. The .mkv file I was using was probably the reason why it didn't work