Format Factory Help please.

[stubbyd]

I've been using (and love) Format Factory for years but just discovered a recent oddity .... for me anyway.

I have a lot of RIPs in formats other than AVI but have recently bought a cheap multi media player so that I can stick the childrens favourite films on the player and let them watch whenever.

However, my media player suppoirts the following formats only:

Media Type : MPEG-1, MPEG-2, XviD, MP3, WAV, JPEG

Media Files : dat, mpg, mpe, mpeg, vob, m2p, avi, xvid, jpg, jpeg, mp3, wav

So I've simply been inputting whatever file and exporting "all to AVI" but they won't play back. Now if I wander off and [cough] find a native AVI that plays without a hitch but due to its nature the quality is somewhat reduced.

Am I missing an obvious issue?
Or is there a setting I can change?
Or should I use another bit of software?

If it helps I have access to a PC or a Mac(PowerPC)

[Anupam]

I won't be able to help much because I am not proficient in multimedia files and all... but I will try to offer some help.

Did you try to play other media files like mpg, dat, or VOB files on the player to see if it can play that?

If there is a manual accompanying the player, then maybe you can see more details about the video file types that can be played.

Instead of avi, you can try converting the files to mpg. What are the types of files that you have originally?

You can make use of MediaInfo to see if the converted video files have the proper format properties.

[stubbyd]

Originally Posted by Anupam

Did you try to play other media files like mpg, dat, or VOB files on the player to see if it can play that?

If there is a manual accompanying the player, then maybe you can see more details about the video file types that can be played.

Instead of avi, you can try converting the files to mpg. What are the types of files that you have originally?

Hi and thanks for the reply ...

There is no manual (it's a cheap and cheerful unit). The file formats it supports are all listed in my first post. I admit I hadn't tried a different format but then I'm trying to keep as much quality as possible.

As to the types I have originally - well allsorts. From .mo's to mk4's to rmvb's etc, etc ... oh and thanks for the link to teh property checker. I should add that all converted file splay on my PC & Mac.

[Anupam]

Hi,

Yes, I was expecting that it would be without a manual, since you mentioned its quite cheap.

The files would play on the PC of course, its the player that is having difficulty playing those videos. I just installed FormatFactory and had a look. I don't use it much, so did not had it installed.

I had a look at the All to AVI. In there, if you look at Output Setting --> Video Stream --> Video Encode, it shows MPEG4(XVid). Although, as per the supported formats for the player, this should work, but it isn't working. So, you can change the encode format to MPEG2, and see if that works.
You can change the encode format by clicking on MPEG4(XVid), which will activate the drop down list, and then you can choose MPEG2.

Alternatively, you can try converting directly mpg by All to MPG. When you select that, by default the format is VCD PAL. To change that, go to Output Setting, and at the top, besides the MPG icon, select DVD PAL, or DVD NTSC. You can choose the Large in that too. This will ensure that the video format is in MPEG2 format, otherwise with VCD, it remains in MPEG1 format, which is of lower quality.

The quality does get reduced in mpg, but still its not that bad. You can control the mpg quality by choosing a high bitrate.

Well, try these, and lets hope it works .

[Doobie]

If you're making Xvid+mp3 AVI files, it should play - Unless there is some Xvid optional setting that the player can't handle, like too many b-frames.

On the other hand, I wouldn't use Format Factory. Tried it, but found that it's rather blind to the content that it's converting, and so it does a second-rate job.

[syntax_error]

Try this one it's Gizmo's top pick, iWisoft Free Video Converter.

It checks for updates on start up, with no option to deslect. However it still works if you block it with a firewall.

[stubbyd]

Originally Posted by syntax_error

Try this one it's Gizmo's top pick, iWisoft Free Video Converter.

It checks for updates on start up, with no option to deslect. However it still works if you block it with a firewall.

Thanks - I'll give that one a whirl.