Saturday, May 16, 2009

EncodeHD- Easily Convert Media Files for Any Devices (Windows)

A friend of mine was going on a trip and asked me if he could borrow my dusty PSP. I said sure thing. I got it and a 8GB Memory Stick for him along with my car charger and speakers. I handed him the package and he looked at me like a deer caught in headlights and said:

"What you don't have any videos for me to watch? I have about an hour and a half to kill each way hook me up!

I did have a crap load of new video files but nothing that was converted to play on the PSP. (This will work for almost all popular video playing devices.) Yeah that sucks. But I remembered a little application I had seen that would allow my friend to convert these videos himself – and easily.

This application is so simple anyone can use it that can click a mouse!

I burned the video files for him and a little program called EncodeHD. I downloaded the 5.5MB Zip file, Extracted and ran the EncodeHD.exe file.. He was almost ready to rock and roll.

I decided to show him how to use the application before he left and took screenshots of my actions for everyone to follow along. Before we get started I should tell you guys how it works. This awesomely easy front end launched these 3 great tools without you having to know how they work:

  1. FFmpeg
  2. Atomic Parsley
  3. MP4Box from the GPAC Project

With that said let's see how she works!

The application is totally portable so there is no installation necessary. After launching the exe you will see a window like the one below. Select what type of device you have and want to convert your media for.

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Drag and drop your media files into the window below like so:

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If your computer can play it – EncodeHD can convert it! The advanced options are pretty simple but this is also where you can find the log file – if something goes wrong.

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Check the box to specify an output folder if you do not want to write it to your source folder. You can select your PSP drive if it is connected to write the videos directly to your device so you do not have to copy them later. In this instance I am writing to a folder called EncodeHD on my D:\ drive.

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Then simply hit start and you are on your way!

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It seemed to take about half as long as the video to convert. So for example a hour episode of something took about 26 minutes to convert. Mileage will vary depending on your hardware!

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EncodeHD will batch run each file and when it is complete you can happily watch your media anywhere you want it!

How do you convert your media? Do you have something that is even easier than this? We would love to hear about it in the comments!

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