Help How To Compress Films For S3?

[Mykltron]

I've tried a couple of programs for compressing films to watch on my phone but the sound got screwed up - they all sounded like they'd been recorded at the seaside. Anyone got any suggestions for how to do it? Preferably something I can use on a Mac.

 

[dan330]

I always thought .. pictures and video and audio.. media files in general are not really compressible.

what program did you use? and how much did it safe?

android devices uses media files in it's native forms. so compression is not needed.

 

[svim]

I've tried a couple of programs for compressing films to watch on my phone but the sound got screwed up - they all sounded like they'd been recorded at the seaside. Anyone got any suggestions for how to do it? Preferably something I can use on a Mac.

I've had good results with video files using h.264 (video)/mp3 or AAC(audio), along with less highly compressed xvid(video). But I'm wondering if your problems are tied to your S3 or your Mac. I haven't really had any problem using the default Android video player on my S3 but lately I've been using 'MX Player' mostly because I like the user interface a lot more. Maybe if you go to Google Play and install a third-party media player you might get better results?

Also is it a matter where your converted files sound OK on your Mac but only sound bad on your phone? The issue might be a matter of the media codec libraries on your Mac, so those converted files might have some limitations to playing back better on your computer than your phone. I've had good luck using AVIdemux and Handbrake to create videos for my phone. Both programs use a very wide range of codecs along with being free and multi-platform.

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

https://handbrake.fr/

 

[Mykltron]

what program did you use? and how much did it safe?
android devices uses media files in it's native forms. so compression is not needed.

I remember using Handbrake. I don't remember how much it compressed. I've tried a few things but can't remember which.
A film ripped from a DVD is at least 5GB in .mkv whereas converting it to mp4 takes it down to 1GB.

Also is it a matter where your converted files sound OK on your Mac but only sound bad on your phone?

I can't remember! It's quite a few months since I've needed to do this.
I've used MX Player for years, with an extra codec installed. I tried a file with Miro video convertor earlier today and it seemed fine. I'm trying it with a full length film now.
Unfortunately Avidemux only has a download for a newer version of Mac OS than what I have.

 

[Mykltron]

The film I compressed sounds awful on both S3 and Mac. I suppose I'll have to give Handbrake another try. Oh, it turns out I still have it. Any recommendations on settings or should I just go with default? I'm trying default now.

 

[svim]

For older OS X maybe try this ported version of FFmpeg. As is ffmpeg is a really expansive media utility.
http://ffmpegmac.net/
Also, there's VLC. As a media player it can handle almost everything, but as a file converter I've had some issues with it. Takes a lot of testing to get the right codecs and settings, or maybe it's just me.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

But since you've already got Handbrake installed you might just want make a few practice tests and tweak the settings to get something to work right for you. If you've still got the DVD that mkv file was made from, you'd be better off ripping directly from the DVD than working from the mkv. The non-syncing problem you described initially sounds more like an issue tied to the codecs used to make that mkv and then trying to convert that into an avi, mp4, or whatever. And if you do have that DVD, try doing your tests on something smaller than the movie itself, maybe one of the 'extras' features that are only a few minutes long, if only to save a lot time ripping/transferring/testing, etc.
Handbrake's default values should work out OK if you're ripping from a DVD, but if you're converting a pre-existing file like that mkv a lot depends on its video and audio codecs, and their respective values. Lots of pertinent info in Handbrake's online guides and FAQs.
https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/HandBrakeGuide

 

[Mykltron]

Thanks for a very comprehensive post!
I didn't know VLC could be used for converting. I tried a short programme yesterday with Miro and it was fine, but your post makes me think that was because it was something I'd downloaded and was a different format.
Handbrakes worked fine on its default settings so I think I'll be able to use that in future.