Ok, I have tried out a lot of different video formats and programs for my Ax, and I think I have come up with an easy, high quality method of ripping DVD's, and encoding video files.

First the software. For the DVD ripping, the best software I have found (freeware) is DVD to Divx, available here. This will allow you to encode from a DVD to either VCD or AVI. For the Axim, we are going to encode to AVI.
The other software I use is for any video files you may already have on your computer, and to compress the size and frame rate of the ripped AVI. For this part, can follow the guide that Fabrizo posted, which gives fantastic results, or use Dr. Divx. It says that it can backup DVDs, but I haven't figured it out yet, and DVD to Divx is really easy, so I will use that.

If you already have a video file on your computer, you can go directly to encoding the video file for the Axim. If you want to rip from a DVD, then encode it, start at the beginning.

DVD Ripping

1. Of course, open the DVD to Divx program. Also, you will need to have a DVD Drive in your computer to decrypte.

2. Go to File/Open DVD Root. This will give you a select title menu. Find the longest title. It should be around the length of the DVD. Then you Input Settings box should pop up.

3. Under Program Chain, you need to select the Index. If there are more than one, such as the DVD I am ripping, select the one you want. You can find this out through common sense on most cases, such as in mine, there are 7 tv episodes on the DVD, and 7 possible choices, all around the same length.

4. The rest of the settings can be left alone, but you can alter things such as the Audio to better suit you. Personally, I like to keep my video files from the DVD at higher quality for viewing on my computer. Also, while you could produce a small enough video file directly from DVD to Divx and bypass the second batch of encoding, the frame rate won't be lower than 23.976. That is the reason I like to encode after ripping.

5. After you click on Ok, you will get a black screen, and the program says it is ready to encode. Go to Settings/Output Settings. Here you can select the file type, such as VCD if you don't want to encode for the Ax, but we want AVI.

6. Keep the audio at Lame MP3. If you click on the box that says Audio Lame, you can adjust the Bit Rate. I like to keep the Bit Rate at 192KBits, the Quality at Q3 High, and Channel at Stereo.

7. Now comes the video pass. This is the fun part. If you want better quality video, do both Video Pass 1 and 2. I haven't notices that much a difference though, and it is a lot faster do only do 1 pass, so that is what we will do. Enable video should be checked, then click on Video Pass One. In the drop down menu, find DivX 5.0.5 Codec, which should have come with Dr. Divx. Click configure, then go to Profiles tab and uncheck the choose your profile box. Click Ok when the error prompt comes up. Then go to Bitrate Control, and leave the Variable Bitrate Mode on 1-Pass. You can adjust the bitrate for whatever size you want, but since we want a high quality video to encode with Dr. Divx, I leave it around 700 Kbps.

8. Click Ok, then Ok again, and you should be taken back to the Output settings. Under Export Settings, make sure you click on Whole so you encode the whole movie instead of just a portion of it. The rest of the settings can be left alone, or you can play around with them if you want. Click Apply in the Output Settings option.

9. Go to File/Select Destination, and choose where you want the AVI to go. Then click the button at the bottom row that has a Red Circle in it. That will begin the ripping and encoding. Sit back and relax, this may take a while depending upon the movie size. It looks like a 23 min. tv show is going to take about 45 min. to encode.

10. Find the Folder you assigned the movie to, and watch it to make sure that it came out good. You are done ripping!



Encoding with Dr. Divx

Dr. Divx is by far the easiest part of encoding.

1. Open Dr. Divx. Click on Video File, and find the video file you want to use. Select it, and you will get an Opening Video File screen. Just wait, it shouldn't take to long.

2. For audio track, just leave everything how it is, and click on Next.

3. Next you will get the Choose Output. I like to use Divx Portable for my option because it is larger than the Axim screen, so when we adjust the size, we are shrinking instead of expanding. Click on next.

4. Under Output, select Filename and choose where and what name you want the video to be.

5. Then click on modify settings. Under Resize, go to 320X240. For MP3 Audio Settings, you can adjust based upon your personal preferances, but I like around 64 kbps, 32 kHz, and Stereo. Then click on advanced settings.

6. Adjust the bitrate. I have a 5GB PCMCIA Hard Drive, so I leave mine around 256, but if you don't have very much space, you can go down to 128. Leave Variable Bitrate Mode on 2-pass for better quality. For Frame Rate, choose x1/2. Leave the rest of the settings how they are.

7. Click encode, and wait. This should be quicker than decrypting the DVD was. When this is done, you can check the video file on your computer to be sure it works. Then transfer over to your Axim anyway you want.



There you have it, a perfectly easy (as far as video encoding goes) and good DVD to Axim guide. The end result is playable in PocketMVP, which is available in the download section of Aximsite. Sorry if parts of this are confusing. Ask if you have any questions.

Devices: Motorola Q, Samsung i600, Voq Professional Phone
Accessories: Jabra JX10, Sandisk 2GB miniSD, Leadtek 9537 BT GPS
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I thought that screen for DVD to DivX looked familiar - it is a hacked DVDx. Even uses the same registry settings as the real thing.

Good guide though! I need to get around to playing with Dr. Divx one of these days!

Thats odd. DVDx is freeware, so I wonder why they would hack and rename it DVD to Divx. At least is isn't stealing money from anyone.

Devices: Motorola Q, Samsung i600, Voq Professional Phone
Accessories: Jabra JX10, Sandisk 2GB miniSD, Leadtek 9537 BT GPS
Editor: www.mobilegadgetnews.com

I noticed that on the dvd to divx download it talked about, "Adaptec ASPI driver". What is it and how would I know if I already have it or not.

If you have a CD writer, there is a reasonable chance that you have an ASPI (Advanced SCDI Programming Interface) driver, though hardly a guarantee of it. They seem to be quite problematic from the little I've read on them. They're required for Digital Audio extraction, both from CD's and DVD's, which leads me to think that if you can already successfully rip a DVD then you have ASPI drivers???

I've also read that the latest Adaptec ASPI drivers are buggy and unstable, and to use the 1.60 version instead. Nero also has ASPI drivers available for download.

The DVDtoX Support page mentions looking for a WNASPI32.DLL in your Windows system folder...

I really have no idea what all that stuff is. I downloaded the program, and it works fine, so I didn't have to figure it out. Sorry.

Devices: Motorola Q, Samsung i600, Voq Professional Phone
Accessories: Jabra JX10, Sandisk 2GB miniSD, Leadtek 9537 BT GPS
Editor: www.mobilegadgetnews.com

Ever tried Gordian Knot?

Take a look at www.doom9.org

We are the people our parents warned us about.

whats the difference between that and flask?

I just tried this procedure and it says that I don;t have the ASPI drivers, which is pretty strange since the computer I am using is a new Dell Inspiron 8500...so it is fairly top of the line. Are you saying that I can go to that website and download the driver for ASPI so I can then proceed? I would hate to think that I can't use this guide just because of that...

Any thoughts...?

That does seem odd that you wouldn't have the drivers on your computer, but it appears you can download them on the DVD to Divx site. It couldn't hurt to download it and give it a try. Good luck getting it to work.

Devices: Motorola Q, Samsung i600, Voq Professional Phone
Accessories: Jabra JX10, Sandisk 2GB miniSD, Leadtek 9537 BT GPS
Editor: www.mobilegadgetnews.com

Thanks for the reply...yes it is a bit surprising. I have looked on the DVD to Divx site but don't see where I can download the ASPI drivers...am I missing something? Can you provide a link?

Also, is there an easy way to do this process to play in WMV format...that may be the easiest way for me. I am a total newb when it comes to this procedure.

Thanks again!

On the DVD to Divx site, you can click on the blue text that says Adaptec ASPI, or go to http://www.cybergame2000.com/downloa...ASPIXP4711.zip

You can convert AVI files to WMV using Windows Movie Maker, which you can get off the microsoft website, but I wouldn't recommend doing it. WMV isn't nearly as good of quality. I would just stick with the AVI files.

Devices: Motorola Q, Samsung i600, Voq Professional Phone
Accessories: Jabra JX10, Sandisk 2GB miniSD, Leadtek 9537 BT GPS
Editor: www.mobilegadgetnews.com

Thanks...I can't believe I didn't see that. I assume I just unzip the file and load it up. Does the system see it then when I start the process up again?

I don't know, I didn't have to do this. That is what I would do though.

Devices: Motorola Q, Samsung i600, Voq Professional Phone
Accessories: Jabra JX10, Sandisk 2GB miniSD, Leadtek 9537 BT GPS
Editor: www.mobilegadgetnews.com

Thanks again...appreciate your help and patience.