Welcome to sMooVePoD!

Download:

[ Screenshot | Archived versions and source ]

Bugs, comments, suggestions?
Email me at: goresj at gmail dot com
Or post a comment in this thread at ipodlinux.org.

Tutorials:

Tutorial 1: Installing sMooVePoD
Tutorial 2: Installing MV_Player on your iPod
Tutorial 3: Converting Videos
Tutorial 4: Copying Converted Videos (.mvpd files) To Your iPod

What is it?

sMooVePoD attempts to provide an easy method of converting your videos into mvpd files, which can be viewed using mv_player under iPod Linux.

This program isn't a converter itself, but makes use of four separate console applications: mplayer, mencoder, sox, and mv_encoder. These applications are included in this package and do not need to be installed separately.

How do I use it?

To use sMooVePoD, simply drag your video files into the main application window, click "Start Encoding!", and walk away. When you come back, you should have new mvpd files in the same folder as your original video files. If you wish to change any conversion settings, you should do so before you begin the encoding process. Several presets are provided for you, or you may manually enter specific options yourself. If you wish to enter options manually, choose "Custom..." from any of the popup menus.

Why should I use it?

Because it's a hell of a lot easier than doing the steps manually. And while the available python scripts to automate the process are nice and all, they generally only process a single file at a time. This is a "fire and forget" kind of thing. Click and walk away. When you come back, you have a bunch of video files suitable for viewing on your iPod.

I don't have iPod Linux! How do I view these video files on my iPod?

You need iPod Linux and mv_player installed on your iPod. For information on getting iPod Linux installed, visit the iPod Linux website: http://www.ipodlinux.org

I don't have mv_player! How do I view these video files?

You'll need mv_player for iPod Linux. The sMooVePoD package contains a zip file called "mv_player_7_RC2_unzip_to_iPod_root.zip". Unzip this archive to the root of your iPod and you will be able to use the latest menu-driven version of mv_player from within iPod Linux. DON'T do this if you already have your favorite version of mv_player installed.

Then you'll need to copy your new mvpd files onto your iPod. Copy them to <Your iPod Root>/mvpd/<type of video>. For example, if I want to copy a bunch of TV Shows to my iPod, I copy them to K:/mvpd/tvshows.

To run mv_player in Linux, use your File Browser and go to mnt/mvpd/mv_player_m OR hp/mvpd/mv_player_m. When you launch this, it will show you a menu of video categories. Choose a category, then choose a file, then click Play.

Where can I get the latest version of everything used in this program?

mplayer and mencoder (sMooVePoD uses version 1.0rc1):
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html

sox (sMooVePoD uses version 12.18.1):
http://sox.sourceforge.net/

mv_encoder and mv_player (sMooVePoD uses Version 7 RC2):
http://www.justgeek.de/moviepod/

Release Notes:

• Version 0.8 - 02.25.07
  • Fixed number format in disk space warning dialog
    
  • Changed disk space warning dialog to use "abort, retry, ignore" buttons. User can now ignore the warning and continue (but it's not recommended).
    
  • Fixed a bug that caused smoovepod to give dramatically inflated disk usage estimates in cultures that use a comma as the decimal separator
    
  • Added detail to the disk usage check.
    
• Version 0.7 - 02.21.07
  • Added ability to check for updates. You can manually check for updates in the Help Menu.
    
  • Added option to automatically check for updates at Smoovepod startup.
    
  • Added Tutorials to the Help menu
    
  • Fixed bug with buttons not appearing in Japanese XP
    
  • Fixed fonts to appear similar under all(?) locales
    
• Version 0.61 - 02.17.07
  • Fixed a bug with the temp folder not initializing properly if the user didn't manually set it (usually resulted in immediate failure and a log entry stating that mplayer couldn't create "audiodump.wav")
    
  • More detailed logs. Log now contains the info I always have to ask for.
• Version 0.6 - 02.12.07
  
  • User can now choose a working directory for temp files (default is the Windows User's Temp directory). This way you can choose a drive with lots of free space for your temp files.
    
  • Log can now be saved and cleared.
    
  • Temp files are now deleted as they become unnecessary, rather than deleting them all at once after each conversion.
    
  • Required disk space is now estimated before making a conversion. The user is warned if there's not enough space. This is just an estimate and may not be exact, but it's pretty close.
    
  • Full cleanup now occurs both before and after each conversion.
    
  • Debug tab has some new options.
    
  • Added "About" in the Help menu to make it easier to compare version numbers and find the Smoovepod website.
    
• Version 0.5 - 01.31.07
  • Now using mv_encoder Version 7 RC2
    
  • Updated included mv_player zip to Version 7 RC2
    
  • Frame conversion now updates status every 100 frames instead of every frame to reduce slowdown
    
  • Added option to copy or move mvpd file(s) to iPod after conversion
    
  • More robust error-checking and logging should make it easier to pinpoint problems
    
  • Added option for debug mode, which gives user access to the Debug tab of the Options dialog (use with care!)
    
• Version 0.4 - 01.26.07
  • Fixed Tab Order so everything (I think) is accessible without using the mouse
  • Added sorting to the filelist, just because. Might become useful later.
    
  • Provide numeric feedback to the importance slider
    
  • Should no longer choke on MP4's with AAC audio (or anything with AAC audio for that matter)
• Version 0.3 - 01.24.07
  • Fixed(?) the Options dialog to behave as expected. There were some bad bugs.
  • Added options to run processes in low CPU priority so you can actually use your puter while you convert vids (this is awesome)
  • Added a Browse button on the main screen so you can browse for video files instead of dragging and dropping (Thanks for the suggestion, Hector)
  • Hide from alt-tab list when minimized to tray (Hector again)
  • Added Tooltips to help explain certain settings
  • MessageBoxes no longer spawn a separate taskbar button
    
• Version 0.2 - 01.22.07
  • Fixed a bug that prevented user from choosing sox or mv_encoder path with the file browser
  • Fixed a minor bug that might cause temp files to be created in the wrong directory
  • User can now choose output directory for mvpd files
  • User can now choose whether, and with what, to replace spaces in the mvpd filename
  • Added option (Tools -> Options -> Executables -> mv_encoder) to turn off Adaptive Mode (you should probably leave it on though)
  • Added option (Tools -> Options -> General) to minimize to tray
  • Importance slider now also adjusts size_cut and quality_cut (under the hood). Size_cut goes down as you slide toward "Smaller Files", and quality_cut goes down as you slide toward "Higher Quality". They range from 0 to 100.
  • MessageBoxes now have captions so they don't look so damn ugly on the taskbar
  • Main window updates its title with the current task so you can see it on the taskbar or in the tray tooltip
  • New icon
    
• Version 0.1 - 01.20.07
  • Initial release
    

*2007, Joe Gores