Flip camcorder help needed - No solutions found on google

Bargain.hunter_4

Hi There,

I have just purchased 2 flip camcorders for the family to use as replacements for our old Sony camcorder that uses tapes.

I got the flip Ultra HD and the Mino HD, but seem to have 2 key problems, which it seems nobody can find a solution to... not even flip! Any help from anyone here would be appreciated as I really do not know what to do.

The first issue is watching flip recorded HD video on my TV....

With the flip Ultra, you can play back movies in HD using the HDMI output. This is great when the cam is new and has hardly anything on it.

The problem I am having however is watching the movie through any other method. ie, i do not want to be having to upload old movies back onto my flip to play them back..... and what about sharing HD content with friends and family?

I have used the flipshare software product and exported a video to my PC then a USB stick. Unfortunately my ps3, sony W series TV or my samsung dvd players USB functions wil not recognise my flip exported movie. The movies only play if the stick is used with a PC. I will try and create a DVD movie using windows software, but then this means the video will be in SD.

Does this mean that I can never watch the HD recorded movies on my TV or can anyone help me with this.

Second problem is a HW issue and i believe my Flip ultra has a HW fault, but appreciate it if anyone has had the same issue and could advise.....

Basically, when i plug the charger in, the battery shows as red (empty). I will then charge it til it shows green.... Once however I unplug the charger, use the cam for a minute and plug the charger back in, the batteries show red again, and after 2 minutes come up as green.... unplug and replug charger.... red for 2 minutes, then green...

I have tried reseating the batteries and ensuring the terminals touch, but has made no difference...

Unfortunately unlike the Mino, the ultra HD only shows you the battery status when charging, so ultimately I really do not know what state it is in.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanking you all in advance..

tronator

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

With the flip Ultra, you can play back movies in HD using the HDMI output. This is great when the cam is new and has hardly anything on it.

I don't understand this. Do you have problems when you have more content on your camera?

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

The problem I am having however is watching the movie through any other method. ie, i do not want to be having to upload old movies back onto my flip to play them back

This I don't understand either. You want to view your HD content from your camera on another device. Why are you talking about uploding SD content onto your camera?

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

I have used the flipshare software product and exported a video to my PC then a USB stick. Unfortunately my ps3, sony W series TV or my samsung dvd players USB functions wil not recognise my flip exported movie. The movies only play if the stick is used with a PC. I will try and create a DVD movie using windows software, but then this means the video will be in SD.

Does this mean that I can never watch the HD recorded movies on my TV or can anyone help me with this.

What codecs are supported by all these devices and what codec is used by your camera? Or does the flipshare software encodes the movie? If you don't know what codec is used, try Mediainfo to find out.

Bargain.hunter_4

Apologies, was a long question and maybe i wasnt clear.... Basically it seems there is no way of playing HD content recorded on my flip on my HD TV, unless it is through the Flip Ultra HD connection....

So if i record something today and use the flip to convert it to a movie file which is saved on my pc..... how can i then view it on my HD TV

tronator

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

So if i record something today and use the flip to convert it to a movie file which is saved on my pc..... how can i then view it on my HD TV

Please answer my questions about the supported codecs and the codec the movie actually uses.

Bargain.hunter_4

Here is the output from the app you recommended....

General
Complete name : E:\\video\Flip Video\June 2010\June 2010.wmv
Format : Windows Media
File size : 1.33 GiB
Duration : 16mn 9s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 11.8 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 12.9 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2010-06-11 16:01:38.829
Video
ID : 2
Format : WMV1
Codec ID : WMV1
Codec ID/Info : Windows Media Video 7
Description of the codec : Windows Media Video V7
Duration : 16mn 9s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 11.6 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 30.000 fps
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.421
Stream size : 1.31 GiB (99%)
Language : English (US)
Audio
ID : 1
Format : WMA
Format version : Version 2
Codec ID : 161
Codec ID/Info : Windows Media Audio
Description of the codec : Windows Media Audio 9.2 - 64 kbps, 44 kHz, stereo 1-pass CBR
Duration : 16mn 9s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 64.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 7.40 MiB (1%)
Language : English (US)


I am not an expert on video and codecs, but one would think it would be common sense for flip to use a universal codec... What do companies like samsung, sony and canon use with their equipment for video sharing? I guess if this codec is not compatible, can i convert the movie and not lose HD quality.....

tronator

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

I am not an expert on video and codecs, but one would think it would be common sense for flip to use a universal codec... What do companies like samsung, sony and canon use with their equipment for video sharing? I guess if this codec is not compatible, can i convert the movie and not lose HD quality.....

I wouldn't call me an expert either

The PS3 seems to suppport WMV according to this site

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/3_15/video/filetypes.html

I'm not completely sure about the version of this codec though. Unter "Hints" in the link above they write something about changing some settings in order to play wmv. I also hope that the video has no copy protection.

Is the camcorder the SlideHD? Just found some informations on the Internet. It looks like it records in h.264 and there should be no reason to re-encode it into wmv. Maybe the software adds some kind of copy protection to it too.
Can't you just copy the video onto your computer without using this flipshare software? Is there a symbol for your camcorder under "My Computer" when you connect it via USB?

Bargain.hunter_4

The files can be copied straight from unit to PC without software as PC can see files on the flip. Unfortunately these are Mpeg 4 which wont play with the PS3, TV or DVD player

tronator

Bargain.hunter wrote: »

The files can be copied straight from unit to PC without software as PC can see files on the flip. Unfortunately these are Mpeg 4 which wont play with the PS3, TV or DVD player

The link I posted earlier says that the PS3 supports H.264/MPEG-4 files. I'm afraid I can't help you further.

downhillfast

There is obviously no simple solution to this problem if you want to be able to "share" this HD content with family and friends unless they just happen to have the correct technical setup as there is not a household recordable HD medium. If however your main priority is to have the correct technical setup at home then maybe you need to look at going down the route of a "Media Player" - these are little boxes that plug into your TV to allow either streaming of content from a remote PC or an accessible hard drive.... I don't know which would suit your need the best (if at all) but the guys over at www.avforums.com are a wealth of information

spakkker

Sorted my flipHD video by converting with free studio manager part of dvdvideosoft pack. Just use the video to dvd option.
I put a couple of small files onto my media player- unconverted they didn't play , but converted they do! A 159MB file was 146MB when converted. Went from 1280x720 to720x576. Don't have hd tv -only old36", luckily with component connection - which won't play hd output options.
The footage looks comparable on pc with 1680x1050 settings.
I'm sure there will be better ways of converting but only got the flip Thurs. tea-time for £39.97 as posted hukd so I am still learning , the ultra was 159.99!!!
Regarding batts. can you try a couple of other rechargeable aa by connecting them at one end eg silver foil /sellotape??

Bargain.hunter_4

Sending the Ultra HD back as I cannot really tell the difference between that and the Mino... but there is a huge difference in the price as I got the ultra for £129 and the Mino for £39 (HDUK like u).....if it wasnt for that faulty Ultra HD, would not have seen the HDUK post when googling problem.... Every cloud, silver lining and all that :-)

With regards to converting to DVD, that does not seem to be a problem.... its just viewing in hd already recorded content... may have to invest in a media player and see how that works out as it seems there is no other solution at the moment