Convert Video to Vtech Innotab & Innotab 2

NiVZ

So theres plenty of adverts for this years must have kids toy, but information on how to convert videos is hard to come by. This is the method I use which has worked for me and uses all FREE software which is available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Remember this will not work for shop bought DVD's which are protected (and posting how to rip/decrypt them is against the rules - but it can be done for free with a little Google-ing)

First of all download and install the video converter 'AviDemux' from here:

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/download.html

To convert videos
1. Open Avidemux
2. Click 'File' -> 'Open'
3. Browse and choose your video file and click 'Open'

You may see some of the following questions depending on the video source you are converting:

- 'H264 detected, Do you want to use that mode?' click 'No'
- 'This looks like MPEG, Do you want to index it? Click 'Yes'

4. Click to change the 'Video' dropdown from 'Copy' to 'M-JPEG'
5. Click the 'Filters' button in the Video section
6. Double click 'MPlayer Resize' in the middle window
7. Ensure 'Lock aspect ratio' is ticked and set the width to 480 (this is easiest unless you are confident at calculating aspect ratio and cropping, see end of article)
8. Click OK
9. Double click 'Resample FPS'
10. Change the 'Frame Rate' to 15.000
11. Click OK
12. Click to change the Audio dropdown from 'Copy' to 'PCM'
13. Click the 'Filters' button in the Audio section
14. Change the 'Mixer' dropdown to 'Mono'
15. Tick the 'Resampling (Hz)' and change the value next to it to 22050
16. (Optional) You can use the 'Gain' section to boost the audio volume by changing 'Gain Mode' dropdown from 'None' to 'Automatic' (or using 'Gain Value' to specify your own value) see end of article
17. Click OK
18. Click 'File' -> 'Save' -> 'Save Video'
19. Browse to where you want to save and give the file a name and click 'Save'

Remember to use the file extension .avi at the end of your file name!

20. Wait for video to convert then click Ok.

The video file can now be copied to your Innotab using Learning Lodge Navigator, by connecting the Innotab in USB mode or by removing the SD card and connecting it directly to your PC card reader.

Output File Sizes
Using this method each video will use approx 11mb per 1 min, so a 90 min film will use 990Mb. You can adjust this by clicking the 'Configure' button in the Video section and increasing the 'Quantiser' value but this will make the picture look 'blockier'.

Aspect Ratio and Cropping

For 4:3 (Square Screen)
If you want to make this fill the screen, choose the WIDTH to be 480 (the height will then be more than 272)
Once you click OK, note the size in the 'Active Filter sections' after the '-->' eg 480 x 300
Then add the crop filter and crop some pixels from the TOP and BOTTOM until the HEIGHT is 272, eg 300 would mean you need to crop 18 pixels so I would do 8 from top and 10 from bottom (since it has to be even number) and click OK

For 1.78 or 2.35 (Widescreen)
If you want to make this fill the screen, choose the HEIGHT to be 272 (the width will be more than 480)
Once you click OK, note the size in the 'Active Filter sections' after the '-->' eg 500 x 272
Then add the crop filter and crop some pixels from the LEFT and RIGHT until the WIDTH is 480, eg 500 would mean you need to crop 20 pixels so I would do 10 from the left and 10 from the right
(again has to be even number)

For DVDs
For DVD video it is easiest to untick 'Lock Aspect Ratio', set width to 480 and click OK, then use the 'Preview' button to check how the picture will look. Double click the 'MPlayer resize' under the 'Active Filters' section in the right hand window and adjust the height and preview again. Repeat until you get the picture to look right (ie not squashed or stretched)

Audio
If the audio on the converted video is too quiet you can use the manual gain and a value from 0.00 to 10.00. I'd try 5.00 first and then either increase or decrease after testing on the Innotab. You might also want to tick the 'Dynamic Range Compression' to make the quiet parts louder and the loud parts quieter.

NiVZ

Here is another method for converting which works on InnoTab 1 and InnoTab 2. This method produces better quality videos with smaller file sizes (so you can fit more on your InnoTab)

These instructions convert videos to use H.264 video at 600kbps and MP3 audio at 96kbps as specified in InnoTab 2 User Manual.

IMPORTANT: There is a bug in the iPod preset in the latest version of avidemux.
You must use avidemux 2.5.6 from here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/avidemux/files/avidemux/2.5.6/

How To Convert
1. Open AVIDemux
2. Click 'File' -> 'Open'
3. Browse and choose your video file and click 'Open'
You may see some of the following questions depending on the video source you are converting:

- 'H264 detected, Do you want to use that mode?' click 'No'
- 'This looks like MPEG, Do you want to index it? Click 'Yes'

4. Click to change the 'Video' dropdown from 'Copy' to 'MPEG-4 AVC'
5. Click the 'Configure' button in the Video section
6. Click to change the 'Configuration' dropdown from '<default>' to 'Apple iPod'
7. Click to change the 'Encoding Mode' from 'Average Bitrate (Two Pass)' to 'Constant Bitrate (Single Pass)'
8. Click OK
9. Click the 'Filters' button in the Video section
10. Double click 'MPlayer Resize'
11. Ensure 'Lock aspect ratio' is ticked and set the width to 480 (this is easiest unless you are confident at calculating aspect ratio and cropping, see end of article)
12. Click OK
13. Click 'Close'
14. Click to change the 'Audio' dropdown from 'Copy' to 'MP3 (lame)
15. Click the 'Configure' button in the Audio section
16. Click to change the 'Bitrate' dropdown from '128' to '96'
17. Click OK
18. Click 'Filters'
19. Click to change the 'Mixer' dropdown from 'No change' to 'Stereo'
20. Tick the 'Resampling (Hz)' box and change the value to '44100'
21. Tick the 'Dynamic Range Compression' box
22. (Optional) You can use the 'Gain' section to boost the audio volume by changing 'Gain Mode' dropdown from 'None' to 'Automatic (-3db)' (or using 'Gain Value' to specify your own value) see end of article
23. Click OK
24. Click 'File' -> 'Save' -> 'Save Video'
25. Browse to where you want to save and give the file a name and click 'Save'

Remember to use the file extension .avi at the end of your file name!

26. Wait for the video to convert then click OK.
The video file can now be copied to your Innotab using Learning Lodge Navigator, by connecting the Innotab in USB mode or by removing the SD card and connecting it directly to your PC card reader.

Output File Sizes
Using this method each video will use approx 4.5mb per 1 min, so a 90 min film will use 410Mb. You can adjust this by clicking the 'Configure' button in the Video section and setting the Bitrate value lower than '600' (at step 7) but this will make the picture look 'blockier'. I've found the best balance of quality to filesize is 350kbps and wouldn't recommend setting it lower than that. See the approximate bitrate to filesize for a 90 min video below:

350kbps -> 290mb
400kbps -> 315mb
450kbps -> 340mb
600kbps -> 450mb

Aspect Ratio and Cropping

For 4:3 (Square Screen)
If you want to make this fill the screen, choose the WIDTH to be 480 (the height will then be more than 272)
Once you click OK, note the size in the 'Active Filter sections' after the '-->' eg 480 x 300
Then add the crop filter and crop some pixels from the TOP and BOTTOM until the HEIGHT is 272, eg 300 would mean you need to crop 18 pixels so I would do 8 from top and 10 from bottom (since it has to be even number) and click OK

For 1.78 or 2.35 (Widescreen)
If you want to make this fill the screen, choose the HEIGHT to be 272 (the width will be more than 480)
Once you click OK, note the size in the 'Active Filter sections' after the '-->' eg 500 x 272
Then add the crop filter and crop some pixels from the LEFT and RIGHT until the WIDTH is 480, eg 500 would mean you need to crop 20 pixels so I would do 10 from the left and 10 from the right
again has to be even number)

For DVDs
For DVD video it is easiest to untick 'Lock Aspect Ratio', set width to 480 and click OK, then use the 'Preview' button to check how the picture will look. Double click the 'MPlayer resize' under the 'Active Filters' section in the right hand window and adjust the height and preview again. Repeat until you get the picture to look right (ie not squashed or stretched)

Audio
If the audio on the converted video is too quiet you can use the manual gain and a value from 0.00 to 10.00. I'd try 5.00 first and then either increase or decrease after testing on the Innotab. You might also want to tick the 'Dynamic Range Compression' to make the quiet parts louder and the loud parts quieter.

Infinity22

Hi,

I open the file I want to convert it ask if I want to rebuild frames after it is done I receives message that file has crashed once I click ok the program closes I have tried with other movie but its the same also deleting program and re-installing

please help where im I going wrong

Thank You

NiVZ

Hello,

Can you double check you are using the older 2.5.6 version of Avidemux (as there are bugs in the newer 2.6 version)

It would also be useful if you can identify what type of file you are trying to convert, usually identified by the 3 letters after the full stop, eg .avi .mp4 .mkv .mts

NiVZ

cambermam

Hi NiVZ can you please direct me to putting thumbnails on my videos to the Innotab 2? I converted my files using DVD Catalyst 4 as I hadn't seen your guide at that point.

custardy

cambermam wrote: »

Hi NiVZ can you please direct me to putting thumbnails on my videos to the Innotab 2? I converted my files using DVD Catalyst 4 as I hadn't seen your guide at that point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z3tNpxCOUM&list=FLA9PUL1QEyXYfCAAIT6fecQ

NiVZ

Hello,

You can get the latest thumbnail editor by joining the group here:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Innotabcustomizers/

and looking in the files section.

Please note it can only change thumbnails for videos on a SD memory card and NOT the ones stored in the internal memory of the Innotab 2.

NiVZ

cambermam

Thanks i found that setting on your application, i had been downloading the wrong version and was getting errors so i thought i was doing something wrong! All sorted now much better than the stock icon - thanks for all your work

Infinity22

Hi,

The software is 2.5.6 the videos are in mp4 and mkv

Thank you
Mumta



"Hi,

I open the file I want to convert it ask if I want to rebuild frames after it is done I receives message that file has crashed once I click ok the program closes I have tried with other movie but its the same also deleting program and re-installing

please help where im I going wrong

Thank You"

NiVZ

Hello,

Not sure what would be causing that. I can open MP4 and MKV in version 2.5.6 without it crashing.

NiVZ

jammiev

thanks, worked first time.

I have been trying to use Mediacoder but with no success!

In June 2013 vtech removed the ability to play xvid in the latest firmware!

thanks again