Encoding Videos for BlackBerry Pearl...

The Blackberry Pearl is a powerful toy. That being said, many people still think it's just that, a toy.

After purchasing the 2GB MicroSD card I now had to find stuff to fill it with. mp3s are the natural first choice. But with video playback capabilities I went straight for the gold! Now I can watch videos / anime where ever I go! If I'm just sitting somewhere waiting for someone, or waiting for my movie to start I can pick up my Pearl browse for a file and go nuts!

Unfortunately, the pearl only supports:

audio formats: MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+
video formats: MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.263

I spent a bit of time trying to encode my own videos, I'm no professional... but it's not like I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing. After spending waaaay too much time and having about as much success as a blind person @ a shooting range I jumped on the net and found a post in this forum!

I tried followed the instructions and it worked like a charm, I now have video on my Pearl ;)

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Since this is a commandline application that takes a smackload of switches I took the liberty of writing up a simple batch file (compiled to exe) that you can double-click on... If you're interested here's what you need to do:

1) Download the Mencoder.
* look for the one labeled: MPlayer 1.0rc1 Windows

2) Extract the Mencoder to your HD.
* I recommend extracting it to the folder where you store your videos. Doing so will save you some hassle. The video to be converted must be in the same folder as the application.

3) Download my MMX Convert4Pearl application.

4) Extract Convert4Pearl into the same directory as the Mencoder.

5) Run Convert4Pearl :)

6) Copy converted videos onto Pearl.

Please read both Mencoder and Convert4pearl readme before use. Convert4pearl was written by me so I didn't have to type the commands and switches everytime. If you have any problems feel free to email me.

ENJOY!