This may be an obvious one, but it had eluded me until recently. Did you know that you can convert movies to a format that the Clie Movie Player can play using the Image Converter program without converting directly to your Memory Stick?

The other night, I decided to try converting some video into a format that the Clie Movie Player could play. (For more information on ripping DVDs, and converting files using Image Converter, please do a search at the ClieSource.com forums.) I followed some instructions and ripped a DVD using the DVDx program. The resulting file was a VCD-compliant MPEG file that was 780MB in size.

The next step was to use the Sony Image Converter program included on the CD that came with my NX. This program converts the MPEG file into a highly compressed QuickTime format that the Clie Movie Player can play.

The problem with this was that I had no way of knowing if this will fit onto my 128MB Memory Stick once converted using the Image Converter program. Every time I did a convert, I typically selected the drive letter assigned to my Clie after initiating an MSImport. But in this case, I didn’t know if the file is going to fit, and it was going to take a long time to convert the 1 1/2 hour movie.

So, all you have to do is just select a different drive number of a hard drive that has enough free space. The kicker is that when you do this, a dialog box pops up stating that the selected drive is not a Memory Stick drive. In the past, I blindly assumed that the conversion HAD to go directly to the Memory Stick, so I always cancelled out. This time, instead, I clicked on OK to continue, and Image Converter automatically created the proper directory structure on my hard drive and built the converted file onto my hard drive! At that point, it was a simple matter of checking the file size in Windows Explorer. (In this case, the file was about 79MB in size, so yes, it would fit on my Memory Stick.) I could also play the file in QuickTime if I chose, and it was a simple matter of transfering the file to my Clie using MSImport. In addition, having the movie on my hard drive lets me archive it so that I can keep a library of movies if I want and load them onto my Clie using MSImport as needed.

The point is that sometimes, the included programs have non-obvious functionality. Is this in the manual? Probably, but who reads those things anyway?!?

As always, all my information is free, but if you like what you see and would like to help support JimsTips.com, please click on the “Donate” button. Your financial support, no matter how large or small, helps keep this site alive and kicking.