Deals
Encoding from a DVD
Encoding from a video file
Common Problems
Must have software
Shortcuts
Resets
Easter Eggs
Zodiac Backgrounds
"MP3 Trick"
Mini-reviews
Emulation Overview
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My Java programs - $0 (ok these have nothing to do with the Zodiac but maybe you'll find one of them useful!)
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It's as easy as 1-2-3:
I've combined all the software you need to get video on your Zodiac into one convenient download (last updated 8/4/07, see list of included programs here). All software is completely open source, meaning you don't have to pay a dime. If you prefer you can check out my step-by-step picture guide. If not continue reading...
First time set-up:
1) Download and extract my bundle.
2a) Install XviD, AC3Filter, AviSynth, LameACM, and qmpeg (right-click --> Install for those last two).
2b) Install VobSub if you want subtitles.
3) Open DVDdecrypter, in the Source drop-down box choose your DVD drive. Then press "I" to go into ifo mode. Go to tools --> settings and under the tab "IFO mode", look for file splitting and set it to none (or by chapter if you want to rip TV episodes separately), and hit ok.
Step 1: DVD Decrypter (10-15 minutes)
1) Put the DVD in your DVD drive, run DVDDecrypter (you may wish to move the shortcut to your desktop).
2) If it is not selected by default, click on the PGC that is the length of your movie.
3) Hit the nice little DVD to hard drive icon with the green arrow to begin ripping.
After it's done you will have a nice big .vob in the folder C:\YOUR_MOVIE_NAME\VIDEO_TS\
Step 2: DGIndex (2-3 minutes)
1) Launch DGIndex (you may wish to move the shortcut to your desktop).
2) Go to File --> Open, and load your .vob DVD file.
3) Go to File --> Save Project, and save a project file into the "Encoding" folder.
While it's creating the project file you'll want to take note of two things based on the information window, so you know which settings to use in VirtaulDubMod.
Aspect ratio:
16:9 or 4:3
Video type:
"PAL" = PAL
"Film" or Film >90% = FILM
Anything else = NTSC
Step 3: VirtualDubMod (total time depends on speed of your computer and settings you choose)
1) Open VirtualDubMod (again you may wish to move the shortcut to your desktop).
2) Go to File --> Open video file and locate your script (<projectname>.avs).
3) Go to File --> Load processing settings and navigate through the folders (Settings --> DVD --> ...) to the right settings based on your video and desired quality.
5) Go to File --> Save as and save it to your hard drive or directly to your SD card in the desired folder and you're done!
You can delete DVD Decrpyter's movie folder and DGIndex's project/script/audio files and VobSub's .sub and .idx when it's done encoding.
4b) Click Open in the bottom-left corner, and change "Files of type:" to Ifos and Vobs.
4c) Open the .ifo file from your DVD (in the same folder as your vob). Then choose an output folder.
4d) If when ripping you used something other than the main PGC (#1), select the correct number from the upper-left drop down window.
4e) Click ok to begin indexing the subtitles.
4f) When it's done indexing, change the language to your desired language of subtitles. Other tweaks you may wish to make include checking "Smooth image".
Sample video (right click --> Save Target As to download):
high quality
low quality
For more sample videos check out the video page.
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Let me start off saying that with a lot of videos you won't even have to reencode. Most AVIs/MPEGs, as well as some MOVs, can be played directly in TCPMP without a problem. As a note, if you're watching a higher resolution AVI in TCPMP and find that it is skipping, change the zoom from "Fit Best" to "100%", this will make it play better. Or if you do want to reencode your files (to make them smaller), it is a very easy process. This section is assuming you've already downloaded my bundle and installed the necessary codecs (in this case just XviD and LameACM).
AVI:
1) Open VirtualDubMod
2) Open the video file
3) Load your desired settings (in the AVI-MPEG folder).
4) Save and you're done.
MPEG: Same as AVI but do not use direct stream audio settings.
VirtualDubMod also has some very powerful filters to help you with encoding. For example, if you're encoding from a file with compression artifacts, I recommend that you add a smart smoother HiQuality filter. This will slow down encoding a lot but it's worth it! There's a help button that will explain what all the settings do, and a preview button that will help you determine how strong you should set them (or you could just leave the default settings). Or if you have a noisy source file you could try an MSU Denoiser filter.
Now of course there's more video formats than just AVI and MPEG, what about WMV, MOV, etc? Well, using DirectShowSource you can open any file that you can play in WMP directly in VirtualDubMod, sounds great right? Sadly the audio sync is unreliable using this method. If you still want to try it go to Open video file in VirtualDubMod, change "Files of types" to the last All types, and then change "Use AviSynth template" to DirectShowSource, and finally navigate to your desired video. If you want something with more reliable audio sync, you will first have to use a free program to convert them and then recompress in VirtualDubMod:
1) Download and install
RAD Video Tools.
2) Search for the video you want to convert, click on it (do NOT double click), and then click the "convert a file" button in the bottom-left corner.
3) On the right-hand side of that new window click the upper button that says convert.
4) Choose your video codec when it asks. I recommend using
Huffyuv (lossless codec, install the same as Lame) or XviD at quantizer 1 (maximum quality). If you're converting from a .mov make sure you have Quicktime or
Quicktime Alternative installed.
5) Reencode the resulting AVI in VirtualDubMod (do not use direct stream audio settings).
The last major format that RAD Video Tools cannot convert is... RealOne *shudder* Good thing this format isn't used too often. There is one program, but it only works for online content. If you wish to use it make sure you have
Real Alternative installed.
1) Download and extract
Real7ime Converter.
2) Run R7C.exe. Enter the URL of your file (right click --> copy shortcut on link to get URL) and a name for the output.
3) Click go and choose your codec... the rest it the same as with RAD Video Tools.
And that's how to encode practically any video, except for Flash (which isn't really a video format, but whatever). Ideally we would have a flash player on our Zodiacs, but that hasn't happened yet. You can convert flash to video, but as a warning, the file size will increase, quality will decrease, and it will no longer have vector graphics (no more infinitely scalable resolution). If you still want to try it:
1) Download and install
Flash to Video Encoder2) Click on Audio settings, change the audio compressor to RAW Audio, and change the Source to Wave/MP3.
3) Click on Video settings, change the video compressor to Huffyuv.
4) Change the resolution until it's 480*xxx or xxx*320.
5) Click on the "..." and load your flash file.
6) Click Start. You will have to watch as it's playing, since you will have to tell it to stop manually.
7) Reencode in VirtualDubMod (do not use direct stream audio settings).
This method produces some slightly jumpy video and leaves its logo in the bottom-right corner, but it's also the only flash to video program that can keep audio sync.
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"I want to encode for a device with a screen resolution other than 480*320."
Go to Video --> Filters, click on the smart resize filter, click on Configure, and change the numbers next to "fit width" and "fit height" to match your device.
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"DGIndex doesn't generate an AviSynth script file."
Make sure you save the project into the Encoding folder created by my bundle.
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"How do I use the audio from a commentary or foreign language?"
Before you rip the DVD with DVD Decrypter, click on the "Stream Processing" tab and check "Enable Stream Processing". Uncheck all of the audio streams except for the one that you want to use.
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"When I try to save in VirtualDubMod, it gives me an Error initializing audio stream compression..."
Open AC3Filter Config. In the top-left box, ensure that Output is set to "2/0 - stereo" and "PCM 16bit" and click OK. Note that if you have the digital output on your sound card hooked up to a reciever, you can check "Use SPDIF" and in the "System" tab enable supported formats for SPDIF passthrough to continue listening to your DVDs in surround sound while VirtualDubMod recieves stereo. In VirtualDubMod go to File --> Close video file and then reopen it.
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"How do I do batch encoding?"
When you go to save, check the box that says "Don't run this job now...". Then open your next video and do the same thing. Once you've done that for the all the videos you want, go to File --> Job Control and click Start (if you want the PC to shut down when it's done, check that under Options).
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"What if I don't want to encode the credits (or only want to encode or direct stream copy a portion of a video)?"
All right, before saving, look at the bottom of the VirtualDubMod window. Do you see the trackbar and the 13 buttons? Good, click on the button to the left of the one on the far-right, that will set the start point. Then take the trackbar pointer and drag it to where you want it to stop (e.g. the beginning of the credits). Then click the far-right button, that will set the end point.
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"I think the video is larger than it should be/the audio is out of sync."
Make sure you have the versions of XviD and LameACM included in my bundles installed, otherwise bad stuff can happen (and it won't necessarily produce an error message).
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FullPower - extend your battery life (ok it's not free but the demo has no time limit)
FileZ - great free file manager
ZGrab - screenshot utility, great for those Kodak moments!
VFSBench - utility for benchmarking SD cards
Matrix screensaver - just what I said, a Matrix screensaver
ChitChat - Jabber IM client, if you're looking for a commercial alternative try
VeriChatpowerOne - graphing calculator, for those of you bought a new Zodiac since it's no longer bundled. Also you can
upgrade to the full screen version 4 for $20.
InkStorm 2.0 - free (up to 2 saved pictures) upgrade to the bundled bluetooth chat/drawing application.
PaintForge - this promising paint application was never finished, you can also try commercial programs
MobiSystems Paint and
HandPainter-Pro.
Rats&Spears - similar to some Flash games you might have played, but now on your Zodiac.
Tintama and
RocketCHU! - quite the neat/cute little games. Try them out, they're free!
Zodtris - Zodiac exclusive tetris, what more is there to know
Zap'Em - ViciousBytes's second game for the Zodiac, now available for free.
Orbital Sniper - a fun little game to play in short bursts
Noiz2Sa - "abstract shooter", hardware accelerated!
Zyrian - another free shooter
Flashback - ported by ZodTTD
Transport Tycoon Deluxe - ported by ZodTTD
ZDoomZ - self-explanatory
ZHexen - Is YoYo god or what?
ZHeretic - and this completes the set
ZQuake - *frags you*
Duke Nukem 3D - nice one MetaView!
Stuntcar Extreme - came with the CD, available for download in case you lost yours
GeoPod XE - Fathammer has generously decided to give this game away
FireHammer expansion pack - if you bought FireHammer make sure to download this
LJZ - free multi-console emulator that at long last is available to the public!
More emulators - other quality emulators, most Zodiac optimized
FAT32 driver - copy the prc into RAM and soft reset, needed for using >2GB SD cards (format the card with your PC, not your Zodiac)
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Holding the power button for several seconds will bring up the sound/brightness adjusting menu. From there, left/right adjusts volume, up/down adjusts brightness, and the Left trigger is mute/unmute.
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In the music app, holding the Left and Right trigger at the same time will put it on hold (where the screen turns off and music still plays), very useful.
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For dialog boxes, pushing in the joystick chooses the first option and hitting the function button chooses the second.
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As you should (hopefully) know, hitting the bluetooth button turns it on, but to turn it back off hold it for 2 seconds.
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The 4 action buttons, adjust them in the Quick Launch application
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A soft reset (or just reset) is when you take your stylus and push the reset button on the back of your Zodiac. You'll do this when the Zodiac gets a fatal error and crashes (and usually just tapping the reset button on the screen doesn't work).
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A function reset (warm reset) is when you hold the function button and push the reset button. It stops any background apps from starting up, although they will start up again normally next time you reset. You'll know if you did it right because you won't to be able to use bluetooth.
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A hard reset is when you hold the power button and push the reset button, it completely erases your Zodiac and makes it like the day you opened it. You might need to do this if the Zodiac crashes bad and a soft or function reset won't fix it. A hotsync should restore most or all of your data (if you had the FAT32 driver you'll need to reinstall it) from the last time you hotsynced.
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An in-cradle reset is performing a soft reset while your Zodiac is being charged. I've never had to use this but according to palmOne: "This is helpful if your device turns off as soon as you turn it on, or if it doesn't seem to be charging when you connect it to a power source".
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There is another reset that I'm not really sure about (I'm not even sure if it's supposed to happen). It's when you hold the home button and push the reset button. If you have ever seen a Gameboy screen when the unit is turned off, that is sort off what will happen to the Zodiac screen, except it takes a much longer time for the screen to completely go away. The Zod can only be woken up by another reset when in this state, so it would be useful if you're putting it in your pocket and don't want to worry about it turning on. But I don't know if leaving it in this state is dangerous, so try it at your own risk.
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When you reset your Zodiac you'll notice a smiley face in the bottom-right corner!
Now for all the other easter eggs you'll need the easter egg on. Go into the prefs category and then general. In the bottom-right corner (the app's corner not in the graffiti area) draw a small circle (clockwise or counterclockwise, doesn't matter, draw another circle to get rid off the egg). If you did it right, an easter egg will appear and it will make a funny sound. Now you can activate several easter eggs. You might notice that with the egg activated when you hit a spoke the Zodiac vibrates a very small amount, nice touch. Also a yellow taxi cab will occasionally drive across your screen when the egg is on.
Go into any category that you have the main wheel empty, stuff can be on the right-hand side if you want. Now hit each spoke, making sure to bring the stick back the neutral position each time. After you hit all 8 spokes, have fun with your new game, Whack-a-mole!
Hold the left + righter trigger and hit the Power Controls icon (looks like a speaker). Pretty colors will fill your Zodiac's screen. Hitting the left trigger again will start music, and hitting the right trigger will start rumbling.
Hold the L and R triggers and hold the Home button, now go annoy people around you with the noise!
Hold the L and R triggers and hit the drop-down icon (under the home icon). It will make the same funny noise and now whenever you hit the Left trigger you will bring down the drop-down menu. If you do not like this soft reset to get rid of it.
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Here is the one I currently use:
I would post more but you should be able to find plenty on the
backgrounds forum.
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Ok this really isn't the MP3 trick anymore but I'll just call it that because most people still recognize it and this accomplishes the same thing except easier. As some of you may know hotsync doesn't recognize some files unless they are associated with a program, and sometimes file types aren't associated with anything or maybe you want to change the default destination. The ideal solution is to get a
card reader (some PCs now even have them built in) because it's much faster than hotsync, but if you insist get a free program called
Card Directories. See
this guide if you need help, it goes into a good amount of detail. Please note you do *NOT* need to change any extensions if you are using Card Directories.
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I don't have an exact system for basing the scores but it's a combination of fun/graphics/sound/length/presentation/playability (which included FPS, stability, and controls)/etc, all that good stuff.
Animated Dudes - 4/5. Probably the best Zodiac-exclusive game, this platformer has amazing 2D graphics and great gameplay. There's 3 different playable characters and you have to save the world from Dr. Barrel who wants to pour a sludge over the Earth that would make everything it touched come to life.
Bike Or Die - 4/5. This is a neat physics-based game, with simplistic graphics and sounds. But the game is very fun/addicting (and challenging!), and isn't that what matters most? A list of user-made levels can be found
here.
Snails - 4/5. This is a great Worms-style game, even better than Worms in some aspects imo. The graphics in this game are very well-done, and the animations are so cute! The only thing I miss that was in the original Worms is the water that they could drown in. Add-on levels for Snails can be found
here.
Gloop Zero - 4/5. Balls drop from the bigger ball-dropping balls, and you use your stylus to draw lines to help the balls find their way to the box of corresponding color (or the all-accepting yellow box). It's actually a lot more fun that it sounds. This strategy game has a total of 100 levels, and within each of those levels the possibility to get a bronze, silver, or geld medal. The game proves to be quite a challenge on the tougher levels. Oh, it also comes with a built-in level creator.
EDGE - 3/5. It's an isometric, hack-n-slash style RPG. I didn't really like it but others seem to.
Warfare Inc. - 3/5. It's not Starcraft but it is a solid RTS game. This along with Gloop Zero make me proud to have a touch screen.
Orbz - 3/5. It has good graphics but the low framerate drops it down a point. You're a ball and you shoot yourself at stars, there's power-ups, multiplayer, and bot-controlled opponents. A good game if you don't mind the framerate (it's playable but not as smooth as it should be). ExtremeAI has recently made this game available for free (requires DAA).
Xploids - 3/5. A good arcade-style game, and the later levels can get very difficult so veteran gamers will not be disappointed. It's a great game to simply pick up and play for a few minutes. Since Tapwave went under, the full game is now available free of charge. The developers like to think of it as shareware though, so if you enjoy the game please consider donating to them!
Other games to consider:
MicroQuadAlso see
Plank Films for video reviews and footage.
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Here is
a list of Palm emulators (check
ZodiacGamer for the latest news on homebrew/emulators), there's probably more than you realized. But the one most of you care about is LJZ, so here's the lowdown...
NES (Famicom) - 100% perfect (well except of course for games that needed the light gun, such as Duck Hunt).
SNES (Super Famicom) - 90% of games full speed without sound, a few full speed with.
Genesis (Megadrive) - Slightly unstable, most games full speed without sound. Games that do not require the Z-80 for sound (all the Phantasy Star's, Shinobi 3, etc.) are full speed even with sound.
GB/C - All Gameboy games full speed with sound, most GBC games full speed w/ sound.
TG16 (PC Engine) - very "alpha", aka unstable
WS - Haven't really tested this much. They only games I would probably want to play would be the the Final Fantasy remakes.
NGPC - Again, haven't tried this much.
"Can the Zodiac emulate PS/N64/Dreamcast/Xbox/Windows XP/PS9/real life?"
No, the processor is not fast enough to emulate those consoles, anything past GBA and you're dreaming. To give you an idea the SNES was 4 Mhz and it takes a 200 Mhz processor and a very optimized emulator to get what we have now.
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I'll be updating this guide as stuff changes, so if a link is dead or there is anything you want me to add/change just
let me know.