When I saw Matt Cutts’ video series in Google Video, I immediately wanted to convert the clips to play in my phone, a Sony Ericsson K750i, for viewing and listening in times when I have nothing to do and I’m away from the computer.
Google Video allows you to download MP4 videos and I downloaded a bunch of Matt Cutts videos in MP4 format, thinking it would play in my phone. Wrong. I could hear the sound of the clips but I couldn’t see anything. This suited me just fine as you can understand what Matt Cutts is saying without visual cues.
And then I saw Bob Dylan. I found a bunch of Dylan music videos in Google Video and I was spurred into finding a way to convert the files to play in my phone. I tried converting the MP4 videos using ImTOO MP4 Video Converter to no avail.
I solved this by using a bookmarklet that allows you to download Google Video clips as .avi files and then converted the files to mp4, using the video conversion settings I wrote about here.
Super video converter can convert flv files from video sharing sites into 3gp for playing in your phone. Click to enlarge.
I wanted to try the same thing for YouTube videos but couldn’t find a way to download its clips in one of ImTOO MP4 Video Converter’s supported formats. I needed to find another way to convert the videos. Below are the steps I took in converting Google Video and YouTube clips to play in my phone. For the conversion, I use the Super video converter, which is an excellent piece of free software despite the crappy name.
Step 1
Download the files as .flv or in Flash Video format. You can use KeepVid to download the files in this format. Just copy the address of the video and paste it into the download bar in the site.
To make it even easier to save files in this format, just use the KeepVide bookmarklet, you can drag this link to your bookmarks toolbar –> Keep it. After dragging the link, click on it whenever you want to save a video you are viewing.
Step 2
Open Super and then drag the videos into the bottom of its screen to add them into the conversion job list. You can manually add the videos for conversion by using the menu, which you can access by right clicking on the software interface.
Dragging the videos into the screen is easier and less cumbersome. What I do is I open the Super application and resize Windows file explorer or Total Commander so that I can just drag the video clips into the application.
Choose your conversion format, video screen size, sampling frequency and frames per second setting. For my K750i, I use the 3gp (Sony Ericsson) setting. Although the K750i can play mp4 videos, Super’s mp4 setting does not have 176×144 screen size. The k750i has a 176×144 screen size and appears not to play anything larger than that (based on my experience.)
Step 3
Transfer the converted videos into your phone and enjoy.
25 responses so far ↓
[ Impermanentes.com.br ] » Arquivos » Vídeos do Youtube ou Google Video para seu celular // Sep 15, 2006 at 10:06 pm
[...] From Google Video, YouTube to your phone in 3 steps [...]
Have your favourite web videos on your mobile. at innerangst.net // Sep 16, 2006 at 1:07 am
[...] read more | digg story Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: . [...]
Mike // Sep 16, 2006 at 3:44 pm
I would just buy a better phone… Windows Mobile 5 can view the videos in realtime, no need to download and do all that conversion junk.
Vinod Menon // Sep 16, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Where can i get this software? I checked the website but i can’t seem to find it. Some help please! Thanks!
Utopia Parkway » Blog Archive » links for 2006-09-17 // Sep 19, 2006 at 6:44 am
[...] From Google Video, YouTube to your phone in 3 steps | Leon Kilat ::: The Cybercafe Experiments How to . . . (tags: video mobile) [...]
Watching The Codebreakers on my phone | Leon Kilat ::: The Cybercafe Experiments // Sep 22, 2006 at 3:46 am
[...] I immediately downloaded a .avi version of the clip and converted the video to play in my phone using instructions I wrote about earlier. While searching for articles about the documentary, I found this page in the Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme. It turns out that the documentary is available for free download on a Creative Commons license. If you’re interested in a 3GP version of the documentary, let me know and I’ll upload the file. [...]
News Doggy - Fetched News » Have your favourite web videos on your mobile. // Sep 24, 2006 at 1:19 am
[...] From Google Video, YouTube to your phone in 3 easy stepsread more | digg story [...]
Ascribo // Sep 30, 2006 at 11:12 pm
It seems that KeepVid is not working anymore, at least for Google video…
Check it please.
EveryDigg » Blog Archive » Have your favourite web videos on your mobile. // Oct 4, 2006 at 8:01 pm
[...] From Google Video, YouTube to your phone in 3 easy stepsread more | digg story [...]
Standing Mobile » NewsGator Go! and Video/YouTube Playback // Oct 6, 2006 at 1:50 am
[...] http://max.limpag.com/2006/09/15/from-google-video-youtube-to-your-phone-in-3-steps/Â - download to desktop, convert, copy to device [...]
Ed // Oct 15, 2006 at 11:26 pm
To run Super you need 128 MB of RAM memory. It will run even under Win9x, in theory, but few Win9x systems have that much memory.
Scott Robbin // Oct 20, 2006 at 11:58 am
I’ve created a web application that lets you search, download, and view Google Videos all directly from your phone:
Click here to try out the Mobile Video Search
Max Limpag // Oct 20, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Hey Scott,
That’s cool but I prefer downloading the video using my computer and then converting them using a PC-based software before transferring them to the phone. Not only is downloading faster that way, you also don’t need to spend a lot for the phone connection.
AD // Nov 7, 2006 at 7:23 pm
or… you could just point your phone’s browser to tinytube.net, and let it do the transcoding for you.
ks // Dec 28, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Try http://sourceforge.net/projects/zunemytube/. This is an IE plugin that allows you to download the video that you are watching in .wmv format under My Videos\YouTube/GoogleVideo dir.
Sudeep // Feb 28, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Hey thanks a lot Leon. Its works out beautifully. But the sound is not so good and if I increase the bit rate or the sample rate do you think it will still be good on the mobile? I am gonna test it out but what is the best bit rate and sample rate for K750i
Danny // Aug 27, 2007 at 7:13 pm
how do i get to play you tube videos on my cell phone…..
Danny // Aug 27, 2007 at 7:14 pm
i want to play you tube vidoes on my nokia n 70 but i am not able to play the vidoes…
what am i supposed to do
how can i get a player to play those files
and also how can i download them on my mobile ?????????????
Adam // Dec 14, 2007 at 3:08 am
Ive got the e-zsoft youtube downloader and i can download the videos from youtube but they dont play on my sony erikson w850 , how do i get them to play??
Max Limpag // Dec 14, 2007 at 3:23 am
Adam,
You still need to convert it to a format that can be played by your phone: .mp4 or .3GP. You can use the software I wrote about above (Super) or you can try an even better one, the free version of Any Video Converter at: http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
Rusty // Dec 20, 2007 at 4:28 am
Can i get youtube videos to play on my Nokia N95.And what band with must i have? Aslo Iphone users beware of your access to youtube as you CANOT PLAY youtube videos if you access youtube through your safrie browser button, it says you need to download a flash player. You have to use your youtube button, but even then you CANOT log in to your own youtube account, which means you CANOT play your playlist you have on youtube.
Rusty // Dec 20, 2007 at 4:32 am
Has anyone thought of a way you can get connect a mobile USB broadband dongle to an Itouch so you can still go on the web useing a mobile phone broadband provider …Can someone please invent one …. Thank you lol
spet // Jun 7, 2008 at 5:00 am
I using the NetVideoHunter addon for Firefox to download videos and music from any site. It’s working well for me:
http://netvideohunter.com
Alok // Jun 27, 2008 at 6:56 pm
i want to convert my Mp4 Video into you tube / Google video ….
Pls help me out
courtney louise // Apr 10, 2009 at 5:51 pm
i want to get song off it to put in mt phone how do i do that cauze i dont have bluetoof orr in4red so what do i do my mum dont want to wait money/credit just to get a song and if you did do a phone download of youtube you will get millions and better rates and the amount off people that go on you tube it wwill be unberlivabul .x.x.PS: think about it a make a website or youtube a better place x
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