How To: Convert Movies, TV Episodes, Videos for the Nokia N95

April 10th, 2007 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •

I will show you how you can convert your favorite movies and TV episodes from your computer to watch right on the Nokia N95’s default movie player. The Nokia N95 supports H.264 playback. H.264 in simple words: high quality videos at small file sizes. Enough techno blabber! Find out how right now!

UPDATE: Nokia just released Nokia Video Manager for Windows. Check it out.

UPDATE 2: I found an easier and better way using VisualHub. Read How To: Easy and Best Video Quality Conversion Using VisualHub on Mac

There seems to be a lot of new Nokia N95 owners, so this guide comes in perfect timing. It will make third-party programs like SmartMovie obsolete. This is also quick and pretty simple. Here we go:

Download the latest Quicktime.

Open the movie or TV episode in Quicktime. If the file does not play on your computer, it means you are missing a codec or component. For the purpose of this guide, I will not get into that part of the topic.

Go to File -> Export. Select “Movie to MPEG-4″ then click Options. Copy the settings in the screenshot below.

Thanks ImageShack!

Then click Video Options.. and copy the settings in the screenshot below.

Thanks ImageShack!

That’s it! Just hit OK and save. Depending on your computer and the size of the file, it may take some time. For my sample, I converted a 350MB TV episode to 240MB. Transfer it to your “My Movies” folder in your memory card when it finishes.

Summary of video settings:
File Format: MP4
Video Format H.264
Data Rate: 700 kbits/sec
Optimized for: Download
Image Size: 320 x 240 QVGA
Turn On: Aspect Ratio using Letterbox
Key Frame: Automatic
Restrict Profile(s) to: Main AND Baseline
Encoding Mode: Best Quality (Multi-pass)

You can play around with the settings yourself, but these are the settings for the best quality that the Nokia N95 can playback for you. I also tested these settings in my Nokia N93 and it also worked fine.

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  • You might also want to try VisualHub or the free iSquint which will let you batch convert files...

    http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/
    http://www.isquint.org/
  • the developer, Techspanion has closed shop and after an outcry from fans, it has released the source code.

    http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Open-Source-to-Build...
  • Eh? Export? Surely that's a Quicktime "PRO" feature? Or is it now bundled in with the free version?

    Steve
  • I believe export is a Pro feature. You can always use super to convert files
  • Simon
    Just wondering why you drop down to 320x240?
    The TV out works at 640x480.

    Or is this for playback on the built in 320x240 screen?

    Regards,
    Simon
  • Khalid
    My file/video does not play on my computer with Quicktime Pro.. but plays well with RealPlayer and Windows Media Player

    what to do?
  • @simon this is playback on your phone. but you can also change it to 640x480 if you prefer watching on your tv out. You also have to change the bitrate to 1405 kbits/sec instead of 700.
  • Cris
  • Thank you so much for posting this and for taking the time to share these settings. I have used other programs to convert and play videos on my N93 & N73 and planned on doing the same with the N95. I converted some video files using an application someone posted at another forum and played them back on my N95; I was not impressed at all with the quality.

    When I saw this post I immediately converted some commercials I produced and I was SIMPLY AMAZED at the quality. One commercial in particular that I shot in HD looks so crisp on my N95, just as good as the Nokia video that is preloaded. I didn't realize QuickTime MP4 would work on N95.

    All of the videos I have converted look identical to the originals with the same colors and just as smooth.

    Thank you again!!
  • btc
    I made a tutorial using completely free, simple to use software with varying quality profiles (up to TV out) for H264 encoding.

    If anyones interested the guide is here:
    http://www.n95users.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=281
  • K-Jay
    Could anybody give me a tutorial of how to convert videos for the N95 best quality settings using SUPER? Thanks!
  • K-Jay
    Also Mark have you done thorough testing to make sure that those are the possible video settings that can be played back on a Nokia N95? Also when i used this method to convert a video, according to my N95 it has a bitrate of 846kbps instead of 700kbps! Why is this?
  • PJ
    700kbs is just an average and only for video. Under this audio tab you'll see that's 128kbs by default. So added up gives you around 828 give or take.
  • MacWilliam
    I've tried this for my Nokia N73 but the video doesn't play with Real Player, I only hear the sound. How can I convert for the N73?
  • K-Jay
    So are these settings, definately the best that can be achieved on an N95?
  • King
    i followed this but apparently it didnt play the movie in Quicktime. Perhaps I am missing that Codec/Component thing..Could someone with a kind heart pls teach me how to get that codec so that i could follow these intsructions and finally be able to convert movies to my N95? i never had any movie played using my new cellphone, help me pls. thanks so much
  • sostlind
    Tried the Nokia Video Manager out. It works - eventually. It is slow, consumes vast amount of RAM and processor resources. Basically blocks my laptop.

    As to the Quicktime conversion, I can't make it work since there seems to be no working codec for xvid (I run on a PC). I tried "Alice soft dvd to h264" but the sound is all out of sync.

    Then I tried Avidemux and that fixed the sound sync problem but i got no video when playing it in the N95.

    At the moment it seems I have to use Nokia Video Manager but it seems like an early Beta version guys. Or I could probably make a twostep convsersion - say from xvid to divx then to h264 but i havent tried that yet.

    Any suggestions for a pc user?

    /Stefan
  • Wanted to compliment on your site, it looks really good .

    Hank
  • Mechdon
    Hi, thanks for the tutorial....

    I tried it...evrything was perfect except there is no sound. How to solve this problem?

    Thanks
  • Mechdon
    I think it has to do with the source of the video/file extension....I tried for some other movie files and they worked perfectly
  • Prashant
    Which Quicktime Player or Quicktime Pro where can i get the same free.
  • Hi Jim. Photos i received. Thanks
  • Doesn't help now the imageshack links are dead. Anychance of re-uploading them?
  • Matt
    Hi guys.

    I have a small problem...
    i have a lot of stuff i want to convert and most of it is .mov and .avi, i am new to the converting side of things so does anyone know the easy way of going about playing them on my n95?

    Thanks,

    Matt
  • Meo
    Is there a location where we can download pre-converted videos for the N95?

    Mal
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