Craig's List Craig White's List of Thoughts & Finds

How to Transfer Movies to a Sansa Fuze Media Player

Before you start, make sure the following is already installed on your PC.
(I'm not 100% sure why, but all the forum posts indicate having these setup already on your PC is a plus):

1. DirectX 9.0c (run dxdiag to check version; download updates from Microsoft web site)
2. Quicktime (download from Apple web site)
3. K-Lite Codec Pack 5.6.1 (Full)
   Web Site: http://www.klitetools.com/comments.php?catid=96&id=219
   Download: http://www.softvb.com/h (install taking all defaults)

Now you can prepare/transfer your Video Files to your Fuze like this:

Simple but Not Free Method: WinAVI Video Converter

Note that WinAVI is not free.  You can test/demo this process for free using the trial version of WinAVI but it will have a watermark superimposed over your video.

1. Click on "convert to avi"
2. Select video file you want to convert
   Note: I use Daniusoft DVD Ripper (not freeware) to burn (rip) movies from DVD to .mp4 format.  For me, this means I select this .mp4 file in this step when transferring a DVD movie to my Sansa Fuze.
3. Next to Output Format click on "advanced"
4. Apply these settings in WinAVI:Codec
   Video: ZJMedia MPEG-4  Encoder
   Audio: ZJMedia Mp3 Encoder 

   Video Frame Rate: 20

   Picture Size
   Width: 224
   Height: 176

   Audio
   Sample Rate: 44100
   Bit Rate: 128000

Not Simple but Free Method: Any Video Converter (AVC) and the Sansa Media Converter

You will need:

• Any Video Converter (AVC): http://www.any-video-converter.com/download-avc-free.php
• Sansa Media Converter (SMC): Download the Sansa Firmware Updater which will then allow you to download/install SMC.  Sansa Firmware Updater: http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/156/sno/0

1. Apply these settings in AVC:Customized AVI Movie (*.avi)
   Video Codec: mpeg4
   Frame Size: 320x240
   Video Bitrate: 384
   Video Framrate: 20
   Audio Codec: mp3
   Audio Bitrate: 128
   Sample Rate: 44100
   Audio Channel: 2
2. Select your movie/video file using the Add Video button.  Make sure your video selection has a check mark next to it.
   Note: I use Daniusoft DVD Ripper (not freeware) to burn (rip) movies from DVD to .mp4 format.  For me, this means I select this .mp4 file in this step when transferring a DVD movie to my Sansa Fuze.
3. Click Convert.  This process will not be quick ... 20 minutes or so for a 90 min movie.  By default, this output is saved to: My Documents\Any Video Converter\AVI
4. Convert/Transfer your AVC output file using SMC.Open SMC
   Click Add Media and locate the video file created by AVC in the previous step
   Plug in your Fuze
   Click Convert (this will complate a 2nd conversion and also transfer the file to your Fuze).  This process will not be quick (although not quite as long as the previous step creating the file in AVC). 

   NOTE: Make sure there is enough room on your Fuze for this process.  The conversion process within SMC took a 420MB movie up to 650MB!

And that's it.