TealMovie lets you choose from two frame rate options. In automatic mode, the encoder selects the highest frame rate below 18fps that divides evenly into the frame rate of the source video. For NTSC (National Television System Committee) video, which normally runs at 29.9fps, the resulting TealMovie is 10fps. You can also specify a frame rate manually. TealPoint recommends using a 10fps frame rate, which seems to work well for most videos. For fast motion movies with fast cuts, though, it might be worth running at 15fps instead, if the 50% gain in file size is not a problem.

Screen shape
One issue with converting existing footage to the Palm handheld is the shape of the screen. A Palm computer display is a square 160 x 160 pixels, while source video is typically rectangular. To convert a movie, there are two standard ways to work around this. First, the source imagery can be cropped, cutting off the left and right sides of the image to make the viewable area square. This option makes good use of the Palm handheld display, but some important imagery can be lost on either side.

Alternatively, the image can be shrunken to fit entirely inside the square screen, with the extra space on the top and bottom filled with empty black bands. This option, called letterboxing, guarantees that the whole original image is kept, but the resulting imagery is significantly smaller than with the cropping option, and some details can be hard to see. TealMovie addresses the issue by providing additional flexibility, allowing you to choose either method or any combination of cropping and letterboxing to find a happy medium most suitable for the source.

The full screen option is usually good for informal videos such as home movies or movies designed for the square screen, while letterboxing is preferred when converting over existing pieces, where framing of the footage or titles place important details at the edges of the screen.

Putting it all together
Creating a TealMovie file is a fairly simple process. Once you've specified your conversion settings, your source AVI file, and the source audio file--which is typically either the same AVI or a separate WAV file--simply press the "Encode" button to begin. The encoding process is fairly fast, typically taking a few minutes for a one minute-long video. A Palm-format file is created, which you install on the Palm handheld for playing on the TealMovie viewer.

Now playing
If you'd like to check out some examples, the TealPoint Web site has an extensive archive of TealMovie files at http://www.tealpoint.com/movies.htm. Figure D shows a still from a video called "Best of Milan" as it would appear on a color handheld.

FIGURE D

Fashion designers can use TealMovie as a mobile showcase.

This TealMovie file was put together by CinemaElectric.com at http://www.cinemaelectric.com. It's a very cool, fast cutting video of models showing off the latest Spring 2001 fashions in Milan, accompanied by appropriate techno music. It's a good example of how fashion designers could use TealMovie as a mobile showcase.