Ask PSP Fanboy: Volume 14
Every Saturday, PSP Fanboy will answer your burning questions. If you have a question for the team, send an e-mail to andrew @ pspfanboy.com with the subject "Ask PSP Fanboy."
Q: What ever happened to the ambitious Final Fantasy VI homebrew remake?
A: One man had a vision: to remake the sublime Final Fantasy VI in full 3D on PSP. Sounds crazy? Well, it is--but it's clear that he's still working on it. The problem? We may never see it, according to his forum post: "THIS GAME IS CURRENTLY NOT INTENDED TO BE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC. I DO NOT KNOW IF IT -EVER- WILL BE. MY LAWYER AND I ARE LOOKING INTO IT, AND WHEN WE HAVE A FINAL DECISION ON THIS, YOU WILL BE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT IT, POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE. CURRENTLY, THE SITUATION IS GIVING ME REASON TO LEAN TOWARDS _NOT_ RELEASING IT." Of course, if anything changes, we'll be sure to give you a heads-up!
Square's probably going to release this on PSP eventually.
Even more questions, after the break! Find out: how does Andrew make PSP Fanboy Theatre look so good? Also, what is AVLS?
Q: The videos on "PSP Fanboy Theatre" look great- they run smooth and have good resolution. What is the process and software you use to (re)encode these videos to MP4 (PSP compatible)?
A: Thanks for the compliment! The most important thing you can do is: make sure you have the best quality source possible. Our movie trailers usually come from Apple because QuickTime files are absolutely gorgeous. They even have 1080p files, which I like to use on my PS3. For game trailers, we like to get files directly from the publisher's FTP, but when that's not available, we also use GameTrailers. Once again, we prefer QuickTime files over Windows Media.
While this step isn't necessary, I like to convert my movies into uncompressed AVI files using QuickTime Pro ($30). This is an added step, but I find that conversions come out better this way. Watch out if you do this, though: your files will easily take a few gigabytes.
For other files, make sure you have the right codecs. The CCCP (free) should have absolutely everything you need. Sometimes, if I want to crop a movie file, I'll use Bink (free) and DivX Pro ($20). Once all my files are prepped the way I want, I use PSP Video 9 (free). Make sure you choose 768kbps AVC video, especially if you're encoding in 480x272. Lately, I've been encoding files in 720x480, so they'll be able to play both on my PS3 and PSP. Hope that helped!
A lot of effort goes into making the weekly PSP Fanboy Theatre.
Q: What is AVLS?
A: In "Sound Settings," there is an option to turn on AVLS. What is it? It prevents you from using PSP's maximum volume. Why? It's for your protection: Sony doesn't want you getting distracted by loud music, which can damage your hearing and make you oblivious to certain dangers on the street. Yes, it's a really useless feature.
