New Sansa utility: Batch JPG converter

[EngineeringProblem]

I've written a utility (attached) that assists in batch uploading and rotating JPG images (to fit your screen) to your Sansa. Let me know what you think. Source code is included.

Jon

p.s. If you find this useful, please help me distribute as widely as possible.

[CrowdAds]

[redcell]

well All i got to say is that this is pretty cool

it does have its flaws but after time with more coding this could become very nice

also do you know just C or can you do vb6 ?

[jeeb]

WOW!


this is really great!

you should send it to adscorp to put on his sansa site

[Jack4L]

Theres one major problem, when it automaticaly tilts images sideways for the optimal fit onto the screen it mirrors them at the same. Does this on all "normal" photos that are converted to be sideways. So an image thats normaly suposed to show someone pointing to the right, it shows them pointing to the left...

Since all images need to be tilted to be viewed on the sansa, i think it does this for all images? Atleast all my photos.

[EngineeringProblem]

I actually wrote the program and posted the same day I got my Sansa. If you look at the code, it's really simple. .NET has some nice libraries for image manipulation. I'm pretty busy, so I don't see myself enhancing this. Really just wanted to get it out there in hopes that someone will pick it up and run with it.

I've 1000s of photos carefully categorized by folder. The 200 series makes a pretty decent viewer, but is effectively useless in this capacity if you rely on the media converter.

I can view images with writing correctly whether rotated or not, so I don't think it's mirroring. Perhaps some cameras encode orientation info differently?

Please upload wherever you think it appropriate. Thanks!

Jon M.

[smoore]

Thanks Jon, I'm finally able to view pictures on my e260.
I had the problem with mirror images but I used Multiple Image Resizer to flip them all.
Its a shame that program doesn't give you the option to change the RGB setting to 565.

[kailash]

i loved ur program, quick and effective, but can u also make a same type of thing for videos?

[EngineeringProblem]

I double-checked and my photos are not being mirrored. It's possible your camera is encoding orientation information.

Today, I was unable to copy the .BMPs to the Sansa unless I was in MSC mode. Might have something to do with updated drivers I've recently installed.

I wish I could do something about video import. The inability of Media Converter to encode long videos is simple incompetance on Sandisk's part.

[Inquisitor]

Guys, what do you consider a long video? I've been converting full time movies in avi format without a problem. I bet you are having codec problems.

[Jack4L]

I agree, the problem might be with having multiple codecs installed, and SMC just reading the wrong pack.

I personaly used to have problems with this, but then I installed this thing called CCCP (Combined Comunity Codec Pack) and dont really have problems with any converting. Atleast not with the program.

[Inquisitor]

Originally Posted by Jack4L

...but then I installed this thing called CCCP (Combined Comunity Codec Pack)

I doubt anyone outside the former soviet bloc knows what it actually means (try Googling USSR).

I am using K-Lite codec pack, works like a charm.

[EngineeringProblem]

Just FYI, if someone was enterprising, it wouldn't be too hard to write a text reader for the Sansa. In the above code, a bitmap is created. You can create a Graphics object based on the bitmap, then draw the strings manually. You'd have to handle word-wrap yourself. When the next string was off the screen, start a new bitmap.

On the UI, you'd specify a .TXT file (which can be output from Word), and a folder where the .BMPs would end up.

I'd think an experienced .NET developer could write this in about a day.

[sirWest]

Originally Posted by EngineeringProblem

Just FYI, if someone was enterprising, it wouldn't be too hard to write a text reader for the Sansa. In the above code, a bitmap is created. You can create a Graphics object based on the bitmap, then draw the strings manually. You'd have to handle word-wrap yourself. When the next string was off the screen, start a new bitmap.

On the UI, you'd specify a .TXT file (which can be output from Word), and a folder where the .BMPs would end up.

I'd think an experienced .NET developer could write this in about a day.

i think i can do this even faster in VB6... but i doubt in it's functionality... too many "pages"... let's say 1 A4 page from pdf or whatever, it comes about 30 pages or so?? it will take MUCH more space for 1 "document"...

[FragMonkey]

I am too having the mirroring problem... what can be done?
And I did not use a camera for these pictures. Its just some stuff I made in photoshop that I wanted to show people. Is it because I had to open the images in and save them as a jpeg file first before using this utility, because they werent in jpeg format from the start?

[CornMonkey]

when i used this program, all the images i wanted to upload were mirrored. but once i copy/pasted them onto the correct folder on my sansa, they showed correctly.

[FragMonkey]

oooh but I used the media converter to put them into my sansa. When I try to just copy/paste into the correct folder, I get an error about the device only accepting playlist, folder, and audio files.

What folder are you exactly pasting them into?

[avshya]

Yeahhh Now I have a lot pictures of my best photos, very cool, congratulations again....

[xXLoStXx]

The images are NOT mirrored.

At least once on the Sansa.



When you look at them from the computer, they are mirrored.


But once you transfer the images to the Sansa, they are back to their original position.


AT least in my case. x]


Nice program. I'm definitely going to be using it often

[zontar]

Jon, thanks a bunch for the neat little program

I converted it to VB .NET 2005 and attached the zipped project in case anyone else wants to enhance it in VB .NET. One thing that would be nice is a progress bar. I wish I had time to work on it, but I don't .

I added a camera icon to the .exe (the exe is in the Bin\Debug folder).

I also had the problem of the images being mirrored in windows but were fine when put into the sansa (not a big deal).

[jason novak]

The reason it's mirrored is because they do something weird with the height in the bitmap header. You must flip the picture, and then the height needs to be set to -220 instead of 220. Then it will appear correct in windows and in the player. There doesn't seem to be a way to set this in .net using the built-in graphics functions. I had to write out the image as normal, and open the file as a binary file and manually set the new height in the header by changing the appropriate bytes