Vidami, as you may know, is a hands-free footpedal for looping and slowing down video, and scrolling tabs and songsheets on screen.
Up until recently, it was compatible with online streaming videos played in the Chrome or Safari browsers, but not stand-alone MP4 videos.
So we were excited to hear that it was now compatible with downloaded MP4 files, because, of course, that’s what you get with Jerry’s Guitar Bar.
We tested it out with a few recent JGB videos and it was excellent and worked perfectly.
However, unfortunately we jumped the gun a little. The very earliest JGB lessons (about 200 of them) have older codec configurations that aren’t compatible with the Chrome or Safari browsers, and therefore can’t be played using the Vidami.
Just to be clear: All these lessons work fine in the normal way you use your JGB lessons. They play in all the major video players like VLC, Windows Media Player, QuickTime and many others. But they don’t currently play in the Vidami.
And, again, this is only true of the earliest JGB lessons. The vast majority work perfectly with the Vidami.
The good news is that this problem can be easily solved.
You’ll need to download and install the free video converter app ‘Handbrake’, which you can get here:
On Handbrake, simply convert any old JGB video that doesn’t currently work with Vidami. Convert MP4 to MP4 using the default setting, and save the converted file.
That one will work fine with the Vidami and you’ll be able to enjoy all the looping and slowing down tools that are so useful to your practice.
All good wishes,
Jerry & Isabel
S.W. says
Thanks for the update Jerry on the issue with older videos. The one song I tried worked fine, but at least I’ll know if I try another and it doesn’t that I can fix it on my own.
I came back to add to my original post and say how well the Vidami is working for me. I’m a low to mid intermediate player and my first song with the Vadami is “Always On My Mind”. Broke the song down and took three half hour sessions to get the entire song under my fingers at approximately 90% of it’s actual tempo. Getting that next 10%, along with the vocal in place, isn’t going to take long.
The ease of being able to start/stop/loop the JGB video speeds up the learning process and reduces any frustration to almost zero. Such a great tool Jerry, and I’m so happy that you did your review getting the information out to us.
Thanks again.
Jerry says
Great to hear S.W.
It certainly is a useful practice tool.
Brad U. says
Hi Jerry,
Am I mistaken or did your original post include a discount coupon code. I thought it did but can’t find it now that the original post is removed.
Thanks
Jerry says
Hi Brad
It did. It’s JerrysGuitarBar10 and it’ll get you 10% off.
Check Amazon too. Someone told me they were able to get 20% off there.
John F says
I’m on a Mac and had some old Jerry’s files that wouldn’t play video, and I downloaded the free app Handbrake and used the default preset codec ‘Fast1080p30’ and uploaded the problem file (Bob Dylan Don’t Think Twice…) and told the app where to save the file, renamed the file so I knew which one would be new and after selecting the “Start” button and waiting a couple of minutes, I had a new file which played fine as intended once I selected it in Vidami Blue. Hurray!
Jerry says
Great info John.
Thanks for sharing it. I’m sure it will help others too.
e.g.bell says
Thank you Jerry. I thought I had things figured out when I tried a different one and it worked. Not the smartest guy in the world and I can PROVE it. I do have one question… Is there any way to tell which lessons work and which will not. Some of the ones I have purchased don’t work with the Vidami and many do. I am happy with that but is there any way, going forward, that i could know a lesson would not work. I love your lessons and am building a library of them. I’m looking forward to more. It would be helpful to know somehow what won’t work. If that is not possible it is ok. The lessons are gold on their own.
I don’t know how your lessons are constructed. Wonder if there is some way to convert them easily with some utility already available.
Thanks!
egb
Jerry says
Great questions all:
Is there any way to tell which lessons work and which will not?
Right now there isn’t because the date of production isn’t listed on the website. There is a useful rule of thumb though. If the lesson preview has that very echoey sound, it MAY be in the list of those that don’t work. If the sound isn’t echoey (or only slightly), it will definitely work. (Some of the very echoey ones will work too, but it’s not possible right now to know which.)
“Very Echoey” Example: https://www.jerrysguitarbar.com/guitar-video-lessons/individual-songs/james-taylor-carolina-mind/
“Not Echoey” Example: https://www.jerrysguitarbar.com/guitar-video-lessons/individual-songs/eva-cassidy-early-morning-rain/
I don’t know how your lessons are constructed. Wonder if there is some way to convert them easily with some utility already available.
I believe so. If you find an MP4 file converter like AVS (and there are others), and convert a video from MP4 to MP4, it should update the codec info and create a version that Vidami can recognise.
We considered it ourselves, but to convert, then re-zip and re-upload to the server a few hundred lessons is a massive job for a 2-person business.
But for one lesson it’s certainly an option.