Android Movie Player

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For this little How To you'll need several things - ~ A device running Android (a tablet would be preferable unless you don't mind watching films on a teeny tiny phone screen) ~ Access to Googles Play Store ~ Some video files (any format is fine) Out of the box Android only supports a limited number of video formats (3gp, mp4, mkv) which makes it a pain when trying to watch those videos and TV shows you may have downloaded from somewhere on the internet that aren't in a supported format (i.e. avi files).  Using a couple of apps we can make your Android device into an awesome looking media player that plays all those other formats and will be the envy of your fellow commuters. 1) Copy some video files you want to watch on to your Android device.  I prefer to separate Movies and TV Shows into different directories using the following directory structure on my PC and other devices: This is the standard directory structure for most Media Server software and it's worth maintaining this structure if you want to implement a Media Server later. 2) Download and install Mizuu This is a paid app but it's very reasonably priced (£1.29) very powerful, and there's not really anything free which offers an alternative to it although I wouldn't recommend anything other than this anyway.  Mizuu will download metadata and images for your TV Shows and Movies and display them with covers, backdrops, actor information, and trailers.  It even has links to enable you to view details and trailers of upcoming movies and videos on sharing sites like Youtube, Reddit, and Ted Talks and basically creates an awesome looking UI for you to access your files. 3) Download and install BSPlayer or BSPlayer Free Whilst Mizuu will be the front-end BS Player will be the back-end and will play our video files, the reason we use this software is because it's one of the few which will also play non-native video files (such as AVI files) and transcodes on the fly with no lag in audio that you see on other players.  The main difference between BS Player and it's free version is the ad support, although this normally only appears when you pause the video (so it's relatively unobtrusive) but if you like the software you should pay for it to ensure it's continued support and development. 4) Go in to Mizuu and set up the locations for your Movie files and TV files in the settings, if Mizuu downloads the incorrect metadata and visuals for your files it's simple to change by tapping on the poster for the Movie or TV Show and then tapping the menu icon in the top right corner. 5) Once you've set up your folders and downloaded your metadata/visuals go into one of your Movies or TV Shows and click the Play button.  Android should give you a choice of media player you want to use to play the video file, select BS Player from the available options and then select ALWAYS so you never have to see this option again.

For this little How To you'll need several things -

• ~ A device running Android (a tablet would be preferable unless you don't mind watching films on a teeny tiny phone screen)
• ~ Access to Googles Play Store
• ~ Some video files (any format is fine)

Out of the box Android only supports a limited number of video formats (3gp, mp4, mkv) which makes it a pain when trying to watch those videos and TV shows you may have downloaded from somewhere on the internet that aren't in a supported format (i.e. avi files).  Using a couple of apps we can make your Android device into an awesome looking media player that plays all those other formats and will be the envy of your fellow commuters.

1) Copy some video files you want to watch on to your Android device.  I prefer to separate Movies and TV Shows into different directories using the following directory structure on my PC and other devices:

This is the standard directory structure for most Media Server software and it's worth maintaining this structure if you want to implement a Media Server later.

2) Download and install Mizuu

This is a paid app but it's very reasonably priced (£1.29) very powerful, and there's not really anything free which offers an alternative to it although I wouldn't recommend anything other than this anyway.  Mizuu will download metadata and images for your TV Shows and Movies and display them with covers, backdrops, actor information, and trailers.  It even has links to enable you to view details and trailers of upcoming movies and videos on sharing sites like Youtube, Reddit, and Ted Talks and basically creates an awesome looking UI for you to access your files.

3) Download and install BSPlayer or BSPlayer Free

Whilst Mizuu will be the front-end BS Player will be the back-end and will play our video files, the reason we use this software is because it's one of the few which will also play non-native video files (such as AVI files) and transcodes on the fly with no lag in audio that you see on other players.  The main difference between BS Player and it's free version is the ad support, although this normally only appears when you pause the video (so it's relatively unobtrusive) but if you like the software you should pay for it to ensure it's continued support and development.

4) Go in to Mizuu and set up the locations for your Movie files and TV files in the settings, if Mizuu downloads the incorrect metadata and visuals for your files it's simple to change by tapping on the poster for the Movie or TV Show and then tapping the menu icon in the top right corner.

5) Once you've set up your folders and downloaded your metadata/visuals go into one of your Movies or TV Shows and click the Play button.  Android should give you a choice of media player you want to use to play the video file, select BS Player from the available options and then select ALWAYS so you never have to see this option again.