Preparing Your Video and USB Drive.
Although Lūpa is a powerful player suited to a variety of needs, a properly encoded video and formatted USB drive is essential to making sure Lūpa works smoothly. We have provided this guide to get your video and USB drive ready for Lūpa. In this section, you will find information on how to export your video from a variety of popular video editing software and how to prepare your USB drive.
In This Section:
Your File.
Accepted File Types
LOOP Mode Requirements
Lūpa is able to play H.264 MP4, JPEG or PNG images in LOOP mode. Lūpa can play video of any length as long as your USB drive is formatted correctly (see USB drive formats).
SYNC Mode Requirements
Lūpa is able to play H.264 MP4 in SYNC mode. Like LOOP mode, Lūpa can sync videos of any length as long as your USB is formatted correctly (see USB drive formats).
A Note About SYNC Mode
The most important thing about SYNC mode is that your videos MUST be of the same length (to the frame) on each player if you want reliable playback. If you export videos of differing lengths, Lūpa will restart the loop when the shortest video finishes, meaning videos that are longer will be cut off. It's good practice to check the length of your videos before you export, taking a look at the ‘timecode’ in your video editor to make sure all your videos are of the same length.
Additionally each Lūpa needs its own video to play from its USB stick, Lūpa does not support sending video from one Lūpa to another.
Please see the SYNC mode help page for more information.
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Audio Only Files
If you would like to use Lūpa as an audio player, you must convert your audio file to a H.264 video file. This will mean that the video aspect of the new file will just be black or blank. You don’t need to connect Lūpa to a screen though, Lūpa by default outputs its audio via the headphone jack and the HDMI at the same time, meaning you can connect it to your amp or headphones directly.
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Exporting Your File
Optimal Settings for Lūpa
If you wish to export using your own settings for Lūpa, we recommend the following settings for reliable playback and high video quality (other settings may also work):
| Setting | Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Video Size | 1920 x 1080 | ||
| Frame Rates | 23.976 / 24 / 25 / 29.97 / 30 frames per second | ||
| Video Container | .MP4 | ||
| Video Codec | H.264 | ||
| Video Max Bitrate | CBR (Constant Bitrate) at 25mb/s or 25000kb/s | ||
| Audio Codec | AAC or MP3 audio | ||
| Audio Max Bitrate | 320kbp/s | ||
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Export Presets for Editing Software
To make the process of exporting your video easier, we have created downloadable export presets for Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe Media Encoder, Final Cut Pro X & Compressor. Once installed you can simply select the preset, which will automatically apply the best settings for playback on Lūpa.
We highly recommend you download and install these presets to take the guesswork out of exporting your video. Included in the presets are versions for videos that require surround sound output. These are good places to start, so feel free to change the settings particular to your video - just make sure you stay within the optimal settings listed above.
Presets for Adobe Premiere Pro & Media Encoder.
How to Use:
1. Download preset file.
2. Open Adobe Media Encoder software on your computer.
3. From the menu select Preset>Import...>
4. Locate the downloaded preset file and choose Open.
The preset will now be available in both Premier Pro and Media Encoder under the video format 'H.264' and preset 'Export for Lūpa'. To export from Premier Pro using Media Encoder choose File>Export>Media...
Preset for Final Cut & Compressor.
How to Use:
1. Download preset file and unzip if necessary.
2. Open Compressor software on your computer.
3. Locate the downloaded preset file and drag and drop onto Custom Settings section on the left side of the Compressor window. 'Export for Lūpa' should now appear in the list.
The preset will now be available for both Final Cut and Compressor. To export from Final Cut using Compressor choose File>Send To Compressor... and drag and drop the preset onto your video file to use the preset settings.
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Your USB Drive.
Preparing Your USB Drive
After exporting your video, the next important step for reliable playback on Lūpa is how your USB drive is formatted. It is always best to make sure your USB drive contains nothing but the file you want to play, and that it has been freshly formatted (wiped or deleted).
This ensures there are no hidden files, or corruption of your USB drive that might stop Lūpa playing your file. We have provided instructions for both Mac and Windows operating systems on how to achieve this which you will find below.
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USB Drive Formats
Lūpa is able to play files from USB drives that are formatted as Fat32, ExFat or NTFS. We highly recommend that you format your USB drive as ExFat or NTFS as this allows you to copy files that are larger than 4GB in data size (Fat32, a very old standard, only allows files under 4GB in size), allowing playback of files that may be well over 1 hour long at full quality.
Please check our instructions on how to format your USB drive on Mac or Windows at the end of this section.
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How to Format Your USB Drive
Watch the tutorial videos below on how to format your USB drive on MacOS and Windows.
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Multiple Files on a USB Drive
If you have multiple videos on your USB drive, Lūpa will only play the file that was most recently added to the drive and will ignore any other file that was added before this.
If you require multiple video files to be played we recommend you edit these together to make one file. Lūpa can support large files so it doesn’t matter how large or how long your video ends up being.
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