PSVR Sideload Instructions [EN]

Owned by Charles Kelly (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 08, 2019 by Brandon Plaster (Deactivated)
4 min read

NOTE: The Japanese version can be found here

Littlstar VR Cinema supports the playback of 2D/mono, 3D/stereo, 360, and 180 videos, via an external hard drive. There are a few simple steps that must be followed to get videos to play back correctly; please read through the instructions below and reach out to support@littlstar.com if you have any questions. 

Sideloaded videos can also be viewed in Offline Mode.

NOTE: With the release of version 1.26, video type and layout can now be resolved using metadata files instead of the filename itself. Please visit this page for more info.

External Drive Setup

  1. Format your drive as exFAT or FAT32. NOTE: This will erase all files on the drive! Ensure you've backed up all important data on your drive before doing this step.
  2. Once formatted, insert a folder named "Littlstar" at the root (top-level directory) of the drive.
    • The name of the folder is case-insensitive
    • All videos need to be placed in this folder or they will not be able to be read by the app.
    • Please read on to learn how to name your files for proper playback on the app.
  3. NEW! VR Cinema now supports sub-folders. Any folders added inside your "Littlstar" folder will now appear inside your Library.

File naming conventions

There are specific naming conventions to which videos must adhere for the app to recognize the type of video it needs to render. By default, the Littlstar player will attempt to render a fixed frame video. Therefore it is not necessary to explicitly add "ff" to the file name unless it's 3D, in which case "3dff" should be appended to the file name.

180 Videos

  • file name needs to contain "180"

360 Videos

  • file name needs to contain "360"

Fixed Frame Videos

  • file name needs to contain either "3dff" if 3D fixed frame video
  • for 3D videos, if each sub-frame is the full resolution, file name needs to contain "FR". (Note: most videos are packed into the frame to be half resolution, so this extension isn't usually needed.)

OverUnder/TopBottom Videos

  • file name needs to contain either "ou", "tb", or "bt"

SideBySide/LeftRight Videos

  • file name needs to contain either "sbs", "lr" or "rl"

Examples:

  • myvideo.mp4
  • myvideo_180.mp4
  • myvideo_180_ou.mp4
  • myvideo_180_tb.mp4
  • myvideo_180_bt.mp4
  • myvideo_180_sbs.mp4
  • myvideo_180_lr.mp4
  • myvideo_180_rl.mp4
  • myvideo_360.mp4
  • myvideo_360_ou.mp4
  • myvideo_360_tb.mp4
  • myvideo_360_bt.mp4
  • myvideo_360_sbs.mp4
  • myvideo_360_lr.mp4
  • myvideo_360_rl.mp4
  • myvideo_3dff_ou.mp4
  • myvideo_3dff_tb.mp4
  • myvideo_3dff_bt.mp4
  • myvideo_3dff_sbs.mp4
  • myvideo_3dff_lr.mp4
  • myvideo_3dff_rl.mp4

Thumbnails and Metadata

As of version 1.20, you can add a thumbnail, title and description information by setting the metadata of the Mp4 file. We utilize the MPEG4 standard for metadata.

In order to add a thumbnail, you must have an existing png or jpg you wish to add. Aspect Ratio is preferred to be 16:9 with a width of 720 pixels or less.

Setting thumbnails with ITunes

There are many tools for editing media file metadata. ITunes is a popular tool for this. 

  1. Open ITunes
  2. File → Add Folder to Library
  3. Add your Littlstar folder to the Library
  4. Library → Movies → Home Videos
  5. You should see your Littlstar videos under Home Videos
  6. Right click your target video → Video Info
  7. Artwork → Add Artwork, then select a thumbnail to add.
  8. You can update other metadata within the Video Info dialog as well.

Bulk thumbnails with Mp3tag

  1. Place all your videos and thumbnails in one folder. Each thumbnail should have a name identical to the corresponding video. (eg. MyVideo.mp4 and MyVideo.jpg)
  2. Launch Mp3tag
  3. File → Change Directory (Browse to folder from previous step)
  4. Edit → Select All Files
  5. Actions (Quick)
  6. Import cover from file → Ok
  7. Format string for image filename → %_filename%.jpg → Ok

(Note: Mp3tag will remux the mp4 when embedding the jpg image. This can take a while depending on the filesize of the mp4.)

Recommended Settings

To ensure proper playback and to be able to support as many videos as possible, we recommend some basic encoding guidelines:

Video Spec

  • Codec: H.264
  • Profile: High
  • Level: 5.1
  • Bit Rate: 20Mbps bit rate or lower
  • Max pixel width: 2560
  • Max pixel height: 2560
  • Max frame rate: 60fps
  • Color Space: YUV420/NV12 at 8 bits

Audio Spec

  • Codec: AAC-LC
  • Channel Count: 2 (stereo or binaural)
  • Bit Rate: 320Kbps bit rate or lower

Container Spec

  • File extensions: MP4, MOV
  • No fragmentation
  • No DRM

Known Issues

  • Video files will not load if the video's format extension is not lowercase (IE ".mp4", not ".MP4")
  • Multiple USB sticks can cause video reading issues so it is recommended to only use a single drive that has been inserted before application start
  • If your video is playing back with no picture (but audio is still working), chances are you're attempting to play a video encoded with the Main H.264 profile. Re-encoding the video to the High profile will resolve most issues of this nature. Our ls-psvr-encoder application provides a streamlined way to ensure the proper profile is used on your videos without any visual quality loss. An alternative open source transcoder is Handbrake.
  • Videos should not contain "sbs", "ou" or any of the other phrases above unless they are intended to let the player know which type of video it should try and render.
  • Videos may not playback correctly if they do not include an audio channel. Even if your video is silent, make sure to encode the video with at least one audio channel. Other known issues include videos with multiple channels (3 or more) playing back with no audio. Please adhere to the audio specs for ideal audio formatting.
  • Currently all 3D videos are limited to the same standard mapping, meaning that "sbs", "lr", and "rl" are all equivalent during playback. Videos in "rl" format, (where the right eye texture is placed on the left and the left eye texture is placed on the right), is currently unsupported. Allowing for this flexibility is a feature we hope to implement soon in a coming update.
  • If you are formatting your drive on OSX (Mac), you will need to enable Master Boot Record (MBR), otherwise your videos may not show up
  • Sometimes formatting your drive on OSX can cause duplicate files on the application, this is a hidden meta file generated by OSX that ends up being recognized by the PS4. One of these is the actual video and can be played back where the other is not and will not load.