Many games use the Nintendo DS video format 'mods' (Mobiclip for Nintendo DS), but it can be a tricky format to convert into. This tutorial will describe from start to finish how to convert a conventional video format such as MP4 into the the Nintendo DS proprietary format MODS.

For this tutorial, you will need the following:

• VirtualDubMod
• A Nintendo Developer Portal account
• Mobiclip Middleware for TWL (TwlMiddleware-libMobiclip-1_2_2-20100903.zip)
• MobiclipDecoder by Gericom (Compiled version)
• An internet connection

We'll start off by getting everything set up.

First of all, we're going to obtain the nessecary license file used to set up Mobiclip Middleware for TWL.
Head over to the Nintendo Developer portal, and navigate to 'Getting Started', then use the lefthand dropdowns to find the Middleware List. Click on 'Learn More' in the main Mobiclip for Nintendo 3DS box. From here, click the 'Download License' button. (If this button does not work, you may have to obtain the download link directly through the page source.)
This should give you the needed 'User.lic' file.
(Be aware that this is different from the license found in the Downloads portion of Development Support. Not sure why it's so out of the way, though.)

Next, we'll set up Mobiclip Middleware for TWL.
Unzip 'TwlMiddleware-libMobiclip-1_2_2-20100903.zip', navigate to 'libMobilclip>Tools>bin' and click on Mobiclip_Tools_For_DS.exe.
Follow the installation instructions, then navigate to 'Mobiclip Inc>Mobiclip Tools for NINTENDO DS>licenseInstaller' in the directory you chose during setup, and install the license you just downloaded.
(Or alternatively, I believe you can just place User.lic in the 'Mobiclip Tools for NINTENDO DS' folder.)

Finally, unzip 'VirtualDubMod_1_5_10_2_b2542.zip' and start VirtualDubMod.exe. We can check that Mobiclip for DS and it's associated license has installed correctly by opening the compression options under the 'Video' dropdown, then selecting 'Mobiclip for NINTENDO DS' and clicking 'About'. If the license was installed correctly, you should not recieve a popup telling you the license key is invalid/expired.

Next, prep the video to be converted to Mobiclip-compatible AVI using VirtualDubMod.

I used this website to convert an MP4 into an MPG. These are the settings I used, though you may be able to change them within reason to suit your needs:

• 256x192 pixels
• 24FPS
• Audio track disabled (Leaving this enabled will result in corrupted audio)

Start the conversion, then download the MPG it gives you. This process ensures your video is usable by VirtualDubMod.

If you would like for your video to have audio, I used this website to convert the original file to a seperate WAV. (You can optionally compress this file to save space) I then used this website to re-convert it to 16-Bit Mono. This new file can now be used when converting to MODS later in the tutorial.

Now, you can open your converted MPG in VirtualDubMod. It should look something like this:

Again, make sure you have selected 'Mobiclip for NINTENDO DS' in your compression options.

Next, select 'File > Save As' to choose where to save your Mobiclip-compatible AVI, then click 'Save' and allow for it to convert. This will create a new AVI in your export directory.

Finally, we'll convert your AVI to MODS.

Once again find your Mobiclip installation directory, then navigate to 'Mobiclip Inc>Mobiclip Tools for NINTENDO DS>converter', which should contain AviToMobiclipDs.exe. Move your AVI into this folder.
Open up command prompt and CD into this directory. Use the command:

AviToMobiclipDs -in <yourvideo>.avi -out <your output filename>.mods

If you created a WAV file earlier, instead use the following command to merge both your AVI and WAV when converting to MODS.

AviToMobiclipDs -in <yourvideo>.avi -audio <youraudio>.wav -out <your output filename>.mods

From here, AviToMobiclipDs.exe should handle the rest.

Given all went well, you should now have a fully converted MODS file!
To check if the conversion went well, open up MobiDecoder.exe and select the converted MODS file. It should play through all the way.

You can now insert your MODS video into your homebrew application or romhack.

Just a few notes:

• MobiConverter.exe can also be used to convert MODS back into AVI, though the final filesize isn't ideal.

• In this tutorial, you may have noticed my usage of both Win10 and Win7. This isn't nessecary and was only done due to an installation issue with Mobiclip_Tools_For_DS.exe on my end.
• In testing, I was able to convert short (0:06), moderate (2:38) and long (12:44) videos with audio successfully.
• Mobiclip formats can be pretty finicky, so this method may not work for everyone.
• I haven't linked TwlMiddleware-libMobiclip-1_2_2-20100903.zip here for obvious reasons, but you should be able to find it if you know where to look. Edit: Linked
• I implore everyone reading this to also read the documentation within 'libMobiclip>docs'

This has been a very tedious tutorial to make with lots of trial and error in between, so I appreciate your feedback.

Thanks for reading

 

[FAST6191]

Interesting. Had not expected to see such things made.
That said "A Nintendo Developer Portal account" is a step too far for my tastes -- generally signing up to such things does come with a huge stinger if you take the agreements you sign seriously as far as playing hacker/homebrew dev in the future.

Still even if it does effectively take leaked items then glad to see it made possible.

 

[idk1456]

thanks for the guide. It work perfectly and doesn't have any problem playing a converted video on a actual DS

 

[pancakee]

Interesting. Had not expected to see such things made.
That said "A Nintendo Developer Portal account" is a step too far for my tastes -- generally signing up to such things does come with a huge stinger if you take the agreements you sign seriously as far as playing hacker/homebrew dev in the future.

Still even if it does effectively take leaked items then glad to see it made possible.

Completely understandable, hopefully one day another viable solution is made available for agreement-conscious homebrew devs

 

[Larsenv]

We're actually working on updating this tool to add DS conversion support, should be out very soon.

 

[fciq]

thanks the guide,I think Ican use it in my hacks.

 

[Migueleven]

Good afternoon, i downloaded the User.lic but i need to download Mobiclip, where i can find it? I don't see any button on Nintendo Developer Portal, can you help me please? Thanks

 

[Migueleven]

And when you convert a .AVI file to .mods, the .mod file keep the sound of the video?

 

[pancakee]

And when you convert a .AVI file to .mods, the .mod file keep the sound of the video?

It seems leaving sound in the AVI corrupts the audio after conversion, so I've added additional steps for those who would like it in the final MODS

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I'm sure there's some other program that could be used to do the conversion than vdub, that would support modern formats and remove the need for converting the file to MPG first.

 

[NjordFroste]

Can you give any clue about TwlMiddleware-libMobiclip-1_2_2-20100903.zip? I can't find it anywhere

 

[sandwichwater]

does this support higher resolution than the standard ds res or does that give issues ¿

edit : cant seem to get to actually installing Mobiclip_Tools_for_DS.exe , all it gives me is a "an administrator has blocked you from running this app . for more information , contact the administrator" ... youd think that in 2022 the admin of my own computer (me) would be allowed to bypass the administrator shite

 

[sandwichwater]

edit : cant seem to get to actually installing Mobiclip_Tools_for_DS.exe , all it gives me is a "an administrator has blocked you from running this app . for more information , contact the administrator" ... youd think that in 2022 the admin of my own computer (me) would be allowed to bypass the administrator shite

nevermind , seemed all i had to do was change the date . time to mess around and see just what the limits are of this

 

[BattleLegendRed]

I did all that, but the audio didn't come out with the expected quality, it's like it's crashing

 

[sandwichwater]

I did all that, but the audio didn't come out with the expected quality, it's like it's crashing

is the 3ds liscence still on nintendos dev website ¿ i lost everything recently and thats the one thing i havent been able to get back

 

[BattleLegendRed]

is the 3ds liscence still on nintendos dev website ¿ i lost everything recently and thats the one thing i havent been able to get back

I think it's still there