Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Orlandu

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2010
276
55
So I figured out that all I need to do for video wallpapers is make a theme folder and put the Wallpaper.mp4 file inside it then activate it with Winterboard. My problem is (and I'm guessing others if its a bug) that whenever I play music or a movie the background stops playing and never restarts until I uncheck the theme and recheck it then respring. Is this a bug because the vwallpaper uses the ipod API to run? Is there a way around it? I had the app called vWallpaper downloaded. It does not support iPhone 4 resolution but I don't remember this bug. Hopefully they update their app to allow 640x960 vwallpapers.

Notes:

- Yes, I know vwallpapers can be battery killers. This point is moot for me since mine is plugged in all day at work and most of the time at home.

- If you are wondering what vwallpapers I am using, I play World of Warcraft (don't look at me like that!) and I made my own from the Dark Portal and also of Arthas sitting on the Frozen Throne. They are badass and full resolution at 640x960! Looks like you're actually in game.
 
Not sure on how to fix ur issue but just wanted to say that vwallpapers of WoW is awesome.
 
I am using vWallpaper app and video restarts just fine. It doesn't use battery unless you are looking at the video playing on homescreen. Overnight, on standby, I only loose normal 1% battery life. You might want to contact vWallpaper app developer and see if he did anything special about keeping video playing.
 
Not sure on how to fix ur issue but just wanted to say that vwallpapers of WoW is awesome.
Yes, yes it is. I find myself staring at my phone just to watch the ice effect flowing down Frostmourne. Or to see the Dark Portal spinning...

Anywho, I contacted the vWallpaper developer to check if/when he'll update the app to support the Retina Display resolution. Hopefully soon. I think his method works because it restarts each time you come out of an app. The built in method does not and probably tries to restart from where it paused to play music/movie.
 
i want to see your wallpaper in action. :) you should record it and post it up so we can see it. I'ven never seen an active wallpaper on the iphone.
 
the only problem with doing it that way is that it never turns off. even if you sleep your phone, once you turn it back on, if you pay attention, youll notice that the video kept running on the loop. it will kill the battery a lot faster than vwallpapers. but i know, videos in 640x960 resolution DO look a lot nicer.

but ill stick with 320x480 until an update is made.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H3hob-fjWc
 
Well, I downloaded Display Recorder and I'm trying to upload the video of my live wallpaper but I can't get it to upload to youtube. It keeps telling me "Upload failed with error: The operation couldn't be completed. Cannot allocate memory"

I'll try to extract it via the web server feature when I get home from work.
 
Depends on what you want, but I can post the 2 WoW videos I have if people want them.

My method for making them:

1. Recorded source video from WoW using Fraps. You'll need a resolution of 1280x1024 or 1680x1050 or higher to get true 1:1 pixel quality for the iPhone 4.

2. Edit in program capable of 640x960 video. Windows Movie Maker does not support this, I used Adobe Premiere.

3. Loop video by cutting 5 seconds from start of video, put it to the end with 3 second fade transition. Helps smooth it out, but my video is 1 minute anyway so typical home screen usage won't show the loop portion.

4. Export at full quality at 640x960 in H.264 standard for .m4a file type.

5. Make "ThemeName.theme" folder and name the video Wallpaper.m4a

6. Transfer to your iphone using SSH. Select the theme in Winterboard and respring.

Some custom themes that modify the background may overwrite this so make sure they are disabled.
 
I think battery life is greatly affected by what people refer to as 'live' wallpaper and 'video' wallpaper

I'm using the nexus live wallpaper, this is created using a graphic and JS to move small shapes on the screen. This has virutally no effect on battery life.

when I used an actual video as a wallpaper (using vwallpaper), my battery life was dramatically reduced.
 
when i use vwallpaper and try to use a video wallpaper all it does is have a solid black background. whats wrong with this? i have a ip4 running 4.1
 
when i use vwallpaper and try to use a video wallpaper all it does is have a solid black background. whats wrong with this? i have a ip4 running 4.1

Which method are you using? The app vWallpaper or a theme with a vwallpaper?

If using the vWallpaper app, make sure slider for "Enable Video" is set to on and that you don't have any other themes through Winterboard that modify the home wallpaper.
 
I use the vWallpaper app. Like someone mentioned above it does not affect battery life as the wallpaper only plays while on the homescreen.

I ripped a bunch of the weather effect videos from the Weather HD app. They work absolutely fantastic as video wallpapers, and you don't notice that they're lower res. Seriously, when I'm out at a bar people are always checking it out
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.