Movies on Ipod - My Attempts and Learnings

[vranswer]

Well, still checking in to what Nero recode is, but Nero 6 says it can export AVI files using Windows video 1 codec and an audio codec (adpcm??) that Quicktime says it supports. No good results yet however. Tried to export then open the file in Quicktime....didn't even recognize that there was video in the file, and no audio either.

...back to the drawing board..

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanY Thanks for the pointer to Handbrake. It looks pretty good, but it seems to only convert DVDs, not just any general movie file. I've tried ffmpegX, which seems like it should do the trick with a super easy UI, but for some reason the "mencoder" component doesn't install properly on my machine.

that's right. handbrake is for DVD conversion...i'm not a big fan of ffmpegX...it's quite slow. also, i don't like re-converting mpeg files into other mpeg files...it's kind of like re-converting mp3s into AAC or some other lossy format. just doesn't look good.

if you have imovie, it might also be able to convert .mov or .mpeg files...i'm not sure. i know QT7 pro can, but it's buggy and somewhat slow.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vranswer Well, still checking in to what Nero recode is, but Nero 6 says it can export AVI files using Windows video 1 codec and an audio codec (adpcm??) that Quicktime says it supports. No good results yet however. Tried to export then open the file in Quicktime....didn't even recognize that there was video in the file, and no audio either. ...back to the drawing board..

vranswer - have you checked this site? kind of like head-fi for the video enthusiast: videohelp

 

[vranswer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino vranswer - have you checked this site? kind of like head-fi for the video enthusiast: videohelp

Yup. Thank you for the lead, but no help. If anyone has a step-by-step 'how-to' on getting a movie into iTunes please post here. As far as I'm concerned, it can't be done on current Windows platform software. I don't have Mac, so haven't looked at Handbrake, but sounds like it will do the job. Thus, no iPod 5G for vranswer.

 

[AlanY]

The first Windows application that does this easily seems to be Videora iPod Converter:
http://www.pspvideo9.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2163
It's free.

There are a couple of posts on iLounge confirming that it works both in iTunes and on the iPod.

Step by step instructions are here:
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/guides.html#1000

 

[bigshot]

Another useful program for the mac for extracting H.264 movies from DVDs is Cinematize 2. It has a boatload of useful settings.

See ya
Steve

 

[vranswer]

Hmm. Maybe. Will check it out in the morning.

 

[Leto Atreides II]

I don't mean to thread crap, but creating videos to play on the X5L is trivial.

 

[Taphil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanY The first Windows application that does this easily seems to be Videora iPod Converter: http://www.pspvideo9.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2163 It's free. There are a couple of posts on iLounge confirming that it works both in iTunes and on the iPod. Step by step instructions are here: http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/guides.html#1000

Thanks for that. I was able to covert a 5GB mpeg2 to a 700MB H.264, which took about 90 mins, not bad. In QT, it says the bitrate is 900kb/s but Apple says the iPod only supports up to 768kb/s. Now I just need an iPod video to test it on. Tomorrow maybe

Oh, and I forgot to mention. 320x240 is tiny. Maybe ok on an iPod - I'll wait and see - but on a 24" widescreen monitor, it's just over 4" diagonally.

 

[pokipoki]

To play Xvid_AC3 files on QT7 Mac OS X, you'll need files #1 and #4.

If #1 doesn't work, replace it with #2, which is an older build.

#3 is also required when using #2, #3 can also be used to play DivX files.

To create movies for iPod/iTunes, you need to export those .avi files from QT7 (Mac). Quality will be worse than .avi, best to use sources like .vob. QT7 in Windows is hard to work with. Hope this helps.

1) XviD_Component_Bin_v0.5.1
http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~naegelic/download/

2) XVID Delegate Component
http://www.insaneness.com/xvid.html

3) DivX 5.2.1 for Mac OS X
http://www.divx.com/divx/download/

4) AC3 Codec for Mac OS X
http://mac.softpedia.com/progDownloa...load-3899.html

Cheers,
pokipoki

 

[Taphil]

Do those all work in OS X Tiger? Divx says it doesn't work in Tiger or QT7.

 

[kloan]

QT 7 has Divx 6 included.. I just put the xvid codec in there, and noticed it.

Thanks for the links pokipoki.

 

[pokipoki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taphil Do those all work in OS X Tiger? Divx says it doesn't work in Tiger or QT7.

Yes. Decoding works (i.e. playing Xvid or DivX .avi in QT7 Mac OS X 10.4). Didn't try encoding on Mac though, I use a PC for that purpose.

QT7 needs to be restarted if you add/remove those files listed above.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

I'm using good 'ol PSP technique right now, I haven't finished the conversion but I'm pretty sure it'll work:

Start using DVD Encoder to make VOB file

Use 3GP to make PSP (renamed) Mpeg4's

Drag mp4's into itunes window

So far I've converted a test avi file and it turned out pretty good on the 5G @ 30 fps 1500 kbps.

 

[Taphil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kloan QT 7 has Divx 6 included.. I just put the xvid codec in there, and noticed it. Thanks for the links pokipoki.

I don't have Divx 6 on my Mac. Where did it come from?

I'm still not having that much succcess with QT7 under Tiger. After installing #1 or #2 and #4 the only thing I could get was a white window with no video playing when opening a divx file (before installing them, QT said it couldn't play the file). With Divx 5 installed, I can watch the file, but if seeking somewhere in the file it stops playing.

On the PC side, QT7 takes a dump after an hour of playing the H.264 file I made. It drops frames from 30fps to 22fps and can't keep up. I have to quit and then restart the program. I guess Apple likes memory leaks and gradual slowing, just like with Safari.