Ipod and own videos?

I just got that black Ipod thing as a gift. It’s 80GB with video. I’m still waiting for it, so I’m trying to read up about it a bit. It seems that you need to convert all your videos and music to some kind of Ipod format. Like, if I have too many home videos or photos on my PC harddrive, can I use this Ipod to just store it on, and view it on the PC? Or does the Ipod permanently change the stuff to some strange new format? I was thinking I could use this thing as a kind of external harddrive. Would that work?

The iPod supports most common audio formats so you should be able to use all the audio files on your computer as-is. For video you need to convert to mp4 video. You can find dozens of programs to do this or use Apple’s Quicktime Pro. Since the iPod video size is fairly small resolution you’ll probably want to keep the original video file too.

I use iSquint which works really well. Dunno about PC stuff, though.

It says that if I set the iTunes to manually import stuff I can basically use the iPod as an extra harddrive. But I still need to figure out where to save stuff on the iPod. I only see videos, photos and music. And when I tried to just put a jpg in manually from the harddrive it told me that my iPod didn’t support those files. I guess I’ll just have to play around with it a bit more. Right now I don’t do the automatically update thing…I just move everything manually. Seems to work OK. Just need the computer stuff to get on there too. Any advice?

It will only display photos from i-photo. You should be able to store the jpeg on it though, if you check ‘Enable Disk’. It doesn’t have anything on it to display jpegs.

Any recommedations for a DVD to ipod converter?

I used videora a while ago to convert AVIs of TV etc downloaded. It’s free, but I noticed some audio sync issues in the final product.
Coverting direct from DVD seems either require ripping from DVD to AVI and then using something like videoro, or using a one step utility.

Looks like I will need to stump up some cash for a utility as there are not any free ones out there, which I don’t mind, but when doing some reading about the various options, it seems the audio sync problem is common. bugger.

I assumed Quicktime Pro would be the best choice if I have to spend around $30US as I figured Apple would have their shit sorted in this area, but reading about QT pro resulted in many negative reviews, mainly due to speed to convert and some lack of DVD audio support.

I am not really keen on paying for something that is below par. Cucusoft comes up a lot, but their interfaces and web pages are full of all sorts of english errors, which is a bit of a worry.

Any success stories out there?

EDIT: it seems Videora can now convert from DVD vob files. Will let you know about this ‘free’ option.

Handbrake converts from DVD. There’s a Windows beta somewhere in the Handbrake forums. Last time I checked, the Mac version that supports the newer iPod format (H.264 low-complexity 640x480) was also beta.

My understanding was that Handbrake does part of the job, but not all of it.

I had a play with Videora again last night, and sure enough, it doe rip from VOB files on DVD no problem. There is 2 main problems with that.

Firstly, most DVD movies are made up of several VOB files it seems, so the end result will be several MP4s to watch a movie - not so good for continuity, but probably not too bad.
Secondly, Music DVDs (which is the REAL reason I want to put video on my Ipod) should be ideally broken up by chapter (i.e. each song) and put in a folder, exactly the same way as you do with music. This will allow the user to skip to the right track without needing to scroll to the right point.

DVDxsoft seems to handle ripping by chapter. Other than that, it seems with Videora, I might have to use some other utility to create individual AVIs of the tracks, and then rip into MP4s.

Still investigating.

My understanding was that Handbrake does part of the job, but not all of it.
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At least on a Mac, Handbrake does it all. I’ve only tried a few DVDs (for Chinese learning) and those might not have been protected. If it doesn’t remove protection, MacTheRipper will.

OK, I checked out Handbrake for windows.

Firstly, its Beta, very Beta. There are 2 versions, one that works from the command prompt and one with a gui.

Files are RAR so I had to install that first, then when I went to use the app, it requires the .Net framework to be installed.
You get the idea, not really at the stage of investing a lot of time into using just yet.

While reading the tutorial, the Handbrake info actually recommended a ready-to-use application by Intervideo called DVD copy 5.

The website actually has a fully functional version for a 14 day trial here: intervideo.com/jsp/InterVide … rofile.jsp

I’ve got a bunch of music DVDs, so I figure I can knock a fair few of them out in the trial period.

It’s slow, about 1x speed. Video and Audio quality are both good, but I notice some slight sync issues over the length of the DVD which would be really annoying for movies. For music DVDs I am going to use the “split by chapter function” which should minimise the sync issue to a minimum (fingers crossed)

Anyway, of all the Freebies out there, this is the most functional as far as the trial app goes (no watermark, no movie length limit etc) but you get only 14 days to do all your ripping.
The main advantage of this Intervideo option over videora one(which is totally free) is the option to split by chapter.

So, the only complain is the audio sync problem, however there are various audio/video settings in the control panel which may reduce that problem if you’re lucky. For 3-4 minute tracks, I can’t see it being too much of an issue.

Hope that helps for anyone wanting to try out some video on their iPod Video.

thankfully, they have time limited trials.

The first DVD I converted to ipod was OK, but I forgot to split by chapter, so I did it again. Fail. Twice. The Application crashed.

So, I put in another DVD. This time I get “Intervideo does not support the copying of protected DVDs”

When i take a closer look, it seems the DVDs that work on this are only the Saigon Specials, not the legit off the shelf versions.

So, basically, if you own legit DVDs you want to convert to iPod, then DVD Copy 5 is not for you. :unamused:

Well done again the entertainment industry. Even if I own a legit DVD, it’s about the most difficult medium to put on my iPod, and it’s technically easier to just download the files off the web.

I can’t believe it is so difficult. With the Audio sync problem prevalent on the 3 apps I have tried whether converting from AVI or DVD, I am not interested in paying $30+ for anything at this point.

Yes, DVDs are encrypted using something called CSS, most “reputable” software like quicktime won’t decrypt them. There is some free software around around that will rip a DVD into unencrypted VOBs if you know how to google.

I have no idea why the video industry thinks that people will copy stuff and feels they have the need to protect them. Whatever gave them that idea ? :unamused:

Yeah a few of the apps I am trying out seem to not be bothered by it, but the point is, I really don’t want to have to add an intermediate step into this, otherwise I might as well ripped all my DVDs to Divx, split the chapters manually, and then rip to ipod.

It has got me thinking however. If i need to rip my legit DVDs to Divx, then I might as well do a decent job so I can watch my collection from a digital library, and I can then store my DVDs permanently. After that, it’s easy to put them on the ipod.

This reminds me, Matthew, you have a PSP right? Have you put any H.264 format movies on it?