The Complete Guide to Converting Video to iPod For

By Jerrod H.
Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Monday, November 21, 2005
Category: Tutorials
Editor’s Note

A fashionable version of this article is now accessible.

Please watch our new Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple television Video Conversion (Mac).

« The Complete Guide to Converting DVDs to iPod Format (Mac)

First Looks Xtreme: New nano accessories,dvd to mpeg converter, Core Cases, and More »


For annuals, iTunes has invested a complete, one-stop solution for the migration of digital audio from the incipient medium source (CD) to the iPod. In fact, one of Apple’s early slogans for its digital audio software was “Rip. Mix. Burn.,dvd ripper for mac,” a terse grab phrase indicative of the simplicity that iTunes created.

Unfortunately, with the presentation of the fifth-generation iPod - the first that can play behind various types of video - Apple doesn’t make it equally easy to prepare iPod-ready content. If you’re accustomed to the refinement of “Rip. Mix. Burn.,” you’ll detect that the analogous tag line for the importing of video is more like:
“Find Software. Rip. Wait. Find Software. Encode. Wait. Sleep. Wake Up. Enjoy… Maybe.”
Why? iTunes 6 doesn’t offer video conversion. Instead, you’ll need to find and study to use software that doesn’t come in the carton. Second, video conversion is generally a very time-consuming process, regardless of the software used. In this article, iLounge aims to treat the former publish, though you’ll presumable find that the latter publish will remain until you purchase a new computer or piece of hardware optimized for video encoding.

Editor’s Note 1-17-06: The recently-released iTunes 6.0.2 does contain video conversion to iPod format, performance this article much less relevant for most fortuitous users. However, this article remains authoritative and useful for users desiring more control over the video formats accustom. Read in detail approximately iTunes 6.0.2’s video conversion features here.

Today, iLounge has launched three tutorials to aid you convert your videos to an iPod-viewable format. This piece deals with conversion of video files already on your computer. Another piece discusses conversion of DVDs - ones you are legally entitled to rip. And the final piece looks at the technicalities of the iPod’s video capabilities to assist you make taught alternatives when you’re ready to convert videos or DVDs. It’s easy to just pick the iPod’s original 320x240 resolution and either H.264 or MPEG-4 encoding, but this last tutorial will explain why you might not ambition to do this. A divide article on PC video encoding and extra will go up shortly.

Converting Existing Digital Video Files:

If we had published this tutorial instantly afterward the unlock of the iPod,WMV to iPod for MAC, we would not have been cheerful with what we had to say. At the time, very few pieces of video conversion software were available, and the most prominent - Apple’s own QuickTime Pro 7 ($29) - was extraordinarily slow at converting video,Convert to AVI for mac, and significantly more valuable than we would have favored.

Today, we have many more options to argue, which occur to be cheaper, faster, more versatile, and, in some cases, easier to use than Apple’s QuickTime Pro. Four of them, in fact, are free.

The applying icons in the graphic below are clickable links to their relative websites. Each option (save QuickTime Pro) is available for download and at least some time of trial use. If you don’t want to go with our recommended option (Podner), we encourage you to give every program a attempt, as you may find that one works better than the others for your existing video content, your computer, and your personal favorite. Read on for a quick overview of every application’s abilities, and how to use them.



iSquint (Free, link) is a free utility designed to convert existing video files into iPod-ready MPEG-4 format. In our testing, we found iSquint to be fast and easy to use: a 2-minute MPEG-1 video mow took the same measure of time to convert on our test 1.5GHz Powerbook G4. This real-time encoding was roughly 3 times the speed of conversion as QuickTime Pro at the same task. iSquint features exceedingly easy-to-use controls (see screenshot underneath), tin batch convert a folder of videos, and can likewise automatically add converted video files into iTunes once it has achieved.

However, beware - iSquint is still in the beta stages of evolution,DVD to MPEG for mac, and we sometimes had encoding procedures go awry, with the resulting video and audio creature horribly out of sync. Also, iSquint caneven now let the user manually tweak technical details of the video formats, alternatively convert video clips into H.264,dvd to mp4, although the features are on the developer’s to-do list.

MoviesForMyPod (Free, link), variant free video conversion program, features both H.264 encoding and more control over the encoding process. Here also, the conversion process is simple. Select a file using the “Open File�? button, select your desired video format, and click “Convert to iPod video.�?


If you’d like to set appended options for MPEG-4 video such as bitrate or picture resolution, select “MPEG-4 Custom…�? from the format pulldown menu:


We base MoviesForMyPod to be as quickly as iSquint when converting MPEG-4 video, and 2 to 3 periods faster than QuickTime at converting H.264 video. For approximation, this program does no multiplication the completed file into iTunes.

Although Ollie’s iPod Converter (Free, interlock) is a very premature product (we couldn’t get it to work above many of our files), we’re intrigued along its supremely simple two-button interface. Simply “Choose�? your source file, and “Convert�? it!


If you’re seeing for the easiest likely solution for converting video, and aren’t interested in retaining detailed control in the conversion process, keep a near eye on this product by and by, when the product becomes more reliable.

These three free options are naturally advantageous for those on a firm budget,Convert to ipod for mac, but for a small fare, we found software quality and reliability to addition dramatically. Despite its $10 price, Podner ($10, link) is currently our favorite video conversion solution. It has a smart, simple interface, and is fast and versatile. To start with Podner, simply follow the basic instructions seen below, tugging one or many video files into the cap.


Next, Podner will present you with more options. Select your iPod format (with either standard or custom settings), give the output file a Genre and Title, and upon hitting “Process,�? Podner will encode the file, heading it, and location it into iTunes.

Furthermore, Podner allows you to appoint a “Poster Frame�? for anybody converted video, which is the frame which appears in iTunes’ “Videos�? page as a static preview.


Another good shareware adoption we found was Video2Pod ($10, link). While it doesn’t offer customization options nearly as powerful as Podner’s, it uses a another (and still very simple) interface.


Upon fire, Video2Pod presents you with one iTunes-esque outlook of movie clips in your consumer directory’s “Movies�? folder, granting for effortless file culling and batch transition.

To convert a file or a number of files, simply select them in the list, and click either the hard steer icon or iTunes icon to convert and save the videos to either a situation on your hard steer, or the iTunes library, respectively. To customize your video conversion settings first, click the light switch.

Because of its price and other factors, we’ve averted recommending Apple’s QuickTime Pro ($30, link) for iPod video conversion, but if you have additional causes to purchase it (full-screen video playback, exporting to other formats, converting iMovies, video amending, etc.), it may be worth it to you. In this case, use the emulating program to convert videos for the iPod:

After you’ve bought QuickTime Pro and entered your registration information, open a file in QuickTime Player as whether you were apt activity it:


Navigate to the “File�? menu and choose “Export…�?:


Choose either “Export Movie to iPod�? (which encodes in 320x240 H.264) or “Export to MPEG-4.�? Using the second option, you’ll absence to manually configure the conversion to fall among the iPod’s specifications using the “Options�? button. Click “Save.�?


With these several software options now available, the conversion of existing video clips to iPod-compatible format is not terribly tough, but you’ll find it remains time consuming. iLounge urges you to persist testing various software, video files, and video formats so that you can settle on a fusion that works best for your setup. Good luck, and please post your experiences in the comments partition below for the behalf of other readers!

Additional Resources for iPod Video Encoding Information

iLounge Forums video encoding tutorial for Windows Users
iLounge Forums video encoding tutorial for Mac Users
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