Now that Apple's Video iPod has been on the market for a while, owners have begun to get restless and look for ways to put video content other than reruns of "Desperate Housewives" on their iPods.
Jerrod Hofferth is a student at Arizona State University and the Ask iLounge author, as well as forum administrator for the popular blog iLounge. He says there are now programs on the market, both freeware and software, that will convert video for owners to put on their iPods in an easy and effective way.
Hofferth says almost any type of video will work through the process.
"Truly, it's not the 'kind' that matters - it's the format," Hofferth said. "That is, any kind of video content can be displayed on the iPod video, as long as one goes through the necessary - and sometimes painful - video conversion process. This includes downloaded video clips, DVDs, TV shows, home movies and virtually anything else you can imagine."
However, in order to get video clips on to an iPod they need to be brought down to a compatible size, so they can be viewed at their best quality.
In order to get video files down to that size, users must search for programs to do the work for them. Hofferth said the easiest way to get video content is by paying for it through iTunes.
"However, it's no surprise that most users will want to put the content they already own - both DVDs and existing video clips - onto the iPod, as they do for audio CDs," Hofferth said.
For standard video clips (not DVDs), Hofferth recommends paying $29 for QuickTime Pro, which has an iPod export preset, which means it takes just one step to convert video clips. If users don't wish to pay the money, freeware programs like Videora iPod Converter, for PC, and "Podner" for Mac, do the same job.
For converting DVDs, Hofferth said the freeware "Handbrake" is best for Mac users.
Programs such as Videora iPod Converter also work for PC users who want to convert their DVD collection to an iPod ready format.
However, Hofferth warns users that if they are looking to download their entire DVD library onto their iPods, they need to be careful.
Converting videos for iPods can be a slow process, and use a lot of RAM and space on users' computers. So, Hofferth said, make sure you have enough space and time for the conversion, before you start.
"If you plan on permanently storing multiple DVDs on your iPod at once, be sure to buy the largest-capacity video iPod you can afford," Hofferth said, "Each converted DVD will take around 700MB. Similarly, if you plan to store these on your computer simultaneously, make sure your PC or Mac has enough free space."
iLounge.com currently offers full tutorials for converting DVDs for Macs and is planning on creating one for PC conversion soon.
Although it may be easy to convert DVDs with these programs, there are also some ways people can easily mess up the conversion.
"Depending on the software you're using, the easiest way to mess up is by not selecting the proper format specifications before you begin," Hofferth said. "Don't spending hours - or days! - encoding an entire DVD to what you think is an iPod-compatible format, only to find out that the file doesn't transfer. Instead, begin only converting a chapter or two from the DVD, just to make sure that your settings for format, resolution and bitrate all combine to something iPod-friendly. Then continue with the rest of the movie," Hofferth advised.
Although the world is in the first stages of iPod conversion, Hofferth said new programs are on the horizon.
"Be sure to keep an eye out for better conversion software in the very near future. The release of the video-enabled iPod will almost surely ignite an explosion of newer, friendlier, faster, cheaper video conversion applications very soon," Hofferth said.
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