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iPod video tutorial for Mac

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jmelrose

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Hi. I'm not snowmoon.

Yes, it produces working Mpeg 4 settings. However, it's NOT H264. It IS, however, very watchable. The settings, Tom Honey, are 4 posts above this one.

I've also been finding that lowering the "Constant Quality" to 80% and it's still quite good. On some bigger videos, I go back and re-encode using 2-pass and giving it a target size. I've been getting 90minutes of video at around 300MB, Family Guy/Simpsons around 70MB (22 min). U2 Rattle and Hum was 343MB @ 1hr40min, with 160kbps AAC audio (it being a concert).

Anyway, these settings look great on my ipod.

Now my bigger question is how to make a preview frame for use in iTunes' icon view of the videos. Anyone know how to reset the video icons?

Thanks,
jmelrose
 

iPAQQ5_iPod20GB

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I have not been able to get ffmpeg to work. I can convert AVI files to MOV, MP4, and H.264, all of which play in QuickTime and iTunes. When I try to sync the files to my iPod i get a message that says these files can not be played on my iPod.

What gives?
 

FiddYNick

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Re: Handbrake: HQ Encode lies in...

jmelrose said:

I tried QT Pro. SLOW. I tried Cinematize. SLOW. Handbrake was the only one able to take on the task. However, H264 doesn't work, and I didn't like what I as getting from the same "Target Size" setting in MP4.

On a lark, I tried "Constant Quality" and set it to 85%.
I put AAC to 48000Hz 112 kbps
I reduced the picture to 320x240.

After anxiously awaiting, what came out was a video of similar size to what I was trying before, but for some reason a much better encode. Fewer artifacts, truer color than MP4 using Target Size or Avg. Bitrate. Similar filesize as MP4 or H264. Some were even a bit smaller.



JMelrose
Works perfect on my ipod, used mactheripper, then these settings on handbreak ... Thanks Nick
 
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iPod Dance

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Oops, bad detective skills...


jmelrose said:
Now my bigger question is how to make a preview frame for use in iTunes' icon view of the videos. Anyone know how to reset the video icons?
I'd imagine in iTunes you change the artwork like a song, but usually when I try to do this, iTunes freezes, then force quits. Weird...

Guys-
today my battery went really fast when playing 'Garden State' that is at 720X302 pixels. Is it possible that having to scale down video on the iPod in realtime uses up a LOT of batteries? In any case it looks amazing on a TV.

I've had better quality success with long movies ripped as MP4 not H264...
 

SFNE Freak

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iPod Dance said:
Oops, bad detective skills...




I'd imagine in iTunes you change the artwork like a song, but usually when I try to do this, iTunes freezes, then force quits. Weird...

Guys-
today my battery went really fast when playing 'Garden State' that is at 720X302 pixels. Is it possible that having to scale down video on the iPod in realtime uses up a LOT of batteries? In any case it looks amazing on a TV.

I've had better quality success with long movies ripped as MP4 not H264...
If the file is bigger, it's going to have to spin up the hard drive much more often to fill the cache. That certainly isn't helping your battery life.

Anyways, ffmpegX isn't working. I don't think there's a program out there that can convert from XviD right now. I think the problem is that programs automatically assume you're trying to convert from H.264 or something that isn't XviD because of the .avi extension.
 
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JackWhite

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jmelrose said:
Now my bigger question is how to make a preview frame for use in iTunes' icon view of the videos. Anyone know how to reset the video icons?
find the frame of the video you want (play, ff, whatever). Pause the video on that frame. Right click on the video and choose 'Set Poster frame'. Give iTunes a second or two and it should set to the new frame.
 

jmelrose

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JackWhite said:
find the frame of the video you want (play, ff, whatever). Pause the video on that frame. Right click on the video and choose 'Set Poster frame'. Give iTunes a second or two and it should set to the new frame.
I'd LOVE to report it was that easy, but when I do it nothing happens. When I try to set a poster frame in Quicktime, I also am unable to re-save the file. Hmm.

I DO however have success opening the video in qucktime. Pausing on the frame I want. Copying it to the clipboard, and then pasting it into the "artwork" field. That does the job, but it's cumbersome.

I wish iTunes stored the video files in my Movies folder and my Music files in my Music folder, and never the two should mix. I wish it did that automatically, and as a user I didn't have to point itunes to store files in different places when I import music vs. videos. It seems very user-unfriendly. THere's a whole Apple discussion board topic on it, and I'm not sure people there "get it," some of them anyways. I should be able to consolidate my library and have my videos organized in my movies folder, and my music (as it currently is) in my music folder, or whatever folders I choose. Only a lot of cumbersome manual tinkering gets me the organizational results I want, which really aren't all that demanding. I want to keep videos on an external hard drive and music on my powerbook. I want every import every time to go to those two locations, automatically. iTunes should be able to automate that, but it doesn't

Oh well... 6.1 is due next week, right?
(joking...)
 

iPAQQ5_iPod20GB

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SFNE Freak said:
Anyways, ffmpegX isn't working. I don't think there's a program out there that can convert from XviD right now. I think the problem is that programs automatically assume you're trying to convert from H.264 or something that isn't XviD because of the .avi extension.
Finally... You have to be the first person to list some sort of an explanation for why ffmpeg will not work with xvid AVI files.

Anything out there work?
 

FiddYNick

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dose anyone know how to go from mpeg4 to file that handbreak will read? video ts? i know how to rip a dvd onto my ipod? what about mpeg4's that i have already..


Thanks In Advance
 

JackWhite

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When i rip a DVD in Mac The Ripper, I end up with a bunch of VOB files. In ffmpegx which VOB file to I point it to?
 

FiddYNick

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iPod Dance said:
Get MPEG Streamclip:
Command E
Select Apple MPEG 4 Compressor
set quality
320x240
Set a preset for future use
deosent work... i already have a mp4 that is 640x480 and want to convert it to ipod size and quality...anyone else thanks Nick
 

verbal

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Whats' the trick keeping widescreen....widescreen? When I convert a video, it gets cropped and smushed. What's the trick to keeping it widescreen and not messing up the aspect ratio?
 

RavenG4

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JackWhite said:
When i rip a DVD in Mac The Ripper, I end up with a bunch of VOB files. In ffmpegx which VOB file to I point it to?
First. THE NEW VERSION OF HANDBRAKE WORKS!. Version 0.70 has been recompiled to work in encoding for iPod. You must remember when you change it to h.264 to also change it to baseline encding. Don't forget to also change the size in the Picture settings to 320x240 and the KPS to around 400-450 and It will then work. I've been using it and encoding movies all day.

Jackwhite now to answer your question. Once you have the bunch of VOB files you need a program like handbrake to encode them to put them on your ipod. I believe the first post or one of the earlier posts listed direction on how to do that. You would need to point whatever program you are using to the folder with your VOB files. Then set it and you should be all ready to go.

If anyone has any questions PM me here or IM me on AIM RavenG4450
 

jmelrose

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I have been making great H.264 files using 3 pieces of software (when I need to rip something with LPCM audio):

1. Mac the Ripper (free)
Rip the complete DVD to the local drive. This also strips the encryption, which is necessary for step 2.
2. Cinematize (shareware)
This software is GREAT for unencrypted DVDS!
- Allows me to break the DVD into chapters if I want (especially useful for music video compilations
- Can export mpeg-2 files of audio/video from any format
- Can export audio or video only, whole title or chapter, in AIFF
- Can also export to Quicktime, Mpeg-2, or demux stream files
3. MPEG Streamclip (free)
-This program does batch encoding to ipod-compliant h.264 video from any MPEG, AVI, etc file. It works well, although for some reason I had 2 or 3 that didn't go to my ipod, so I re-ripped them again and had better luck. I think I tweaked the bitrate to make it happen.

Anyway, this method works well. The only downside is Cinematize is not freeware, but it's hands-down the best program I've used to get LPCM audio ripped off a DVD to AIFF that I have seen. Highly recommended.

When LPCM audio is not an issue, I have been using Handbrake, although I read elsewhere that it doesn't encode AAC at a bitrate higher than 160 regardless of the settings specified. Lower than 160 apparently works out ok, it encodes as specified. over 160... all you'll get is 160.
 
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