Entertainment For Lively Minds
iPod question
Posted by Simon Hoyle on 20 October 2009 - 10:28am.
A work colleague has a question.
She's got an iPod Nano for her daughter, wants to get the Girls Aloud "Out of Control in concert" DVD but wants to know whether this will convert in some way so that it can be viewed on the iPod.
I said I didn't know but I was sure there would be a fine group of people who would know whether it was possible and what to do. And this is (hopefully) where you come in ?
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Yes it can be done
bit time consuming and so on, but a quick google should yield results. I've done it a few times but found i really don't watch stuff on the 'pod so i can't offer much by way of reliable software.
There's freeware out on the web to do this - usual caveats of 'be careful' apply.
*edit* noting Davids response and the OP...d'uh etc. missed the word Nano.
Depends on the model
Up until six weeks ago Nanos didn't support video. The new models do.
OOps!
The Nano has supported video for at least 2 years.
...ahem, cameras....
Video *cameras* were indeed added about six weeks, ago, but the actual device has been capable of displaying video for at least a couple of generations.
Getting a DVD into ipod format, can be slightly challenging technically, but it can be done. The trick is NOT to try and convert the Xvid, but the original MPEG2, I have an app at home, but can't remember the name at present. Essentially, you're breaking copyright law by even ripping the disc in the first place, so it may lead them to a morally ambiguous area, where some fear to tread...and where other skip gaily...
Handbrake
If the DVD doesn't have any copy protection you should be able to use Handbrake which is free and has ipod presets built into it and works very well (you may need to RTFM though) and it's available for Windows, Linux and OSX. If the DVD has copy protection you may need to (ahem) "back it up" to your hard drive with another utility first then point Handbrake at the "backup" folder. It takes a while to encode but with handbrake you can do 1 minute chunks to test if what you're doing works on your ipod or not.
Handbrake -
- works well for a "friend" of mine. Apparently.
Download a copy of
Slysoft's AnyDVD. You can run the demo version for 21 days. It will decrypt your DVD on the fly, so you can run handbrake, which, as mentioned, has a preset for iPods. Two clicks and a couple of hours later and you will be done.
http://handbrake.fr/
http://www.slysoft.com/en/
Yep, Handbrake will do just fine
I've ripped stuff from my own DVD's for portable viewing on an iPod classic (on a Mac, but Windows will do just fine). Settings are fairly easy, but a full DVD will take a fair amount of time to do (allow a couple/a few hours)
It's a slow process
But I've used DVD Decrypter in the past - (may be hard to find now) - which makes it possible to "back up" DVD's , and then something like File Format which is a handy little utility for getting files into pretty much any format you could want. I think may even rip DVD's as well.
Have a look here
http://www.formatoz.com/index.html
Mac the Knife
is rather, eh.. Ripper :wink:
iTunes
If it's available on iTunes I'd buy it rather than go through the immense hassle of trying to convert it. Last time I tried it I got a great picture and no sound.
Tried Handbrake?
If you use Handbrake you can try a minute clip with lots of different settings and run them as a batch to find the one that works for your player.
must admit until I looked it up
I thought the new RealPlayer had this-seems they have actually studiously avoided that, instead offering all sorts of similar options for web-based files, which I have been finding very handy.
Meanwhile, was amazed to see one of these
http://www.johnlewis.com/230670815/Product.aspx
when passing Maplins today--had to happen but still seems a tad bizarre--that iPod is where the record cleaning dust bug should go, shurely shome mishtake ...
...an iPod where no iPod should be etc
DVD Video Soft
has everything you need on windows for free. No spyware and the various components can convert to and from pretty much everything you need.
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/
I think you would have to go:
DVD to hard drive (VIDEO_TS)
DVD to Video (DivX)
Video to iPod (MP4)
I have converted DVDs & DivX to view on an iPod touch before. The only sticking point would be if the DVD has copy protection on it.
The easiest way to convert DVDs/video for your iPod
I found all the answers here:
http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=4413
Videora iPod Converter (freeware):
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/
DVD43 (freeware):
http://www.dvd43.com/ lets you ignore copy protection
DVD Shrink (freeware):
http://www.dvdshrink.org/ lets you backup DVDs to hard disk or DVD