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icruise · Oct 31, 2005, 12:36 PM

Does nothing show up for the preview at all? All of my files show previews in iTunes.

badnewsblair · Oct 31, 2005, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Icruise

Does nothing show up for the preview at all? All of my files show previews in iTunes.

Just a black square.

And I know that the first frame for all of them is not a black screen.

Stogieman · Nov 1, 2005, 03:12 AM

How do you change the little thumbnail previews that show up in iTunes? All of my mine contain the first frame of the video I converted. I tried clicking on the Picture settings button in Handbrake but that didn't do anything.

icruise · Nov 1, 2005, 04:13 AM

Play the video in question in iTunes and pause it at the scene you want to use as the "poster" for the file. Then right click (or control click) on the video window and select "Set Poster Frame."

brad2897 · Nov 1, 2005, 01:11 PM

So using the guide fly2high shared, what would be the average size of the file on a normal dvd movie? With that in mind which iPod do you all suggest getting? I have 10 gigs of music and a decent DVD collection I'd like to put on it.
Thanks

Brien · Nov 1, 2005, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by brad2897

So using the guide fly2high shared, what would be the average size of the file on a normal dvd movie? With that in mind which iPod do you all suggest getting? I have 10 gigs of music and a decent DVD collection I'd like to put on it.
Thanks

I'm getting about 360MB for a two hour movie, using h.264, 400kbps encoding.

It seems to be about 80/90MB for ever half hour of video, give or take (at least from what I've experienced - most TV shows I rip are around 85 megs, and most movies, as I stated, are running arouind 350/400MB).

brad2897 · Nov 1, 2005, 01:30 PM

thanks,
i'll probably go with the 30gig then. Most of the regualr songs i listen to are on my nano or other iPod so I might not put too much of my old music on this. thanks again

Brien · Nov 1, 2005, 01:30 PM

No problem.

IFLY2HIGH · Nov 1, 2005, 05:08 PM

What is the memory size the iPod has in it now? It seems like my movies will load into memory and then the drive shuts off and never has to crank back up again, witch is a good thing.

nycdunz · Nov 1, 2005, 06:03 PM

has anyone tried that new app called Podner? its spose to be a real quick and easy way to encode videos for the ipod video using h.264...

Brien · Nov 1, 2005, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by IFLY2HIGH

What is the memory size the iPod has in it now? It seems like my movies will load into memory and then the drive shuts off and never has to crank back up again, witch is a good thing.

64 MB, as opposed to 32 on previous iPods (though the 30GB iPod still has 32 IIRC).

Stogieman · Nov 1, 2005, 09:36 PM

Originally Posted by Icruise

Play the video in question in iTunes and pause it at the scene you want to use as the "poster" for the file. Then right click (or control click) on the video window and select "Set Poster Frame."

Thanks!

iCol · Nov 3, 2005, 08:28 PM

I have been busy ripping episodes of TV series from my DVD box sets using HandBrake. I have been encoding at 200kbps at 320x240 resolution with 96kbps AAC audio. Granted, the picture quality isn't absolutely perfect, I am getting artifacts to a certain extent, but the movies are more than watchable on the iPod, and only take up about 50MB each. They are taking about 20 mins an episode to rip, which is acceptable to me. And the resulting MP4 files play on the iPod without any changes. Cool.

Using a 1.8Ghz iMac G5 with 768MB of RAM.

badnewsblair · Nov 4, 2005, 02:35 PM

I downloaded Podner last night and tried it once before bed. the final video had no audio. I did go in and change the default settings, perhaps I mucked it up there. But the interface seems very nice and easy to use, especially for making the poster frames!

Hawkeye_a · Nov 5, 2005, 02:05 AM

Arrrgghhhhhh... ive been using the old version of handbrake to convert some of my futurama DVDs using 2-Pass H.264. And now i find out it wont work. arrrgghhhh. i havent got a iPod(5G) yet but plan on getting one. i basically converted the video to a 320X240 h.264 video using Handbrake(2-pass) at around 700kbps(video and audio(128kbps AAC)). took like friggon 3 hours to do one episode !!!!(Ti-PowerBook 550)

Just to confirm, the new version of handbrake from their site, works right ? when using h.264 ?

Also, just curious as to what you guys recommend for TV shows ? i dont want to have to reencode my DVDs later. this is a one time thing, so i dont want the quality to be compromized. I baught the Boundin video off the iTMS, and it looks amazing on my 15" PB screen(full screen) and on my TV. So im assuming h.264 is the way to go...the bitrate of the movie is 708kbps, so the video would be at 580kbps at 320X176. does that seem descent for TV shows that will be played on my Powerbook, future iPod and TV ?

Cheers

wilsonng · Nov 5, 2005, 05:46 PM

I was reading the iPod specs for movies and it said 160 kbps AAC for audio. I'm assuming this is CBR (Constant Bit Rate).

Anybody tried out 160 kbps VBR (Variable Bit Rate) AAC in an iPod movie to see if that would work?

raymond42n · Nov 6, 2005, 10:06 PM

You guys want to see how good your iPod video can be? If you own a Mac, download the Handbrake software for free at http://howto.diveintomark.org/ipod-dvd-ripping-guide, and follow the instructions.

Handbrake converts DVD's to mp4 format. By adjusting the picture settings to 320x240, you can "rip" a dvd to mp4, drag-and-click to your iTunes library, and sync to your iPod video. The conversion process is kinda slow (length of targetted movie plus 30mins), but it's worth it.

Converted video's at video bitrate of 400 and audio bitrate of 128kbps usually yields between 350-500mb ONLY (depending on length of movie).

I got my 60GB iPod video on 31 Oct, and discovered the website (above) on 2 Nov. So far, and after a few errors caused by unfamiliarity with the software, i've loaded 24 movies into my iPod so far (including most Pixar and Dreamworks films, the Die Hard series, Men in Black series, and the Star Wars trilogy). Video reproduction is seamless, and audio reproduction is superlative.

Check it out, and enjoy your iPod. I've shown it to my relatives and friends, and they are all getting iPods asap.

Cadaver · Nov 6, 2005, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by raymond42n

You guys want to see how good your iPod video can be? If you own a Mac, download the Handbrake software for free at http://howto.diveintomark.org/ipod-dvd-ripping-guide, and follow the instructions.

Handbrake converts DVD's to mp4 format. By adjusting the picture settings to 320x240, you can "rip" a dvd to mp4, drag-and-click to your iTunes library, and sync to your iPod video. The conversion process is kinda slow (length of targetted movie plus 30mins), but it's worth it.

Converted video's at video bitrate of 400 and audio bitrate of 128kbps usually yields between 350-500mb ONLY (depending on length of movie).

I got my 60GB iPod video on 31 Oct, and discovered the website (above) on 2 Nov. So far, and after a few errors caused by unfamiliarity with the software, i've loaded 24 movies into my iPod so far (including most Pixar and Dreamworks films, the Die Hard series, Men in Black series, and the Star Wars trilogy). Video reproduction is seamless, and audio reproduction is superlative.

Check it out, and enjoy your iPod. I've shown it to my relatives and friends, and they are all getting iPods asap.

Guess you didn't read the first two posts in this thread, eh?

cler_babe · Nov 7, 2005, 04:41 AM

i've already loaded fifteen dvds to my G5 but for some reason Batman Begins only converts 52 minutes. i've done it a bunch of times.

and while i'm on the subject. is there something you can do to a movie file that is already in mp4 format that will play in itunes but for some reason isn't picked up by the ipod?

icruise · Nov 7, 2005, 05:09 AM

Originally Posted by raymond42n

You guys want to see how good your iPod video can be? If you own a Mac, download the Handbrake software for free at http://howto.diveintomark.org/ipod-dvd-ripping-guide, and follow the instructions.

Handbrake converts DVD's to mp4 format. By adjusting the picture settings to 320x240, you can "rip" a dvd to mp4, drag-and-click to your iTunes library, and sync to your iPod video. The conversion process is kinda slow (length of targetted movie plus 30mins), but it's worth it.

Converted video's at video bitrate of 400 and audio bitrate of 128kbps usually yields between 350-500mb ONLY (depending on length of movie).

I got my 60GB iPod video on 31 Oct, and discovered the website (above) on 2 Nov. So far, and after a few errors caused by unfamiliarity with the software, i've loaded 24 movies into my iPod so far (including most Pixar and Dreamworks films, the Die Hard series, Men in Black series, and the Star Wars trilogy). Video reproduction is seamless, and audio reproduction is superlative.

Check it out, and enjoy your iPod. I've shown it to my relatives and friends, and they are all getting iPods asap.

Wait, you can put movies on your iPod?!?

raymond42n · Nov 7, 2005, 06:21 AM

Uh-huh. I used Handbrake. 400kbps video bitrate, 128kbps audio bitrate. Changes a dvd-format disk to mpeg4. A converted movie is around 400-500MB in size with the foregoing specs.

My iPod holds the following movies so far: Sixth Sense, Bad Boys 2, the Die Hard trilogy, I Robot, Jerry Maguire, Lion King 1, Lion King 1-1/2 and Lion King 2, Madagascar, Men in Black 1 and 2, Shark Tale, Shrek 1 and 2, Sin City, Spongebob the Movie, Star Wars IV, V and VI, Team America, The Incredibles, Toy Story 1 and 2, the Untouchables and Walk to Remember. Am processing Harry Potter 1 to 3, and LOTR 1 to 3.

All the movies work like a dream!