iPod Video Converter

[icemanjc]

Is there a converter that allows you to convert avi files or mp4 files to iPod format besides iTunes (it sucks), ffmpegx, 4Media's converter or VisualHub that does not resize or diminish quality? I just want to make it iPod compatible and it frustrates me that the iPod can't just play an MP4 file.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

In VisualHub (or the free iSquint counterpart), you can adjust the quality, bitrate and size of the video in the "Advanced" settings. Be aware that even if you don't change the bitrate or size of a, say, .AVI video and you convert it to MP4 that diminishing quality is unavoidable, as performing that procedure is the same as burning an audio CD of MP3s, then re-importing them as AAC files -- the files are re-encoded, and quality loss is unavoidable.

If you have the iPod Classic, then be aware that there are size and bitrate limitations on the videos the Classic can play. See this page for the video specifications that the Classic is compatible with (and if you have a different iPod, the video settings should be listed on the appropriate page for that iPod):

http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html

H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

[icemanjc]

Looks to be all right, since I rip most of my stuff at 1.5 mbps, but the problem is most of them are around 720 in width, so is that a problem?

[ElDiabloConCaca]

The page I linked to specifies a resolution of 640x480, so yeah, 720 is too big.

Do the 720-pixel-wide files play on your iPod?

[icemanjc]

Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure I have one movie that is 720 wide and works.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Yeah, I've heard that even Apple's "limitations" on video for the iPod are kind of "fuzzy," in the sense that some people are able to create video files that exceed Apple's recommendations, and they play fine on their iPods.

You may want to run a few tests on movie files -- make one that's 720px wide, another that's 800px wide, another at 1024px wide, etc., and see what the "true" limit of the iPod is.

In fact, it may not be based off of actual pixel size at all -- I've heard that keeping the video under 5MB/sec of data transfer will work, so you could theoretically have a HUGE video file with no audio that plays fine, or, a video file with 320kbps audio track and a smaller video size that plays fine.