Need some help putting ripped video on my new 5g ipod

[nickeleye]

So I picked up my new 5th gen 80g ipod last night (upgrade from a 3rd gen) and got all my music transferred over without a problem. I decided to mess around with the video. Keep in mind that I first set up the new ipod on my PC using XP. I found some program called DVD to Ipod by Cucusoft and tried it out and worked great, but it was only a trial and leaves watermarks on the video. I'm not really ready to spend $40 on the software. In any case, I was able to easily transfer the video from my iTunes video library to my ipod. No problems. I was reading this forum and it seems that handbrake is highly recommended and it's free. So, using my also very new MBP, I installed handbrake and ripped an episode of The Office to my mac. No problem. Imported the video into iTunes without a hitch and it plays just fine within iTunes or outside of iTunes. So I try to drag it to my ipod and it gives me an error saying it can't copy the file to the ipod because the ipod can't play that format or something! It's a friggin' h.264 video I created using guidlines from this forum. Anyway, I went into the video file's info within iTunes and tried switching it between TV Show and Movie categories, but the ipod still wouldn't take it. I had the bright idea this morning that maybe it had something to do with the fact that my ipod was originally set up under windows. So I dropped the Handbrake encoded video onto my PC and tried again. I didn't get any errors when I drug the file from my Movies library to the ipod, but when I checked my ipod to see if it was there it had nothing in TV Shows, Movies, Podcasts, Library, nothing.... but no errors! I tried again with the rip I did last night with the trial PC software and no problems at all. Am I missing something here? I'd really like to be able to put my DVDs on the ipod without having to spend even MORE money if possible. Sorry for such a long explanation, but hopefully I gave enough details.

 

[Del]

import to imovie, export to ipod - works for me!

 

[nickeleye]

You mean to import the ripped h.264 video that I created in Handbrake into iMovie and export to the iPod? I'm still very much a newb with Mac apps and haven't ever used iMovie at all.

 

[Del]

Yeah thats it. Be prepared for a lengthy wait during import.

 

[nickeleye]

Is this the only way to do it on a mac? I mean, importing from the DVD took about 7 minutes or so for a 22 minute video. Then I am going to have to wait again to import into iMovie? It seems like there has to be an easier way. All the sudden paying for that PC software that I know works for sure and does everything quickly is looking pretty good.

 

[KoDorSean]

These are links that Baggss has on his sig.. they seem to be quite a good help for handbrake/mac/tv/video conversions.. have a look

video

http://www.phoppe.com/HBidiot/hbi.html

tv shows

http://www.phoppe.com/HBidiot/hbitv.html

 

[egandolfi]

There is a Beta version of "Instant Handbrake" which allows you to rip right from DVD to h.264. It took me about 40 minutes to rip an hour and a half DVD, but It was easy. http://handbrake.m0k.org/?page_id=26

 

[nickeleye]

So here's a question. After breaking down and buying some PC software I'm trying handbrake out again as, for whatever reason, I'm having mixed results with the software (lucky me). I decided to try encoding in standard .MP4 format this time since that's what the PC software encoded in. Sure enough I didn't have any issues dragging the standard .MP4 file that I created in handbrake on to my ipod through itunes on my MBP. So I tried the same video, but using the h.264 codec this time and it doesn't want to copy over. Can anybody explain why this might be? I think I'll be fine with the standard .MP4 format since I won't be watching these on anything but my ipod, but it'd be nice to be able to actually get the h.264 stuff on there if I ever wanted to.

Thanks!

 

[baggss]

Your problem was likely in the HandBrake settings you used. If you post them here, I can tell you where you went wrong with the H.264 Codec.

 

[nickeleye]

Well, not sure what I changed from the time I COULDN'T get it working, but I now am able to get my h.264 rips on the ipod ok. What exactly is the difference anyway? I mean, I noticed the h.264 seems to look a bit better and is a smaller file size, but you probably don't want to use that codec if you're going to put the video to your TV, right? I don't think I really will, but just so I know.

 

[ourhero]

I'm an old codger who's new to imacs and ipods and all this stuff. I got my 80Gb video iPod yesterday and am proceding to rip some DVDs to it via Handbrake. Everything seems fine!

I rip using Handbrake (V0.7.1 not the latest version) and drag into iTunes.
Then I highlight each mp4 and right click.
Select 'Convert to iPod format'
Make a cup of tea and get on with something else (this takes ages!)
When iTunes goes ping! I delete the original mp4 files.
Connect the iPod.
Sync the iPod.

And that's all.

1967 black and white Patrick Troughton Doctor Who DVDs look lovely and crisp on my iPod!

 

[baggss]

If you want to skip everything after the second step and rip directly compatible movies that will load to your iPod, use THESE directions. It's my old 0.7.1 tutorial. If you want to upgrade to 0.8.5 and get better/bigger video, then use the instructions in my sig.

 

[ourhero]

Thanks for that tip, Baggss! I'm in the middle of encoding right now but will have a bit play with my next project.

I haven't tried V0.8.5 Beta 1 yet - is the interface much different? I've kind of got used to 7.1 now... How do you mean bigger video?

Cheers!
John