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iPod Converting .AVI file to MPEG or H.264 for iTunes/iPod?

B

BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Hi, is there a way that I can convert a .AVI file to MPEG or H.264 or a similar file that I can import into iTunes and possibly playback on an iPod?

I really don't know where to start and would be grateful for any help.

Thanks, Andrew.
 
just remember that H.264 will take up a lot of space and unless you want to watch it on a TV its not needed.
 
clevin said:
no, size is only decided by bitrate. H.264 will not be bigger or smaller than others like xvid or divx.
Click to expand...

Quite, but h.264 provides equivalent picture quality at lower bitrates, effectively offering smaller file sizes.
 
gloss said:
Quite, but h.264 provides equivalent picture quality at lower bitrates, effectively offering smaller file sizes.
Click to expand...

mmm.... theoretically you are right. I wonder how much bitrate can that video quality enhancement save. 20? not much IMHO. 🙂
 
stuff99 said:
it won't let me 'drop' the mpg file to my video ipod though...
Click to expand...

Then use isquint or if it's already in itunes you can use itunes itself to convert it to ipod format. Right click the file in itunes or look under the advanced menu.
 
clevin said:
mmm.... theoretically you are right. I wonder how much bitrate can that video quality enhancement save. 20? not much IMHO. 🙂
Click to expand...

1. As long as you have a relatively recent Mac, you may as well use H.264, even if the improvement is not that great.

2. One real advantage of H.264 is that as a modern codec it largely eliminates the need for 2-pass encoding- it's much better at allocating variable bits based on the complexity of the scene. With MPEG4 variants, 2-pass is definitely recommended (which really increases total encoding time.)

On my 1.83 CD MacBook, I get faster than real-time with H.264 encoding straight from DVD's, which is good enough for me.
 
Why make such an easy task so difficult with all these 3rd party apps?

1) Drag your movie into iTunes
2) Right click on it and take "Convert selection for iPod" or "convert selection for Apple TV".

itunes-20070907-183354.jpg



Couldn't be simpler.
 
RumMunkey said:
Why make such an easy task so difficult with all these 3rd party apps?

1) Drag your movie into iTunes
2) Right click on it and take "Convert selection for iPod" or "convert selection for Apple TV".

itunes-20070907-183354.jpg



Couldn't be simpler.
Click to expand...

iTunes only reads files readable by Quicktime, unfortunately. No MKV.
 
Plus itunes doesn't let you pick any video settings, particularly whether you want 320 or 640.

iSquint is a piece of cake, it will even put the video into itunes when you're done.
 
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