can I play "AVI" videos on the Ipod touch?

[Riz1GT]

Because I have movies in that movie format on my computer. My Xbox 360 doesn't read AVI videos but it reads MPEG vids. now I'm worried because my favorite movies are in the AVI format and I'm hoping it'll work on the touch.

[IgnatiusTheKing]

I think it only plays .mp4 and .mov (Quicktime) files. Here is the tech specs from the Apple website.

[tefleming]

Not without converting them.

I use a program called VisualHub (not free but worth the $25) that converts AVI files and imports them to my iTunes library.

[legacyb4]

Nope. You'll have to use something like iSquint or Visual Hub to transcode them to iPod Touch-compatible format.

[a456]

A free solution that I have just discovered for converting from and to all sorts of file formats is MPEG Streamclip from http://www.squared5.com/

"You can use MPEG Streamclip to open and play most movie formats including MPEG files or transport streams; edit them with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Trim; set In/Out points and convert them into muxed or demuxed files, or export them to QuickTime, AVI, DV and MPEG-4 files with more than professional quality, so you can easily import them in a DVD authoring tool, and use them with many other applications or devices.

"Supported input formats:
MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD, VRO, DAT, MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, TS, M2T, MMV, REC, VID, AVR, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3, ... "

It's great if you (or someone else) rotates a video camera when shooting and you need to rotate round the right way.

[Riz1GT]

Originally Posted by a456

A free solution that I have just discovered for converting from and to all sorts of file formats is MPEG Streamclip from http://www.squared5.com/

"You can use MPEG Streamclip to open and play most movie formats including MPEG files or transport streams; edit them with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Trim; set In/Out points and convert them into muxed or demuxed files, or export them to QuickTime, AVI, DV and MPEG-4 files with more than professional quality, so you can easily import them in a DVD authoring tool, and use them with many other applications or devices.

"Supported input formats:
MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD, VRO, DAT, MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, TS, M2T, MMV, REC, VID, AVR, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3, ... "

It's great if you (or someone else) rotates a video camera when shooting and you need to rotate round the right way.

looks like I'll have to use this. thanks, this will be really useful. also thank you IgnatiusTheKing for posting the specs. that'll come in handy.

[cjd82187]

this is somewhat of a side note, but xbox 360 does play .avi files now if they are DivX or Xivd files. The latest dashboard update allows that.

As for converting AVI files, for the Mac I use ffmpegX which is free. It is also available for the PC but I have not tried it. I like to choose mp4 file format with H.264 codec. I keep the framerate the same as original file and around 800 bitrate. Also, put the width to 640 and give it an aspect ratio that is the original files and it will adjust the height for you. With these settings, they file may not be the smallest, but its good quality on the touch, even when zoomed to "full" screen. I would imagine it looks good on a TV as well.

If you want to convert a dvd, I would recommend HandBrake for the Mac and use its ipod high quality preset for the ipod touch, but maybe lower the bitrate a little bit (default on that preset is 1500, but even as low as 600-800 looks great).

[Riz1GT]

Originally Posted by cjd82187

this is somewhat of a side note, but xbox 360 does play .avi files now if they are DivX or Xivd files. The latest dashboard update allows that.

As for converting AVI files, for the Mac I use ffmpegX which is free. It is also available for the PC but I have not tried it. I like to choose mp4 file format with H.264 codec. I keep the framerate the same as original file and around 800 bitrate. Also, put the width to 640 and give it an aspect ratio that is the original files and it will adjust the height for you. With these settings, they file may not be the smallest, but its good quality on the touch, even when zoomed to "full" screen. I would imagine it looks good on a TV as well.

If you want to convert a dvd, I would recommend HandBrake for the Mac and use its ipod high quality preset for the ipod touch, but maybe lower the bitrate a little bit (default on that preset is 1500, but even as low as 600-800 looks great).

thanks I'll look into those programs. also I'll have to check on the avi vids for the 360. maybe they'll work now.

[britton45]

i use cosmopod and it converts real player video and others. It is free
you have to have safari. Tim

[mrgreen4242]

Originally Posted by tefleming

Not without converting them.

I use a program called VisualHub (not free but worth the $25) that converts AVI files and imports them to my iTunes library.

You can get iSquint for free. It's a stripped down version of VisualHub that only converts to iPod formats but from almost anything. (VisualHub goes from almost anything to almost anything).

I find it to be faster and easier to use than MPEGStreamClip or FFMpegX. It scores over the former for it's ability to use MPEG2 as input without the need of the QT MPEG 2 codec ($20 from Apple) and over both in one click conversion ease of use.


I'm not sure if it has a new build that takes into account the touch/iPhone sized screen, but you can manually enter in desired resolution or set it to use the larger "TV" sized option and let the iPod downscale it. Just something else to try.

EDIT: iSquint and VisualHub are both OSX only apps, just to clarify in case you have Windows. I'll never get used to Windows users on Macrumors.

[dp6149]

anybody know some good converting software? something for pc cause i dont have a ***** mac

[neonblue2]

Originally Posted by dp6149

anybody know some good converting software? something for pc cause i dont have a ***** mac

Interestingly, I don't have one either

[RKO]

Originally Posted by dp6149

anybody know some good converting software? something for pc cause i dont have a ***** mac

I use magicdvdripper for my video conversions avi etc to my iPod. Works a treat on my pc. Btw it is not a free program and can be downloaded for the free trial which will give you a certain number of free conversions before purchase is required.

[dvdhsu]

iSquint is pretty much the free version of VideoHub. Works only on mac though...

But I can testify that it works great, and converts many file types. Even WMV files!

[sparrky]

I use SUPER for converting on a pc. It converts anything into anything and it's free. Scroll down to the bottom of linked page for download.

[costabunny]

Originally Posted by dp6149

anybody know some good converting software? something for pc cause i dont have a ***** mac

hmm interesting choice of words from someone asking help and advice from a Mac friendly forum.... anyways.....

Handbrake is pretty easy to use under OSX and gives good output (Ive just finished a few movies and TV Shows for my trip and they look really good on the iTouch).

Its been a long time since I have used Winslowz for file conversion, but I would agree that Super is pretty good.

[dukebound85]

why can the iphone platform play more vid codecs?

i would love if the iphone could play any video file quicktime could. it would be nice if the iphone, like quicktime could change the resolution of the video but not of the file

i say that as i have a ton of videos that i would have to reconvert for iphone and im just not up for that lol

[TheCakeIsALie]

I'm a little surprised that there are no apps out now that would allow playback of additional video formats, through software decoding. Maybe the ARM processor isn't as powerful as I thought? Or maybe Apple won't approve of those apps.

[vw195]

Originally Posted by dp6149

anybody know some good converting software? something for pc cause i dont have a ***** mac

I dont have ***** mac either. I use handbrake. The newest version seems to work pretty well with all the formats I tried

Originally Posted by TheCakeIsALie

I'm a little surprised that there are no apps out now that would allow playback of additional video formats, through software decoding. Maybe the ARM processor isn't as powerful as I thought? Or maybe Apple won't approve of those apps.

I am sure Apple is the reason, because I have a less powerful WM device and it will play everything using coreplayer. BTW Coreplayer has a version ready for iphone but Apple wont ok it : http://forum.corecodec.com/viewtopic...&sd=a&start=45

[Macles007]

Look up iSquint.. works great!

[Yashiscool]

well...one of the posters above got it right that Apple won't allow those kinds of apps. I read about this somewhere that Apple only wants their file type supported, BUT there is an unauthorized app on Cydia etc. called vlc media player which is like the pc version and plays many different file types. that's about all i can say here i think, without getting into trouble, but read about it elsewhere.