Just curious what ways I could go about getting some of my favorite dvd movies on my ipod touch. Is there a way I can purchase a movie in the itunes store and get it on my ipod touch that way or is there another way if I already own the dvd movie? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
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iPod touch How to get movies to my ipod touch?
- Thread starter derek1984
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There's a program that many people here use called Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr). It's available for both Windows and OS X, and offers many upon many different functions in regards to both ripping DVDs and encoding videos - I've ripped about 20 or so seasons of various tv shows using it.
This is how I rip DVDs using it:
It does have an iPod touch preset, but I find the filesize ends up being way too big for watching something that's going to play on a screen that small (in other words, you can have it at a smaller size and you won't necessarily see any difference in quality).
So I usually tell it that, for a standard 20-minute tv show, I want a file around 100MB in size and also set 2-pass encoding (what this does is it scans the file so that it knows where it needs to change the bitrate so that it stays at a decent quality, and then it scans it a second time, ripping it in accordance with the bitrates it set out the first time). This means that high-action scenes will have a higher bitrate as opposed to the same bitrate being used throughout the entire video, so you shouldn't notice sudden changes in quality between high and low-action scenes.
For movies, I usually rip a file around 700MB in size for approximately a one-and-a-half hour long film. Once it starts getting longer, I bump the size up a bit - for a 2 hour movie I have an 800MB file, for a 2 and a half hour long movie I use a 900MB file. I did initially rip some movies at 500MB, but that came out at really, really terrible quality. There's next to no artefacting when you rip it at 700MB or more because on a screen that size you won't notice.
Thanks for the quick reply. Once I download handbrake, what do I do? Do I need to have my movie in my MBP playing? I tried that but nothing seemed to work in Handbrake..just a little confused once I download the program. Thanks
You need to rip the movie from the DVD first using a DVD ripper program. That will produce a .vob file that you will point Handbrake to when you hit the "Source" button. Then you will tell Handbrake to set your format to iPod touch.
eyeTV is another option for DVD.
I've been able to use Elgato's eyeTV to record TV, and VHS tapes then input them on the iPod Touch.
You would need to hook a DVD player into the Hybrid tuner thingy, but it that would work.
I've been able to use Elgato's eyeTV to record TV, and VHS tapes then input them on the iPod Touch.
You would need to hook a DVD player into the Hybrid tuner thingy, but it that would work.
No you don't, Handbrake rips straight from the DVD.
@derek1984: Insert the DVD and press "Source" in the top left hand corner of Handbrake. The DVD should be in the left sidebar (like in a Finder window), you'll know what one it is because it will have a disc icon next to it. Select it, and Handbrake will analyse the disc and then automatically select the longest title, which will be the feature film. Then you put in your presets, hit 'start' and it will rip and encode at the same time. No need for more than one program.
Handbrake is a reasonable option, but there are many others. My recent favorite is this $99 Pinacle Video Transfer device. You don't need to tie up a PC for movie conversion. It'll convert VHS, DVD, Video Camera, and even Sat or Cable TV to MP4 files your Touch will play. It records directly to a USB storage devices, which can then be simply reconnected to your PC for transfer to the Touch.
VLC comes with a slew of codecs that Handbrake uses to get the job done. So yes, you need it. Go to www.videolan.org.
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Thanks, I didn't know it would decrypt a DVD. How does it handle multi episode DVDs?
it depends on how the original source is compiled. some dvd's have all episodes bunched into one title separated by chapters, others have each episode broken up into individual titles.
if there are many different titles, just cue them up and let them rip.
In the drop down menu near the 'start' button, there's a list of everything on the DVD. Usually the one with the longest running time is the full movie - make sure that's the one selected 
There's a drop-down menu that lists all the different titles on the DVD, with the length next to it (so for a 'standard' tv show it will usually say, for example, 21 minutes). Usually they're listed in order too, so the one at the top of the menu is episode 1, the next is episode 2, etc.
To rip for than one episode, you select the first episode you want, then in the box underneath you can type in the episode name (so instead of being called Title 1 or whatever by default, you can call it 'Episode Name'), then click start to get it to decrypt. Repeat this for all subsequent episodes, but instead of pressing 'start' you press 'add to queue'. When the current episode has finished decrypting, Handbrake automatically moves onto the next.
By the way, I apologise if my first post came across as rude
There's a drop-down menu that lists all the different titles on the DVD, with the length next to it (so for a 'standard' tv show it will usually say, for example, 21 minutes). Usually they're listed in order too, so the one at the top of the menu is episode 1, the next is episode 2, etc.
To rip for than one episode, you select the first episode you want, then in the box underneath you can type in the episode name (so instead of being called Title 1 or whatever by default, you can call it 'Episode Name'), then click start to get it to decrypt. Repeat this for all subsequent episodes, but instead of pressing 'start' you press 'add to queue'. When the current episode has finished decrypting, Handbrake automatically moves onto the next.
By the way, I apologise if my first post came across as rude
I just can't seem to figure this out. I thought I had it because it took me 3 hours to download the movie and all I get is a 15 minute trailor. I selected the longest one that was on there in handbreak. When I go to Handbreak, do I download the Intel only version or the PPC only version? I have directions from another site, step by step, and I still can't figure this out. I couldn't even find the preset to select iPod Touch. I am new to Mac and this is becoming frustrating learning some of these programs because it's so different from PC.
On the top right hand corner there should be a button that says "Toggle Presets" (or something similar). Click that and a pane should open on the right-hand side of the application, there should be a dropdown that includes "Apple", which, if opened, shows "iPhone/iPod touch".
Find out exactly how long the movie is (open it in the DVD Player application, start playing the movie and it should say somewhere on the screen), then find the title that is that exact length on the dropdown in Handbrake and select it.
By the way, the MacBook Pro has an Intel processor. No Mac made in the last few years has a PPC processor, so only ever get Intel software.
In the drop down menu near the 'start' button, there's a list of everything on the DVD. Usually the one with the longest running time is the full movie - make sure that's the one selected
There's a drop-down menu that lists all the different titles on the DVD, with the length next to it (so for a 'standard' tv show it will usually say, for example, 21 minutes). Usually they're listed in order too, so the one at the top of the menu is episode 1, the next is episode 2, etc.
To rip for than one episode, you select the first episode you want, then in the box underneath you can type in the episode name (so instead of being called Title 1 or whatever by default, you can call it 'Episode Name'), then click start to get it to decrypt. Repeat this for all subsequent episodes, but instead of pressing 'start' you press 'add to queue'. When the current episode has finished decrypting, Handbrake automatically moves onto the next.
By the way, I apologise if my first post came across as rude
I didn't take as rude at all, but thank you! Wow, someone with manners on the internet, that's so rare- lol.
I did some checking and according to the Handbrake user guide:
Encrypted DVDs
HandBrake does not include any code to decrypt commercial DVDs. Yes, we know, it used to, but it doesn't anymore.
Okay, maybe I can make more sense what my problem is now! When my dvd is done scanning, the option is not there for me to select the movie. Instead the only options are for the trailors. Does anyone know why I am not getting the option to select the movie and only getting 15 minutes as the highest number to select which is for the trailor? Thanks!
Yeah, the older versions had all the codecs bundled in with the Handbrake software. You can still decrypt commercial DVDs, but Handbrake tells you that you have to install VLC beforehand as that's the only way to now get said code for it. So basically, once the studios start hunting down people that offer this sort of software it'll be VLC that gets into trouble, not the Handbrake developers
derek1984 said:
It could be a problem with the disc, maybe just test out another DVD to see the results with that. I ripped some relatively new movies last night from a commercial DVD (Quantum of Solace) without Handbrake giving me any problems.
It could be a problem with the disc, maybe just test out another DVD to see the results with that. I ripped some relatively new movies last night from a commercial DVD (Quantum of Solace) without Handbrake giving me any problems.[/QUOTE]
I'll try again later tonight with another disc. Thanks a lot for your help.
I'll try again later tonight with another disc. Thanks a lot for your help.