Convert DVDs to iPod Video

Feel like just another pair of white headphones in the crowd? Want to watch something new on your iPod? If so, then you’re on the right page because here you will learn how to rip DVDs for your iPod Video, completely for free.

Getting Videos into your iPod

Well, it was bound to happen anyway. Everywhere people have discovered that they could get their DVD movies and TV shoes onto the new video iPod without charge. How do they do that? It’s simple really. In fact, if you have ripped a movie onto the PSP before, you probably already know how to get your DVDs into your iPod. The transfer process is not that much different and all you really need is a good DVD-to-iPod-Video converter to get the thing going.

DVD to iPod for PC Users

For starters, here’s a guide on how to convert DVD to iPod video using cucusoft iPod Video Converter + DVD to iPod Converter suite.

FEATURES:

• Rip DVD to iPod video directly (no need to convert DVD to AVI or VOB first)

• Convert AVI, WMV, MPEG, RM, RMVB, ASF, MOV, DIVX, XVID, MPG to iPod MP4 or H264 format

• Easy-to-use and fast conversion

• Can also rip DVD to AVI, DivX, VCD, SVCD, and MPEG

STEPS (Windows)

1. Download the iPod Video Converter + DVD to iPod Converter suite

Visit GoRipper.com to get the program file for the software suite. Once there, go to the Downloads section and follow the download instructions on the page that appears. Keep the window open as the file downloads. Afterwards, install and run.

2. Load your DVD

Cucusoft’s iPod Video Converter Suit has a neat, blue user interface that is intuitive and easy to use. There should be three buttons to the right of the interface that says: Video to iPod, DVD to iPod, and Quit (for quitting the program). Click DVD to iPod converter component before loading your DVD. To load your DVD, click ‘Open DVD’ button or choosing ‘Open DVD’ from the ‘File’ drop down menu. After loading, several titles will appear on the list. Here’s a tip: If you want to rip chapters or segments you like, you can also select ‘Open VOB or Mpeg’ or ‘Open IFO’ from the ‘File’ menu.

3. Selecting Files

The main file of the movie should be the longest title. If you don’t like to convert the other titles (usually the special features in your DVD), you can remove them by choosing that particular title, right-clicking and ‘Remove.’

4. Saving Video Files

At the bottom part of the list of chapter titles, you will see several more options. Look for the one that says ‘Subtitle’ beside a drop down menu box. Click on the arrow down radio button to set the ‘Subtitle’ to what you like. To ‘Output Folder’, enter the full path name or choose the path where you want to save your video files by clicking ‘Output Folder.’

5. Convert

To start ripping DVD to iPod video files, just click on the huge circular ‘Convert’ button at the bottom right side of the user interface. You do not need to set ‘Input settings’ and ‘Output settings.’

Of course, the cucusoft way is only one way of doing it. If you find that converting DVDs to iPod using cucusoft’s suite is too tedious, especially if you get into trouble during the conversion process, then you might want to check out this alternative way of converting videos to your iPod. Again, the PQDVD Converter suite is for Windows users only. The guide for Mac users can be found below.

LIMITS

• H.264 video: up to 768 kbps, 320x240, 30 frames per sec, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 kbps, 48 khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

• MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480x480, 30 frames per sec, Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 kbps, 48 khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

HOW-TO

1. Insert the DVD

Once you’ve loaded up your DVD into your computer, the DVD might start to pay automatically through your PQDVD. However, if it doesn’t, you can click ‘File’ and ‘Open DVD’ to get it to play.

2. Configure Settings

Click around the DVD’s menu (right side of the PQDVD’s screen) to set up DVD playback as you like. Tinker a bit with the language features, subtitles, specific chapters, etc. Here’s a tip: If you have activated these options, they remain active throughout your converted DVD.

3. Aspect Ratio

At this point, you have the option to adjust or modify the aspect ratio of your DVD. Note, however, that this can distort the picture quality of your video. You can also click on ‘record’ at this point, but you will be met with a message that tells you the main movie hasn’t started yet, which means that if decide to continue with the process, all you’ll be recording will be still images and short video clips. You can go ahead and do that, or wait for the main movie to load.

4. Begin the Movie

If you have chosen to wait until the main movie to begin or after you have recorded the clips, navigate the DVD menu to begin movie. To queue up the point at which you want to start recording, you can use the video playback controls for that. But if you want to record from the beginning, no need then to use the playback controls. Just drag the blue button along the bar at the bottom to start of the movie.

5. Record

Click the ‘Record’ button. The PQDVD will ask you where you would like to put the default output folder. You are given the following options: “iPod Video” folder on your Desktop, Desktop, C:\, Other folders:

Just select the folder in which to store your recorded files and once done, the movie will play at a fast-forward speed, recording the .MP4 file. When you want to stop recording, just click the ‘Stop’ button, or leave it running if you want to record the whole thing. At the end, a screen will appear, confirming that the recording has been successful and you have successfully converted your file.

DVD to iPod for Mac Users

As promised, here’s a quick tutorial that explains how to use Handbrake, a program that can rip DVDs into iPod compatible MPEG-4 video files.

REQUIREMENTS:

• An iPod Video

• Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later

• 500 mhz G4 processor or better

• At least 16MB of video RAM

• QuickTime 7.0.3 or later

• iTunes 6.0.1 or later

TUTORIAL

1. Set Up

First thing’s first, download the program file for Handbrake from any of these sites: VersionTracker.com, handbrake.m0k.org, and MacUpdate.com. After download, install Handbrake by just copying the program into your OS X Applications folder.

2. Load Video DVD

After Handbrake is installed, grab a copy of your favorite video DVD and put it into your computer. One important note: Handbrake can only convert standard video DVD’s that you would normally play in a DVD player. You can’t convert video files in any other formats, such as AVI, MPG, WMV, MOV, etc. Next, launch Handbrake, select ‘Detected volume’ and press ‘Open’.

3. Source Settings

Clicking on the ‘Open’ button will trigger Handbrake to start scanning your DVD. Depending on the contents of the DVD and the speed of your optical drive, this may take up to a minute or two. After scanning, Handbrake will select the longest title in the list by default. You can unselect that if that isn’t the content that you want. If you’re not sure which title to rip, you can click on the ‘Picture Settings’ button found at the bottom right of the Handbrake interface and manually step through several frames of the title to find what you’re looking for.

4. Destination Settings

Handbrake’s ‘Destination Settings’ has three settings you can modify: file format, codec, and file destination. For file format, select MP4 file so you can play this video on your iPod. For Codec, you can choose either AVC/H.2.64 or MPEG-4. For File Destination, just type in a name for the video file and choose its destination using the box provided. On average, you need about 300MB disk space per hour of video so try to choose a location that has sufficient space.

5. Video Settings

You have four options at this point. For Frame Rate, you can just leave the fps set to ‘Same as source’ or choose 29.97 as you like. For Encoder, if you choose H264 as your codec, you must also choose ‘Baseline profile’ for the Encoder. For Quality, set it to ‘Average bitrate’ and enter anything between 400 and 600. And finally, at the bottom part of the interface, you are given two boxes for Grayscale encoding and 2-pass encoding. Select 2-pass encoding if you really want a high quality file, but remember that it would take the encoding twice as long.

6. Audio Settings

This is where you click around for the language settings of your DVD. Language 1 should represent the language for the region you live in, which is English if you in America. Language 2 is usually secondary commentary voiced by the Director and actors. If you only want to convert the movie, just select None for this option.

7. Picture Settings

Your iPod wants video files that are 320 pixels wide by 240 wide. Turn on the ‘Keep aspect ratio’ button and decrease the Width to 320. Handbrake will automatically adjust the height to match the width.

And finally, click on the ‘Rip’ button and let Handbrake do its job. There are several variables affecting the encoding time, such as the duration of the video file, the speed of your computer, what other activity your computer is currently doing, the codec you selected (H264 or MP4) and if you decided to do a 2-pass encoding or not.