Problems With Regards iTunes Video Filetypes

ZorbaTehZ

Sorry if this is a bit long. . .

ATM trying to put a few DVD's on my sister's iPod. So I'm using DVD Decrypter to rip the movies off of the DVDs and then using Videora to convert them. Installed the programs then I used it on a random DVD (to check if it worked) ripped it, and then converted it. It went into iTunes and worked well on the iPod. Did all this on mine account.

Later logged on my sis's account to set it all set up.I didn't rip anything or any converts. So next day showed her how to do it and let her go. Very strangely only some of the videos she converted can be transfered to the iPod because it says that the others "are not supported on this iPod / cannot be played on this iPod". Checked the files and they're all MPEG4 so I'm wondering does it depend on what is ripped from the DVD i.e. whether they are .VOB or .BUP etc.

Also in Videora my library states that the files that I have converted are all in the H.264 format - even though when I go into the root files it clearly says that they are .MPEG4.

I deleted all the video files off of the iPod's, deleted all the files off the PC then reset both iPod's - re-ripped the video's, and converted them then added them to iTunes again - and now it won't add any of them to the iPod ?!

Messing about in iTunes I saw that if I right click the videos that won't transfer, I get an option to convert them to .M4V filetype or some such. I selected that option for one of the videos in an attempt to try to get them to transfer to the iPod but it didn't work either.

SO the question(s) I have are: Whats wrong? (lol)
What is the H.264 filetype?
What should I be converting the ripped files to in Videora?
What's wrong with iTunes?
And finally: What's the difference between .M4V and .MPEG4?

Thanks a lot mates.

8T8

In the MPEG-4 video specification there are two formats.

MPEG-4 ASP many codecs based of this you know e.g DivX.

MPEG-4 AVC otherwise known as H.264 a more advanced video codec which retains more detail at lower bitrates/file sizes vs MPEG-4 ASP.

.M4V is nothing more than Apple rebranding on the .MP4 container which is the official container to be used for for MPEG-4 content though that doesn't stop people putting MPEG4 material in other containers like .AVI or .MOV

As for the videora problem not sure, did you install the latest version of iTunes recently as Apple have been putting in special blocks so third party encoded video will not show in the iTunes library though most up to date encoding software has gotten round this.

Anyway I would not bother with Videora because a far superior program in the form of XviD4PSP does conversion way better and the files always work in iTunes and the iPod with no audio sync problems either.

Just run it click the DVD icon and it will read the DVD in the drive and select the MP4 iPod profile it will auto select the best settings, then click start to begin the job. Converts most other types of videos as well just click open instead of DVD at the start.

ZorbaTehZ

Thanks mate - that's very helpful.
Still though, it's strange that Videora did work when I used it first and now it doesn't.

8T8

Are you sharing iTunes/iPod across two XP accounts.

It's not something I have looked into but I would have though that your sisters iTunes would be treated as a second account and requires some messing about to share media if a single iPod is being used or do you both have your own ?

Still try XviD4PSP and see if the videos appear in the iTunes video library.

ZorbaTehZ

Using separate XP accounts, iPods and iTunes.

Another thing I just remembered is that when I first went in to her account I realized she did not have privileges so I switched out to turn them on. When I logged back in, Videora was a bit weird and the wizard option for first time users would not work anymore - the graphics was a bit messed up as well. On mine account though it still works good.

FYI the videos were always appearing in iTunes - sorry if I didn't state that properly. The videos were showing up and I was able to play them in iTunes too; the thing was that they wouldn't transfer - I kept getting told that " video [insert name] was not transferred because the iPod does not support it's filetype/ cannot play that filetype"
(installing XviD atm)

ZorbaTehZ

Installed XviD and converted a file choosing the MP4 IPOD format option (as opposed to IPOD 640). The sound quality was sh1t, 50% static.
Transfered it to my iPod no problem, was unable to transfer it to my sis's though.

Just found out that the iPod was bought in Singapore so I'm assuming that's the problem, since we're trying to put PAL spec DVD's on it? (I know little or nothing about how DVD's work though tbh)

8T8

That is very unusual never had any audio problems with XviD4PSP ever since I've been using it.

The fact that the iPod was made in Singapore has no bearing as PAL/NTSC is irrelevant because of the frame rate conversion in the process to convert to compatible iPod video.

Are the iPod's running different firmware ?

(Do try to convert other video types on your computer to see if the audio issue is repeated, also try setting "audio normalization" to disabled)

ZorbaTehZ

If by firmware you mean the software version on the iPods, then yes they are running different versions. Mine is 1.2 whereas hers is 1.2.1.

For the video, Audio Normalization was set at 100% - converting now with it disabled. Also I was wondering what the indexing is about (is it necessary/important) at the beginning and what is first/second "pass" about.

8T8

Those are parts of the video conversion process for example 2 passes means you get a file with better video quality as the video portion is run through the conversion process twice. But 2 pass is really only necessary when you want best quality possible for small or low quality videos their is not much point in doing it.

Try re-installing iTunes on her account as it could be a permissions problem if she was not a member of the administrator group when the program was first installed the latest version is 7.1.1

failing that try using the trial version of Anapod Explorer or any other third party iPod management software to copy the videos over to her iPod to see if they play.

ZorbaTehZ

Restored the iPod, and that seems to have done the trick.
Also the audio normalization fixed the videos - thanks for the help mate.

8T8

No problem glad to hear it's sorted.

Bard

Glad to hear its working for you now ... might still be worth checking out this program, which I've found flippin' useful!...

http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/