I’m thinking of getting an ipod nano (the new ones with the video option)
I have LEGAL downloaded video on my computer. When I send copies to my friends sometimes they have codecs that allow the videos and sometimes they don’t… and sometimes they’re not necessary. (because nobody wants to hunt for a codec to see a single video this usually results in the sendee not watching the video… anyway… besides the point).
If I were to get a new ipod nano would I be able to put all the videos on? What videos don’t work? Do most work?
iLounge has tutorials for transcoding video to work on an iPod for both Macs and Windows.
iPods can play MPEGs with H264 and MP-4 encoding. There are bitrate and image size restrictions. You can use the awesome Handbrake application to transcode video. MPEGstreamclip is also useful.
I’ve found that most (but not all) videos downloaded from torrent sites or anywhere else are usually in AVI. They won’t play on an iPod unless you convert them to MPEG-4 with H.264 encoding. (I have converted to non-H.264, although still with an MP4 extension, and those do NOT play. Maybe that was just a few isolated mess-ups; I did think though that only H.264 cold be played on an iPod.)
Anyway, you have to convert them. I love the Videora iPod Converter for going from AVI to H.264. Free, works great. But be aware that converting is a very resource-intensive process. If you have an old or slow computer, the conversion is going to happen in real time or longer: if you have a 1-hour AVI, it’s going to take an hour or more to convert it. If your computer is new and fast though, it will go by much more quickly.
Videora: http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/
There are lots of other options but I have tried many of them and find that for AVI to H.264, this one is the best. YMMV.
You can also play MOV files on an iPod. But not AVI, WMV, or MPG.
P.S. Apparently Videora also converts other formats (not just AVI) to MPEG-4, although I have not tried it that way.