Can someone explain why I can't load these videos onto my iPod?

Factual Questions
1

I have 5th generation 80 gig iPod classic. Here is what Apple says about the video it supports: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Low-Complexity Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.

I have been downloading Youtube videos (AFAIK entirely legally) through a pretty well known website called KeepVid. Usually when you choose to download a video you choose from a list of formats and screen resolutions.

For example, this Dick Dale and Stevie Ray Vaughn version of Pipeline, there are options of FLV (Flash Video), WebM (Web Movie?), and MP4 (480p), the choice I’ve been making because I found iTunes won’t play the other two.

So, I can download it, and load it into iTunes (where it shows up as a movie), and music and sound plays just fine. But when I synch my iPod, I get the following message about these videos: “Some of the videos in your iPod Library were not copied to the Owners iPod because they cannot be played on this iPod.”

A little more info – this is what the iTunes “Get Info” box says about this video:
Kind: MPEG-4 video file
Size 9.3 MB
bit rate: 113 kbps
Profile: low complexity
Channels: stereo
Total bit rate: 424 kbps
video dimensions: 480x360
video codec: H.264

And I don’t see anything in these specs that is supposedly beyond the iPod’s capabilities. I don’t think it’s a matter of some malfunction, though, because iTunes seemingly isn’t trying and failing to transfer them. It has decided they won’t work so it doesn’t try.

Also, the iPod is legitumately registered with with the proper serial number to this computer’s iTunes program. In fact, I looked at the iTunes data on the Owners iPod page to find the serial number, and I looked up the specs I gave above by searching with that serial number. Therefor, iTunes correctly knows which iPod I have.

Any ideas? And, if there is some format conflict, is there any shareware I can use to convert the file to one compatible with my iPod?

2

It’s probably a format thing. Try HandBrake with the iPod preset.

3

Try changing the file extension to m4v.

4

Based on the information provided, I would expect that the video formats would be compatible with your iPod, which makes me wonder if the problem is with the audio format. It looks like the iPod only likes AAC-LC, and your MP4s may include the audio in different format. If that is the case, I would also recommend Handbrake to convert it.

5

Importing the file with the new extension worked for getting it into iTunes, where it also played fine, but I get the same “will not transfer” message when synching the iPod.

6

I some different programs to rip the audio tracks only, and they work fine. I know I already have other format files that work fine on the iPod, invluding .WAV and .mp3

7

Thank you both. I still don’t know what the problem was, but Handbrake seems to have resolved it.

8

Eh, I spoke too soon. The converted file has a noticeable pause, like a skip in an old record. It shows up while playing in iTunes on my laptop, and in the copy that gets transferred to the iPod.

And I tried running the conversion a second time, and got the same skip in the exact same place. I’ll look to see if I can find a different copy of the original source file.

9

You can also try using the converter built into iTunes. It’s in the Advanced menu -> Create iPod or iPhone Version.

10

Thanks to you as well. The skip is gone!

Unfortunately, it appears I can’t afford to do this a lot, space-wise. I saw that the Handbrake conversion conversion more than doubles the file size, but the iTunes conversion triples it. A 5 minute music video takes up 65 megs.

I may have to settle for just ripping the audio tracks and leaving it at that.