Fifth-generation iPod (with video) Special Report: Problems playing back home-encoded video; compatible formats; more

There are several methods for converting movie files into a format playable on the fifth generation iPod.

First, if you are a QuickTime Pro owner, you can simply upgrade to version 7.0.3 of the software and export files in the appropriately labeled (.m4v) format.

However, you can also use iMovie to do the conversion. This can be accomplished by starting a new project, using the import function to open your target video, then exporting the movie as in H.264 format.

The same can be accomplished with Toast 7.0.x -- access the "Video" pane, and drag the desired video into the main window. Click on export, and choose H.264. Dragging an dropping the resulting video into iTunes will result in it appearing next to purchased video files, and it should properly synchronize to a video-enabled iPod afterward.

Also, note that exporting your video at the maximum resolution for the video-enabled iPod -- 320x240 -- can save significant volume space relative to leaving the file at a higher resolution.

Problems playing the video back on the iPodMacFixIt reader Lewis Stoleman reports problems sending videos he compressed in-house with QuickTime 7.0.3 Pro (using the correct format) to the iPod. Purchased videos transferred correctly in his case.

Lewis writes:

"Just tried to synchronize my QuickTime 7.03 compressed movie files to my new Ipod Video without success. The files appear in the iTunes window and can be played within the iTunes application. However, they can not be transfered to the iPod. Purchased videos from the music/video store do transfer as expected."

Some users report receiving the message:

"Some of the videos in your iTunes library, including the video '(name of video)', were not copied to the iPod '(Your) iPod' because they cannot be played on this iPod."

when attempting to transfer seemingly valid video formats to the device.

According to Apple's Web site, the fifth generation iPod can play video in the following formats:

H.264 video

• File formats: .m4v, .mp4 and .mov
• Video: Up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3
• Audio: AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 KHz, stereo audio

MPEG-4 video

• File formats: .m4v, .mp4 and .mov
• Video: Up to 2.5 Mbps, 480 x 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile
• Audio: AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 KHz, stereo audio

MacFixIt reader Robert Miller reports that neither the iTunes 6.0.1 update, nor the Pro Application Support 3.1 update (which adds an iPod-specific export option to Final Cut Pro HD) released yesterday alleviates the issue.

Robert writes:

"I too am having trouble showing home video on my new iPod video. I had just downloaded iTunes 6.0.1 and Pro App Support 3.1.

"I tried exporting my my home video using the new 'iPod (320 x 240)' export option on Final Cut Pro HD, but to no avail.

"The home video plays fine within the context of iTunes, but I get still that 'cannot be played on iPod' message. A downloaded music video from the Apple site plays on the iPod, though.

"In other words, the Pro App Support 3.1 and iTunes 6.0.1 has not helped yet with home video."

If audio will not play in exported files Apple has posted a Knowledge Base article (#302588) explaining:

"If you've exported a video for iPod play, you may come across a situation in which the converted video doesn't contain any audio when you play the file in QuickTime Player, iTunes, or on your iPod. If this is the case, the original video file may be in a format that contains muxed (multilplexed) audio and video, and cannot be exported with audio."

The article goes on to explain how you can determine whether or not the exported file contains these incompatible audio properties: Access " Show Movie Info" in the "Window" menu of QuickTime Player after opening the movie in question, and click the "More Info" disclosure triangle, then check if the format is "MPEG1 Muxed" or "MPEG2 Muxed."

Solutions

Shorter movies transfer more readily It appears that users are having greater success with transferring shorter clips of video to the fifth-generation iPod than longer clips.

MacFixIt reader Mitchell Trellis offers a case in point:

"I have home made movies: one is 1.5 minutes, one is 4.5 minutes, and another is 26 minutes. The small one went into the new ipod easily, following the instructions on the website. The medium went, too. Then, when I did the large one, i got a message telling me, 'The files were not copied to the ipod because they cannot be played on this ipod.' They are the exact same kind of files as the 2 smaller movies. The smallest movie is made up of clips that are all from the big movie."

Try using a different application QuickTime Pro isn't the only tool that can be used to export video in the MPEG-4 and H.264 formats. Toast 7 and others can also perform the task, and you may want to consider switching to one of them if QuickTime Pro is exhibiting extremely long export times, or the video it produces fails to transfer to or play on the fifth-generation iPod.

One tool that has been receiving accolade from users and seems to be successful in exporting iPod-compatible video where other applications fail is HandBrake.

MacFixIt reader Rafael writes:

"If people are having problems with QuickTime encoding, they should consider HandBrake. I transferred two separate movies to my wife's iPod: one a home movie I created with iMovie, the other a copy of a DVD I own (with the help of MacTheRipper). Both transferred without a problem to the iPod and play just fine. These are the settings I used:

• File format: MP4 file
• Codecs: MPEG-4 Video/AAC Audio
• Framerate (fps): Same as source
• Encoder: FFmpeg
• Video Quality: Average bitrate (kbps) 256
• Video Quality: 2-pass encoding checked
• Audio Bitrate (kbps): 96
• Picture Settings: chose largest dimension to be 320, maintaining correct ratio

"Time for encoding obviously varies with the length of the movie, but it took approximately 1 hour to encode a 2 hour 20 minute movie on a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.7. And that's using 2 pass encoding- one pass should be quicker. Hope this helps."

Other software options for exporting include:

• Roxio's Toast 7.x
• ffmpegx
• HandBrake
• iMovie HD (The iPod 320 x 240 export option is located in the 'Expert Settings' option)

Use a lower bitrate As previously noted, the fifth-generation iPod can handle H.264 streaming at up to to 768 Kbps, and MPEG-4 video streaming at up to 2.5 Mbps. However, as the user Rafael profiled above did, using a lower bitrate can sometimes result in videos successfully transferring and playing on the fifth-generation iPod that otherwise would not.

Problems with export resolution in Final Cut Pro HD MacFixIt reader Jordan Orlando reports on the process of getting DV video onto an iPod, noting that videos are letterboxed -- by default -- when exported to an iPod-compatible format:

"I've started trying to get DV footage into my iPod, using Final Cut Pro HD. I've run into some problems and confusions.

"When I open the DV file (captured in Final Cut Pro) in QuickTime Pro 7 and export to the new 'video to iPod' preset, the conversion is very fast but the resulting video is letterboxed.

"This is reasonable, since the intrinsic dimensions of the DV format are 720x480: slightly wider than the Academy 4x3 ratio on a television or an iPod (and, in fact, any real destination for a DV clip). It makes sense that the QuickTime preset would refuse to re-proportion (stretch) the video, since the iPod's pixels are square, and because QuickTime doesn't automatically discriminate in terms of the source file's intrinsic pixel dimensions.

"Creating a square-pixel, 640x480 composition in Final Cut Pro and exporting it 'Using QuickTime Conversion' to the iPod preset takes forever.

"I haven't yet tried a two- or three-stage conversion (in which I'd stretch the proportion to 640x480 or to 320x240 in FCP, and then convert the result to .m4v in QuickTime Pro). It seems like Apple could make a one-step preset to go from DV to iPod, incorporating the necessary aspect-ratio change."

Slow encoding times Some users are experiencing extremely slow encoding times when exporting files in the MPEG-4 or H.264 (iPod-compatible) formats in QuickTime Pro and other applications.

It should be noted that encoding video in either one of these formats is a relatively processor intensive tasks that can seem painfully slow on anything but more recent G5-based systems. However, the times users are experiencing are in some cases inordinate.

One MacFixIt reader writes:

"When I use the predefined export of QuickTime 7.0.3 for iPod Video it takes ages (as already reported). It took me nearly two days to re-encode a DivX Video of a little more then 1 hour of movie. But even worse -- the move after encoding was useless because of the movie and the audio being about one minute out of sync. I used the DivX 6 Codec included in Toast 7, but QT is only having problems with the iPod export."

Another reader, Michael, writes:

"I am also getting extremely slow exporting from QuickTime Pro. A three minute music video takes about 20 minutes to encode. I have over 100 videos but only two of them went on successfully."

Index:

• Release notes
• Can no longer function as a bootable startup drive
• Cell phone interference
• Problems playing back home-encoded video; compatible formats; more
• Extremely slow iPod-ready exporting from QuickTime

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