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Converting video files on your Mac
by James Oakwood
14.12.06 |
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Video files come in all shapes, sizes and filenames, but if you’re having problems playing your files on iTunes, then it’s worth checking it with a quality video playback program, like VLC. |
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iTunes will play any QuickTime-compatible video format (MPEG, MOV, etc.), but if you have a file in a different format or want to convert it go on your iPod, then we recommend that you go through third-party software – iSquint is probably the best example of this. |
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The joy of iSquint is that it’s very simple to use. You just drag and drop the file (or multiple files if you want to ‘batch convert’ more than one) into the iSquint window, select ‘Optimize for iPod’ and slide the Quality bar to ‘Go Nuts’. You can also have iSquint automatically add the files to iTunes by clicking on ‘Add to iTunes’. |
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iSquint will automatically convert your videos to the MPEG-4 format, but if you’d rather have them as H.264 ones (they take longer to convert, but they’re smaller files), then click on ‘H.264 Encoding’ before you convert your videos. |
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When your files have been converted, all you need to do is drag and drop them into iTunes, where they can either be played through iTunes or synched up to your iPod when you next connect it. If you manually update your iPod, you’ll need to drag the video file directly into your iPod’s library in the iTunes Source list. |
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Converting through iTunes |
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If you have a video file that can be played through iTunes (a QuickTime-compatible format), then you could make life easier for yourself and just convert it through iTunes itself. Select the file and then go to Advanced > Convert Selection for iPod. It’ll probably take quite a while longer than a program like iSquint, but it’s guaranteed to work. |
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1. There are other programs you can use to convert your videos to an iPod-compatible format, but our extensive research has found that iSquint is the quickest and best one on the market – and, more importantly, it’s completely free. |
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2. Don’t expect videos to convert quickly. It takes around the same time to convert a video file as it does to play it, so a 30-minute long movie will take iSquint roughly half-an-hour to create a MPEG-4 or H.264 version. |
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