Video and Your iPod
| The latest full-sized iPods can play videos that you purchase from the iTunes Music Store (page 34) or that you prepare for the iPod yourself. Watching video on an iPod isn't all that different from listening to music. Use the Videos menu to navigate to the type of video you want: movies, music videos, TV shows, video podcasts. Locate the video, press the iPod's Select button, and watch, hopefully not while also driving. Video that you buy from the iTunes Music Store is in a format that's ready for iPod playback. But what about movies you find on the Web? Or that friends or family email to you? Or that you create yourself? Although iTunes can store nearly any type of movie, the iPod is a more finicky eater. To play on an iPod, a movie must be compressed in a specific way. And as with audio compression (page 26), video compression comes in various formats. I delve into this glamorous topic in further detail on page 224 and elsewhere in the iMovie HD chapter but, for now, the names to drop when you're talking iPod compression are MPEG-4 and H.264. And the virtue to practice is called patiencecompressing video can take a long time. iTunes can compress video for the iPod, as can other programs, some of which are free. Here's an overview of the options you have for preparing movies for their small-screen debut, as well as a collection of video-related iPod tips. A Handful of Video Tips The TV connection All video-capable iPods can connect to TV sets, the vast majority of which provide larger screens than an iPod's. Better still, a growing number of TVs, including many in hotels, provide front-panel input jacks that allow you to make connections without groping around the back of the cabinet. To connect your iPod to a TV, use Apple's iPod AV Cable. Better still, spring for the iPod AV Connection Kit, which includes the cable as well as a dock and remote control. The dock also lets you use an S-Video cable for better picture quality, as described on the previous page. Once you connect the cable, you need to tell your iPod to display video on the TV set. On the iPod, go to Videos > Video Settings > TV Out, then choose On. (If you'd rather switch this setting each time you play a video, choose Ask.) Other video devices You can also connect the iPod to video-recording devices, such as a VCR, camcorder, or set-top DVD recorder. This lets you record videos you've purchased from the iTunes store, not to mention slide shows displayed with the iPod's photo display features. Got juice? When playing video, an iPod's battery charge will drain much more quicklypartly because the hard drive will spin more often, but largely because the screen's backlight is on the entire time. For the fifth-generation iPod, Apple estimates about two hours of playback time for video, compared to roughly 14 hours of music playback. Video playlists You can add videos to playlists and smart playlists. You can even mix and match videos and music in the same playlist. If you frequently buy music videos from the iTunes Music Store, you may want to listen to their soundtracks along with tunes from your music library. Video bookmarking. As with audiobooks, videos that you buy from the iTunes Music Store provide bookmarking: if you stop playback partway through, playback continues at that point when you resume. As described on the opposite page, you can use the Info dialog box to add bookmarking to videos you prepare yourself.
Converting Movies for iPod Playback Converting with iTunes First, add the movie to your iTunes library (page 80). Then, select the movie in iTunes and choose Convert Selection for iPod from the Advanced menu. Converting with QuickTime Pro Apple's $29 QuickTime Pro adds the ability to export movies using the QuickTime Player that you already have. QuickTime Pro provides a Movie to iPod setting that delivers fine results, albeit with long encoding times. You can also take the reins yourself and specify encoding settings. Converting with Podner Splasm Software's Podner is an inexpensive and elegantly designed conversion program. Handbrake and Handbrake Lite Video on a DVD-Video disc is compressed in MPEG-2 format (page 307). Video on a commercial DVD, such as a Hollywood movie, is also shackled by encryption to thwart copying. Neither of these issues bothers either of these programs. Eric Petit's HandBrake is a power tool that gives you precise control over the conversion process, including the ability to tweak compression settings and even choose which chapters you want to extract. HandBrake Lite can also suck video from a DVD, but doesn't let you tweak settings or choose specific chapters. El Gato's EyeTV Got a TiVo's worth of shows you'd like to pod? Connect El Gato's EyeTV box to your TiVo, then record the shows on your Mac's hard drive. Then, use the EyeTV software to export a version encoded for the iPod. What quality settings? Podner, QuickTime Pro, and other programs provide several encoding settings that let you balance compression time, image quality, and file size. I recommend sticking with the default settings. iPod video is all about portability, not high-definition quality. But if you want to sweat the details, here are a few guidelines: the H.264 setting often gives better quality and smaller file sizes, though encoding can take much longer than MPEG-4. For maximum quality, specify two-pass H.264. If you'll be connecting your iPod to a TV and viewing on the big screen, consider using MPEG-4 and choosing the 480- by 480-pixel frame size. This larger frame size appears more crisp on a TV than the standard iPod video size of 240 by 480 pixels. What kind of video? After preparing some video for the iPod and adding it to your iTunes library, consider using the Get Info command to specify a category for the movie. This allows the video to appear in the right category on the iPod's Videos menu. In iTunes, select the video, choose File > Get Info, click Options, then choose an option from the Video Kind pop-up menu. While you're there, check the Remember Playback Position box to add bookmarking. To avoid the chance of the video being played when the iPod is in shuffle mode, check Skip When Shuffling, too.
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