Brown Sludge

How To (Really) Convert DVDs and TV Shows To Your Video iPod.

December 22nd, 2006

It’s been a long hard slough. Let me tell you.

When I first got my 5G Video iPod - I had big visions of converting some of my eclectic video library to iPod compatible, and maybe downloading some television shows to it as well.

Pretty Jamie and I love to camp and travel, and it seemed like a great idea to be able to take some movies with us in our ‘pocket’, to pass time on long plane flights or lengthy car rides or in the tent or cabin at night when we’re camping.

Wishful thinking.

I found out very quickly that Apple hadn’t really thought the concept of the video iPod through very well.

There was no way I was paying $10 or $15 bucks for movies on iTunes that I had already paid for on VHS, DVD or $2 for an episode of a TV show that I had already on my Moxie box.

No way.

So I set about a quest.

My quest was to find a way to convert the stuff I already HAD to my video iPod without downloading them from iTunes.

Easier said than done.

When you first begin to research this - you’ll be lead to a bizarre array of software by the ‘experts’.

The first stop on the long journey is a nightmare head-trip through “ripping” and “decoding” software for DVD’s - most of which are now illegal and virtually impossible to find.

There are “free” versions and commercial versions, and versions that only work on DVD’s that haven’t been CSS encoded (most have - so why even bother?). You have to figure out first how to decrypt a DVD, It’s a nightmare.

Then - if you’re lucky enough to have been one of the people who grabbed a copy of the decoding and ripping software BEFORE they became Federal offenses (LITERALLY) - you’re faced with the staggering task of actually learning to use the decoding software which - due to variations in the way that the Brown Sludge studios encode and copy protect their DVD’s - is a heavy burden. The procedure that works on disc A might NOT work on disc B - and you might have to completely reconfigure the software to use a different approach.

This has to be done for EVERY DVD you own that you want to decode and rip to your hard drive.

This isn’t nearly the worst part of it.

IF you’re one of the only 3 people left in the known universe who actually HAS a copy of these tools - and IF you’re basically an IT guy by profession and COULD figure out how to manipulate the software into decoding a protected DVD onto your hard drive - then… the FUN begins.

Once you’ve jumped through all of the flaming hoops of monkey-poo that is involved in ripping a protected DVD to a file on your hard drive.. that’s all you’ve got.

A file on your hard drive with the decoded movie in it.

That’s all.

Just a file.

It won’t load onto your iPod. Not in a MILLION years.

It probably won’t even play in your desktop media player.

So… the file has to be converted into a file that’s playable.

You’re right back to where you started from.

An endless array of illegal or quasi-legal crack-warez from questionable sources that will turn the ripped video into (probably) an AVI or DIVX encoded file that will play… in your DESKTOP MEDIA PLAYER.

NOT your iPod. It don’t do AVI. It don’t do DIVX. It does h.264.

BACK to square one.

Gotta find a piece of software that will turn your AVI or DIVX into an iPod compatible file.

Then guess what?

It will play on your iPod. But it will do so VEWWY QUIETLY. Cause… the ipod doesn’t like “muxed” AVI or MPEG audio. It only likes AAC. So I hope your DVD’s were all silent movies from the 20’s - because - the soundtrack won’t convert.

ROTFL.

You getting the idea now?

BACK to SQUARE one.

Gotta find the software (freeware, cracked warez, open source, commercial, etc.) that DEMUXES the AVI or MPEG file.

Gotta find MORE software that marries the DEMUXED AVI/MPEG audio back into the file that’s going on your iPod.

Jeezus H. Tap Dancin’ Christ on a Crutch.

Somebody give me a FREAKIN’ break.

I was DETERMINED to beat this LUNACY.

And I did it.

Here’s how

BUT…

Before I start - I need to address some of the readers who came here looking for a solution - and I’m directing this at the slobbering mouth-breathers who want High Definition 1080p resolution video and Dolby THX Theater quality sound… all from what amounts to a glorified transistor radio with a freakin’ TWO INCH SCREEN. You window-lickers aren’t fit to live, and will eventually be exterminated. Go back to masturbating to your posters of Deanna Troy and living for the next LARPA meeting. You shall perish in flames. Fools.

For the rest of the human race - the ones with a little common sense - here’s how I got EXCELLENT quality videos of my DVD’s and TV shows on my iPod.

It’s not EXACTLY a cheap solution - but it’s ‘inexpensive’ and it works. Really well.

First… I bought an ATI 650 HDTV Card for my computer. It was on sale for $99.00 bucks from the slack-jawed flunkies at Best Buy. I’ve seen it on the web for $79.00. Not exactly cheap, but not exactly ‘prohibitively’ expensive either.

I also ponied up the $29.99 for QuickTime Pro from Apple. It pained me to do it, and yes, I’ve read a MILLION articles about other (free, illegal, semi-legal, shareware, commercial etc.) programs that allegedly do the same thing, but… I made the decision up front not to screw around and to get from point A to point B with the shortest line possible. QuickTime Pro was it. If you found something else that works better for less money - good for you.

That’s it. That’s all I needed.

I installed the card - then I installed the drivers and software (FAIR WARNING - The program that runs the little 650 TV Video card was programmed by ass-scratching monkeys that had NO idea how to design a program or (apparently) test a program either. My guess here is that ATI did the moron thing and contracted migrant workers from third world countries to design and program the interface that goes on the front of one of the slickest and neatest little gadgets I’ve seen in a while. Shame on them. If the 650 card goes belly up in the fish-bowl - it will be because whoever was in charge of programming the interface was a brainless twit - ’nuff said)

I ran a cable TV connection to the card - and plugged in the little converter interface that came with it. It accepts an S-VIDEO and Composite set of cables. Thats all you should need.

I connected my DVD player via SVIDEO and audio cables to the cards little external interface.

I pulled up the software and set the video inputs to the S-VIDEO cable - and as Emeril would say BAM. There was the picture from my DVD player. In S-VIDEO digital quality. Nice.

It took a little experimenting with the “recording optiions” to get it right.

I initially took the bait and set the recording format to 320×240 “IPOD” format supplied with the interface. Seemed like a ‘no-brainer’ to me. What I got was okay video - but - big surprise - no sound. The file it recorded was basically a glorified AVI that - ta-da - contained MUXED audio that wasn’t going anywhere on the video iPod. WTF?

I got a little tense at this. All the literature suggested that the 650 had a BUILT in h.264 codec that was totally compatible with the video iPod. I got the sinking feeling I’d just paid $99 bucks for something that didn’t work as advertised.

I fooled around a bit more.

I selected the “h.264 Sony PSP” recording format. I recorded about 5 minutes of video.

It went onto the iPod nicely. Sound too!

Video quality wasn’t just “good”. It was EXCELLENT. I couldn’t tell that it hadn’t come directly from a digital conversion. Period. I’m willing to bet that most people couldn’t either. Crystal clear, high quality, no artifacts. Great stereo sound. Really great.

One tiny problem.

The file size was a little larger than I liked. Actually it was a lot larger than I liked.

The files on iTunes can get a 2 hour movie in about 1.5 gigs of space. A 30 minute TV episode is usually less than 300m.

My estimation put these recorded files at about 3 times that. Not so great.

That’s when I ponied up the $29.99 for QuickTime Pro. You have to have the pay-for “Pro” version because it has an “export to iPod” function.

Very handy.

I pulled my recorded video up in QuickTime Pro - exported it to the iPod format, and again… BAM… there it was.

File sizes were itty bitty. Quality didn’t seem to be degraded at all.

The one downside was time. It takes QuickTime an inordinately long time to convert these files. Like… It took almost 20 minutes to encode a 15 minute video. It takes almost 2 hours to encode a two hour video.

I can live with this.

The UPSIDE to this elegant little solution is HUGE.

First… with the 650 card I can record directly from my cable TV stations. I can set it to record to h.265 PSP format at any time of the day or night on any channel - just like a dang Tivo. (Well… almost any channel - it only goes up to channel 125 - the basic tier - the extended channels don’t show in the listing, but I’ve got a fix for that TOO ). Discovery Channel specials. National Geographic. Whatever. It goes right to a perfect little file on my hard drive at the appointed time. A few minutes of time to export it from QTPro, and I’m watching it on my iPod in stereo.

Second - anything I can get into my DVD player is fair game. Period.

Screw CSS. Screw encoding. Screw decryptor. Screw the FCC. Screw MPAA. Screw DMCA. Screw Macrovision.

If it will play in my DVD player - it’s MINE. S-VIDEO straight to the file. No illegal downloads from pirate web-sites. Just a straight shot right from the DVD player to my hard drive. The quality is NOT discernible from video ripped directly from digital media. Not on no TWO inch screen it ain’t.

Plus… with THIS solution - my old VHS tapes are convertible too!

Anything I can hook to that S-VIDEO or composite cable is fair game.

Got TiVo? Got high tier channels that won’t appear in the regular cable line-up on the 650 card? Well… does your TiVo or TV have a composite out? Then… you’re GOLD. Period.

Easy peasy japanesey.

When I’ve got a couple of two hour video’s to convert - I just set the export function to do them at night before I go to bed, and they’re done during the night. No sweat.

It’s really a great solution.

My routine is pretty basic.

First… I put the DVD in the player and get the 650’s CMC software ready to record. Then I shuttle to the final frames of the DVD - I mark the exact time when the DVD ends. Say for instance it’s 1 hour 33 minutes and 15 seconds. I set a kitchen timer to 1:32 and queue the video to the first frame. I turn on the RECORD function on the 650 and then push “play” on the DVD/VHS. When the timer beeps - I go in and wait for the finals credits to quit rolling then I quit the recording process.

For TV shows I just set the 650’s scheduler to harvest what I want at the times I want. When I get home from work or being out - their all sitting in the directly dutifully recorded in h.264 compatible format and ready to go.

Then I open QTPro, and open all the files I want to convert - and then I select “export” on all of them (you can do multiple files concurrently with no problem).

In a couple of hours I’ve got my files ready to be loaded into iTunes, and put on my iPod.

File sizes are really excellent. I can cram a 2 hour video into about 475 meg. less than 1/2 a gig. That’s totally acceptable.

The time it takes to do it this way is a little painful, I’ll admit. But it’s worth it. Truely. And for about buck and a quarter it’s not a deal breaker.

I’ll certainly save that in all the videos I *won’t'* be buying from iTunes.

And really - most of the tools that some people are using are big time-sinks anyway - so I’m not entirely convinced that this way isn’t at least as efficient time-wise in some cases. Really.

If ATI gets their collective crap together, and updates the interface things might get even better.

Oh… one little aside.

The first few video’s I converted seemed a little “squashed” to me. As if the aspect ratio wasn’t quite right in the conversion. This bugged me quite a bit. The video and sound quality was top-notch, but… the video just seemed so distorted when I played it back on the ipod.

This bugged me a lot because I was convinced I was doing something wrong. I was convinced that there was a break-down in the conversion process that was squishing my video and putting the black bars on the sides. It didn’t make any sense. Most non-wide screen video is 4:3 - and the recording ratio on the 650 was 4:3, and the ipod screen is (more or less) 4:3. Why was it squishing it?

Well… I got this beat too.

I own a 51″ wide-screen HDTV. I had set my DVD player to 16:9 ratio. This caused it to squish up the video on the iPod. When I record from the DVD player I set the ratio on the DVD player options to 4:3 and now it’s perfect. Fills the screen from edge to edge just like it should, and looks fantastic on the iPod as well.

Problem solved.

Ba-Da-Bing.
And to those who wanted me to pay for crap I already owned… well… as Bender would say :

Bite my shiny metal ASS.

Entry Filed under: General