Encoding for the Ipod

[Yo]

I recently obtained my first Ipod, an 80 GB video Ipod.

Since it has a lot of room, and can play video, I'd like to put some video on it.

I have encoded portable video before, mostly to play on my Pocket PC. For that I have mostly used AutoGK. That's a very good encoding program, but it won't encode MP4 or AVC.

I have tried already with Nero Recode and with Handbrake, with mixed results.

Which programs and settings have people here found to work best for encoding to the Ipod?

It's a pain that if one encodes a video with chapters in Nero Recode (from Nero 7), those chapter marks do not show up at all on the Ipod, or in Quicktime. Chapters are supported in Quicktime (and slightly on the Ipod), but with a completely different manner of encoding them, than any other media player. They don't read the standard chapter marks. That really was a stupid decision by Apple, to use for chapters a format that no one else uses, and to not support standard chapter markers.

Anyhow--Handbrake is the only app I have encountered, that can encode video with Apple-compatible chapter markers. (Although other media players can't read them. Perhaps best would be for an encoding app to encode the chapters both ways, so that Apple and non-Apple players can read them.) But I have had some problems with Handbrake. (And--Handbrake for Windows doesn't even support chapter names, only numbers. I believe you can assign chapter names in Handbrake for Mac.)

Are there any other apps that can encode Ipod-compatible AVC video, and include Ipod-compatible chapter markers?

I recently discovered that my Ipod can output video (with audio) directly to TV, without any intervening device, just a cable. Cool. I bought on Ebay a video cable for the Ipod, for only $5. (Actually the listed price was only one cent, with about $5 "shipping. That kind of price listing is so silly. Why not $4 price with $1 shipping? That would make a lot more sense. In any case, cheap at $5.) The cable has an Ipod dock connector on one end, and red, white and yellow component video and audio cables at the other end. It is retractable, which is convenient.

The cable arrived yesterday. I hooked it up, and set the TV Out setting (under Video, Settings) to On. It worked! The video played by the Ipod appeared on the TV. (Unfortunately, when so set, it doesn't also appear on the Ipod screen, where one sees just the title.) But the picture quality on the TV was very poor, much worse than the video looked on the Ipod screen. I mean unbearably poor--extremely blocky and distorted, full of very prominent artifacts, etc.

So--I'd like to know why the video quality was so poor on the TV, through Ipod TV Out. Is that feature on the Ipod just very poor, looking bad with all videos? Or, is it because I was using a cheap generic Ipod-TV cable, rather than an expensive Apple cable? Or, was it due to my settings in encoding the video--that settings that look passable on the small Ipod screen, will not look good when played from the Ipod to a TV screen? For instance, since the Ipod screen is 320x240 resolution, I set the encoding width resolution to 320. (Since it was a widescreen movie, the resolution height was less than 240, I think 144 or 176.) Is that too low a resolution for TV Out? Should one set a 640 width resolution, if one might play the video from the Ipod to a TV screen. Also, what is the minimum kbps one has to encode at, to get decent results for Ipod TV Out?

Several questions here, but all related to encoding for Ipod. I would very much appreciate it if people can help me with the various questions.

Thank you for your assistance. :-)

[Dark Shikari]

So--I'd like to know why the video quality was so poor on the TV, through Ipod TV Out. Is that feature on the Ipod just very poor, looking bad with all videos? Or, is it because I was using a cheap generic Ipod-TV cable, rather than an expensive Apple cable?Now that would be hilarious, considering that the output is digital! Don't fall for the trap of "our 100 dollar cables are better."
Or, was it due to my settings in encoding the video--that settings that look passable on the small Ipod screen, will not look good when played from the Ipod to a TV screen? For instance, since the Ipod screen is 320x240 resolution, I set the encoding width resolution to 320. (Since it was a widescreen movie, the resolution height was less than 240, I think 144 or 176.) Is that too low a resolution for TV Out? Should one set a 640 width resolution, if one might play the video from the Ipod to a TV screen.And this is your answer. The iPod's screen is tiny; if you scale up that tiny video to a full-size TV, it looks terrible.
Also, what is the minimum kbps one has to encode at, to get decent results for Ipod TV Out?Depends; every source is difference.

[Sagekilla]

To answer your question, you should encode at a higher resolution and bitrate if you intend on outputting to your TV. 320x240 (or 320x176) upscaled to 640x480/352 looks like a mushy and blurry mess on a decent sized TV. With that said, try encoding at 480x360/272 and see if the quality is sufficient. Also, when encoding at that higher res you'll obviously need a higher bitrate. Realistically, I highly doubt you'll be exceeding even 1 mbps on 480x360 video so you shouldn't have much to worry about how much video you can store.

fwiw, I can manage around 1.5 mbps on 864x480 video with fairly insane settings, so even lower resolutions like 480x360 should be much lower. Good luck :)

[Yo]

Thanks for your helpful replies, Dark and Sage. I'll try that sometime.

You both replied to my last question, regarding the TV Out quality. (Being the last question, probably the one people remember most after reading.) However, I'd still like to see some discussion as well of the other topics I raised, regarding Ipod encoding, if anyone here is familiar with the topics. (Perhaps I should have put this into a few different threads, rather than putting all my Ipod questions into one post.)

Once again, thanks for replying, and thanks in advance for future replies.

[Sagekilla]

To answer your question of iPod compatible AVC videos, you can also try MeGUI or StaxRip which feature iPod profiles to enable you to encode iPod compliant video with compliant audio in the proper container (.mp4) Chapter wise though, I honestly don't know if either application will properly set chapters for the iPod.

One other thing.. Last time I checked, I think AutoGK does handle x264 encoding.

[halsboss]

... MeGUI or StaxRip which feature iPod profiles to enable you to encode iPod compliant video with compliant audio in the proper container (.mp4) ...
Any idea of the actual x264 command line with switches that gets produced by the profiles ?

So far, I've located these (ffmpeg only) commandlines and am not sure what's "good" and would value other people's suggestions (especially for X264 commandline)

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic330839.html#1768385
Suggested Xvid iPod command line options.

ffmpeg -f mp4 -y -vcodec xvid -b 400k -qmax 10 -bufsize 4096 -g 300 -acodec aac -ab 96k -ac 2 -i "Path-to-input-file.avi" -s 320x180 -aspect 16:9 "Path-to-output-file.mp4"
BTW As you can see, this is for a wide screen input file. A full screen would be -s 320x240 -aspect 4:3


http://videotranscoding.wikispaces.com/EncodeForIPodorPSP
Mpeg4 (old command line version, mind you):
ffmpeg -y -i <infile> -f mp4 -b 1000 -maxrate 1000 -vcodec xvid -qmin 3
-qmax 5 -s 480x480 -acodec aac -ab 128 <outfile>

H264 (old command line version, mind you):
ffmpeg -y -i <infile> -pass 1 -v 1 -vcodec h264 -b 400 -refs 1 -loop 1 -subq 1
-threads 2 -max_b_frames 0 -level 13 -g 300 -keyint_min 30 -qcomp 0.6 -qmax 35
-max_qdiff 4 -i_quant_factor 0.71428572 -b_quant_factor 0.76923078
-rc_max_rate 768 -rc_buffer_size 244 -cmp 1 -s 320x240 -acodec aac -ab 96
-ar 48000 -ac 2 -f mp4 /dev/null
ffmpeg -y -i <infile> -pass 2 -v 1 -vcodec h264 -b 400 -refs 5 -loop 1 -deblockalpha 0
-deblockbeta 0 -parti4x4 1 -partp8x8 1 -partb8x8 1 -me full -subq 6 -brdo 1
-me_range 21 -chroma 1 -threads 2 -slice 2 -max_b_frames 0 -level 13 -g 300
-keyint_min 30 -sc_threshold 40 -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmax 35
-max_qdiff 4 -i_quant_factor 0.71428572 -b_quant_factor 0.76923078
-rc_max_rate 768 -rc_buffer_size 244 -cmp 1 -s 320x240 -acodec aac -ab 96
-ar 48000 -ac 2 -f mp4 <outfile>


http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/psp-video-guide/
For one pass (newer commandline):
ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -ar 48000 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -r FRAME_RATE -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 2 -bf 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 4M -bufsize 4M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 21 OUTPUT.mp4

For two pass (newer commandline):
ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -r FRAME_RATE -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me dia -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -bf 1 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 4k -bufsize 4k -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -ar 48000 -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -r FRAME_RATE -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +mixed_refs -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 2 -bf 1 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 4k -bufsize 4k -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 21 OUTPUT.mp4


http://forum.videohelp.com/topic313899-30.html#1643797
if you want a video size of 320X240 you can use this:
Command0=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -maxfr 30 -i "<%InputFile%>" -title "<%Title%>" -timestamp "<%TimeStamp%>" -bitexact -vcodec h264 -coder 0 -bufsize 256 -g 250 -vlevel 13 -fixaspect -s 320x240 -b 600 -maxrate 768 -qmin 2 -qmax 51 -passlogfile "<%OutputFile%>" -pass 1 -acodec aac -ac 2 -ar 48000 -ab 64 -f ipod "<%TemporaryFile%>.M4V""
Command1=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -maxfr 30 -i "<%InputFile%>" -title "<%Title%>" -timestamp "<%TimeStamp%>" -bitexact -vcodec h264 -coder 0 -bufsize 256 -g 250 -vlevel 13 -fixaspect -s 320x240 -b 600 -maxrate 768 -qmin 2 -qmax 51 -passlogfile "<%OutputFile%>" -pass 2 -acodec aac -ac 2 -ar 48000 -ab 64 -f ipod "<%TemporaryFile%>.M4V""
Command2="rm "<%OutputFile%>-0.log""
Command3=""<%AppPath%>\cores\QT3GPPFlatten" "<%TemporaryFile%>.M4V" "<%TemporaryFile%>_2.M4V" -c QT_H264_QVGA_AAC.ini -t mpg4"
Command4="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>.M4V""
Command5=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ATOMChanger" "<%TemporaryFile%>_2.M4V" "<%OutputFile%>.M4V" "Camouflage_MOVIE_for_iPod.ini" "<%Title%>""
Command6="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>_2.M4V""
Command7=""<%AppPath%>\cores\AddiTunes" "<%OutputFile%>.M4V"


http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/ipod-video-guide/
1.5Mbit/s 640×480 H.264 videos (for improved quality using TV out)
For one pass:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 10M -bufsize 10M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 30 -aspect WIDTH:HEIGHT OUTPUT.mp4

For two pass:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions 0 -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 10M -bufsize 10M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 30 -aspect WIDTH:HEIGHT OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 300 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 10M -bufsize 10M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 30 -aspect WIDTH:HEIGHT OUTPUT.mp4

768kbit/s 320×240 H.264 videos
For one pass:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +mixed_refs -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 5 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 13 -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

For two pass:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions 0 -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 13 -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec libx264 -b BIT_RATE -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +mixed_refs -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 5 -coder 0 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -bt BIT_RATE -maxrate 768k -bufsize 2M -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -level 13 -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

2.5Mbit/s 640×480 MPEG-4 SP videos
For one pass:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec mpeg4 -b BIT_RATE -flags +aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -mbd 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 250 -maxrate 2.5M -bufsize 2M -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

For two pass:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -an -pass 1 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec mpeg4 -b BIT_RATE -flags +aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -mbd 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 250 -maxrate 2.5M -bufsize 2M -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -i INPUT -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -pass 2 -s WIDTHxHEIGHT -vcodec mpeg4 -b BIT_RATE -flags +aic+cbp+mv0+mv4+trell -mbd 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 250 -maxrate 2.5M -bufsize 2M -title SOME_TITLE OUTPUT.mp4


Cheers

[Yo]

To answer your question, you should encode at a higher resolution and bitrate if you intend on outputting to your TV. 320x240 (or 320x176) upscaled to 640x480/352 looks like a mushy and blurry mess on a decent sized TV. With that said, try encoding at 480x360/272 and see if the quality is sufficient. Also, when encoding at that higher res you'll obviously need a higher bitrate. Realistically, I highly doubt you'll be exceeding even 1 mbps on 480x360 video so you shouldn't have much to worry about how much video you can store.

fwiw, I can manage around 1.5 mbps on 864x480 video with fairly insane settings, so even lower resolutions like 480x360 should be much lower. Good luck :)

I took your suggestion, and tried encoding a movie in Nero Recode (AVC) with the resolution width set to 480. I set the bitrate at about 1 mbps.

The video looked fine on my computer, when played back through VLC. When I tried playing it back with QuickTime Player, it played, but did not look as good, seemed slightly out-of-sync, etc.

I put it into my Itunes library, then tried syncing it to the Ipod. I got an error message "(moviename) was not copied to the Ipod, because it cannot be played on this Ipod."

It sure would be nice if they told you why it would not play on the Ipod, so one would know what to do different next time.

Is the resolution and bit rate too high, to be played on an Ipod? If so, why have the TV Out feature, if the unit cannot play videos with high enough resolution and bitrate to play decently through a TV?

Does anyone here actually have experience, encoding for an Ipod? If so, what settings on what apps, have worked for you?

Anyone used the TV Out of an Ipod?

[Episodio1]

"with compliant audio in the proper container (.mp4) "

Ive just tried MeGUI and got problems with MP4: stream is not compatible when adding the audio track. It doesnt even load in Quicktime (it works good with only video). :(

I used AAC and MP3 as audio formats.

Maybe a problem with MP4Box shipped with MeGui?

[Atak_Snajpera]

try to force MPEG4 AAC in MP4Box (-mpeg4 switch)

[Sagekilla]

I took your suggestion, and tried encoding a movie in Nero Recode (AVC) with the resolution width set to 480. I set the bitrate at about 1 mbps.

The video looked fine on my computer, when played back through VLC. When I tried playing it back with QuickTime Player, it played, but did not look as good, seemed slightly out-of-sync, etc.

I put it into my Itunes library, then tried syncing it to the Ipod. I got an error message "(moviename) was not copied to the Ipod, because it cannot be played on this Ipod."

It sure would be nice if they told you why it would not play on the Ipod, so one would know what to do different next time.

Is the resolution and bit rate too high, to be played on an Ipod? If so, why have the TV Out feature, if the unit cannot play videos with high enough resolution and bitrate to play decently through a TV?

Does anyone here actually have experience, encoding for an Ipod? If so, what settings on what apps, have worked for you?

Anyone used the TV Out of an Ipod?


Can I see your settings you used to encode the video? The iPod supports up to 720x480 resolution I believe, so resolution shouldn't be an issue. You may have a problem level wise though, I have to do some research on this.

[Adub]

I do believe that muxing for the Ipod takes a special version of MP4Box, which Nic modified for full support. Just look a little and you should be able to find it.

Actually I do believe that the MeGUI wiki has a link/copy.

[HowlerX]

I read in another thread that NicMP4Box was not needed anymore with latest iTunes (v7.5). But I just encoded a short clip with 640x384 resolution and muxed it with an older version of MP4Box (newer version included with latest MeGUI doesn't work for me, it always crashes). iTunes would not sync the file to the iPod. I really hate iTunes for Windows (not to mention Quicktime.)

Anyway, long story short... you still need NicMP4Box to mux H.264 video with a resolution width over 320 pixels.

[stanleyhuang]

MediaCoder iPhone/iPod Touch Edition supports encoding to iPod H.264. It uses nicmp4box to change to atom data.
After the program starts up, press F6 to call out the console window and you can see the command lines used to perform the job.

http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/device/images/screen.png

You can get it from:
http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/device/ipod_touch.html

[halsboss]

I notice http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1105535#post1105535 also refers to this topic and it has ffmpeg commandline like

"C:\SOFTWARE\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe" -y -i "%fINPUT%" -r 29.97 -vcodec h264 -s 320x240 -aspect 4:3 -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -deblockalpha 0 -deblockbeta 0 -crf 24 -bt 256k -refs 1 -coder 0 -me umh -me_range 16 -subq 5 -partitions +parti4x4+parti8x8+partp8x8 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -level 30 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -trellis 2 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -acodec aac -ab 32k -ar 48000 -ac 2 OUTPUT


Any suggestions on what should be changed to cater for (a) 16:9 and (b) PAL 25fps (ie the -s display size) ?

[Bear]

Yo, try winff, they have a profile for ipod 640x480. If you use that setting to encode your video, I think the quality will be much better if you output to tv.

[Bear]

halsboss, you can try -r 25, -aspect 16:9

But I am can't be sure, since I encode my videos to 29.97, 640x480 and 320x240 only.

[halsboss]

Thankyou Bear. -r 25, -aspect 16:9 it is then. I haven't installed Winff as I thought is used asp.net ? and I didn't want to install that. Not sure how to view Winff's underlying settings particularly the -s size setting choices for PAL,

[RsVolcom]

I've been successfully encoding for the iPod using Sharktooth's iPod profile in MEGui. I'm struggling right now to find a way to mux the chapters in so that the ipod can see them, but audio+video muxing is no problem.

Edit: SUCCESS! Properly named chapters for your iPod using this tool:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=131095
thanks tuber99

[halsboss]

Great. How ?

[RsVolcom]

I strip the video and audio (and chapter info) using DVDDecrypter.

Use MeGui to make a d2v.

Encode the audio using the NDAAC-LC-96Kbps profile (unmodified)

Encode the video using the PD-iPod profile (unmodified)

Use Megui's avi synth creator...appropriate cropping; I shrink to 320x240 for my 3rgGen nano; Analyze the video; I use 'bicubic neutral' and 'minimal noise' because I read something somewhere that made sense and I don't know any better, but I'm pretty sure you need some sort of resize filter...you know...due to the resizing; save the avi script.

Ctrl-B takes you to the Bitrate calculator. Be sure the container format here says mp4 not mkv (as well as the one under the video encoding section of the input tab). If you've done everything in order the audio file should be in the bitrate calculator automatically, but if not go find the audio file you made(its the smaller one) and add it to the calculator. The rest of the bitrate calculator setting are pretty self-explanatory. Queue it up and encode the video.

I like to see a bitrate between 4 and 5 hundred for iPod stuff, but I am interested in all educated and/or experienced opinions.

Now that you have all you files...mux them with MeGui's mp4 muxer. It uses MP4Box just like Yamb, but has more options and a better interface in my opinion. Yamb works for muxing too.

Let me know if you have any troubles...I've had tons...MeGui can be very finicky...so can avisynth...


Edit: SUCCESS!
Properly named chapters for your iPod using this tool:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=131095
thanks tuber99

[Yo]

The iPod supports up to 720x480 resolution I believe, so resolution shouldn't be an issue.

I have had a lot of problems with encoding video for Ipod, that imports fine into Itunes, but when I try to sync it to the Ipod, I get an error message that the video cannot be copied to the Ipod because it will not play on the Ipod.

I did some research on the support site at apple.com, and came across the following page:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302758#8

I'll quote some relevant info from that page:

----quote from Apple page above----------

"Does the video need to be encoded in a special way?

iPod can play the following video formats:

* H.264
File formats: .m4v, .mp4, and .mov
Video: Up to 768 kbits/sec, 320 x 240, 30 frames per second (fps), Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3.
Audio: AAC-LC up to 160 kbits/sec, 48 Khz, and stereo audio.

* MPEG-4
File formats: .m4v, .mp4, and .mov
Video: Up to 2.5 Mbits/sec, 480 x 480, 30 fps, Simple Profile.
Audio: AAC-LC up to 160 kbits/sec, 48 Khz, stereo audio.

-------------------------end quote------------

According to that page, the Ipod will not play video encoded up to 720x480, as you wrote. In fact, for h.264 encoding, according to that page, the Ipod will not support higher than 320x240 resolution. For non-h.264 MP4 encoding, it will support resolutions up to 480x480.

I have no idea why the resolution and kbps limits are lower for h.264. Anyone know?

Have people found the info above to be incorrect? Have you successfully played videos on the Ipod, that do not fit in the above encoding limits?

Anyone here used the TV Out function on the Ipod? What settings have you found to work well with it?

[Yo]

I've been successfully encoding for the iPod using Sharktooth's iPod profile in MEGui.

Where does one get Sharktooth's Ipod Profile? Does it come built into MeGui?

[nm]

According to that page, the Ipod will not play video encoded up to 720x480, as you wrote. In fact, for h.264 encoding, according to that page, the Ipod will not support higher than 320x240 resolution. For non-h.264 MP4 encoding, it will support resolutions up to 480x480.

I have no idea why the resolution and kbps limits are lower for h.264. Anyone know?
Baseline H.264 is generally harder to decode than MPEG-4 SP, and in this case it may depend on the capabilities of the decoder chip.

Have people found the info above to be incorrect? Have you successfully played videos on the Ipod, that do not fit in the above encoding limits?
I think that older iPod hardware and firmware versions have more restrictions than newer ones, so it depends on which iPod model you have.

[Yo]

I think that older iPod hardware and firmware versions have more restrictions than newer ones, so it depends on which iPod model you have.

I think my Ipod (80GB video) is not of the newest generation, but the second-newest generation, I think those called "fifth generation" Ipods. It has been updated with the newest firmware available for it.

[RsVolcom]

Where does one get Sharktooth's Ipod Profile? Does it come built into MeGui?

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=101813&highlight=sharktooth+profile

I'm not sure about the iPod...it looks like the iPhone will decode up to its resolution(640x480).
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html
and I think the iPod touch has the same resolution.
I will try to encode something to this size and play it on my iPod nano to see if it works.

You may want to check this out:
http://plasticbugs.com/?p=305

[Theliel]

depend. For example, for Ipod Touch, Apple said that max resolution are 640x480 and 1.5Mb, but support perfectly 720*576 up to 10Mb/s

Ipod 5.5G have higher setting too that apple said.

[RsVolcom]

depend. For example, for Ipod Touch, Apple said that max resolution are 640x480 and 1.5Mb, but support perfectly 720*576 up to 10Mb/s

Ipod 5.5G have higher setting too that apple said.

Is this 720*576 encoded in h264?

[Yo]

Well, I just discovered something unusual.

First of all, I tried using the Ipod profiles in Nero Recode 2 (from Nero 7). There is an AVC profile, and a regular MP4 profile. They seem to follow exactly the specifications quoted by Apple above. The AVC profile sets the resolution to 320x240, the non-AVC version to 480x368 (for 4:3 video). The upper limit of bit rate was exactly as described by Apple. I tried both (same video), and I even tried a third, also non-AVC, but where I changed the resolution to the maximum it would allow, 480x480, and the bitrate to maximum allowed 2.5 mbps. (All were encoded at 30fps frame rate.)

One thing I should point out--this is a very convenient way to encode and transfer videos to Ipod. Not only did all the videos work on the Ipod, Nero transferred them to the Ipod (it asks that the Ipod be connected, when you use one of those Ipod profiles), so one didn't have to bother trying that in Itunes.

Results: First of all, there is no point in doing 480x480, as the real resolution of the video itself still seemed to be 480x368, with black bars added to the bottom and the top (letterboxing).

All three videos looked quite good on the Ipod, including the smallest (AVC 320x240). (Therefore, if you just plan to watch videos on a 320x240 Ipod screen, no TV out, and have Nero, I would recommend this method of Ipod encoding, using the default Ipod AVC profile. Very easy and convenient, and the video looked good on the Ipod.)

However, all three videos looked bad on the TV, when using the TV Out function, including the 480x480 2.5mbps version. (And that one ended up with a larger file size than the original mpeg-2 file that I encoded!) So, I would not recommend Nero Ipod profiles for TV Out from Ipod.

Now, following is the surprising part, which runs contrary to what many said here, regarding resolution. I downloaded a couple video podcasts of news programs from Itunes. They both looked good on the Ipod. I tried them on TV Out, and they also looked pretty good, not quite as sharp as on the little IPod screen, but quite good, much better than any video that I had encoded played through TV Out, including those described above.

On my hard drive, I put those podcast files into Mediainfo, to find out the specs of those files. They were all 320x240 resolution. One was 562kbps (29.97 fps), one 578kbps and only 15fps frame rate.

Therefore--these video podcasts downloaded from Itunes were all low-res, and had much lower bitrates than any of my encodings, and one had a halved frame rate. Yet, they all looked better on TV Out, than any of my encodings did.

What therefore, could be the difference, that made those video podcasts look better on TV Out, than anything I've tried, that I encoded? Any ideas?

If some knowledgeable person could download video from Itunes (many video podcasts, etc., available for free, and some movies and TV shows available for a charge), and could analyze it, and explain why 320x240 video at 562kbps downloaded from Itunes, looked much better (in TV Out from Ipod) than 480x368 video at 2500kbps did (encoded with Nero Recode 2-Ipod Preset), I would be very interested to find out why.

Anyone here tried TV Out on the Ipod?

[Theliel]

Is this 720*576 encoded in h264?

yes, and work perfectly in iPod Touch, maybe in classic too.

[RsVolcom]

Now, following is the surprising part, which runs contrary to what many said here, regarding resolution. I downloaded a couple video podcasts of news programs from Itunes. They both looked good on the Ipod. I tried them on TV Out, and they also looked pretty good, not quite as sharp as on the little IPod screen, but quite good, much better than any video that I had encoded played through TV Out, including those described above.

What does this contradict that many here have said, exactly?

I'm just taking a wild guess, but if the apple website is true, the higher resolution videos(any above 320x240) such as the ones encoded by nero are going to necessarily be mpeg-4. If this is the case and the apple store is uploading to you h264 encodes, its quite possible they will look better than the larger mpeg, even when stretched.

[Yo]

What does this contradict that many here have said, exactly?

I'm just taking a wild guess, but if the apple website is true, the higher resolution videos(any above 320x240) such as the ones encoded by nero are going to necessarily be mpeg-4. If this is the case and the apple store is uploading to you h264 encodes, its quite possible they will look better than the larger mpeg, even when stretched.

Well, look at my post again. With Nero I also tried the Ipod h.264 preset, which encoded at 320x240. Again--looked good on the Ipod, terrible on TV Out.

Everything I've tried has looked real bad on TV Out, except for those video podcasts (320x240) downloaded from Itunes.

--------------------
Another surprise. Since those videos downloaded from Itunes store were the only ones that looked at all passable on TV Out, I thought I would try using Itunes to encode a video. I have the newest Itunes, the newest Quicktime Pro, and the QT MPEG-2 plugin. (The video being encoded was MPEG-2.)

I imported the MPEG-2 file into Itunes, then right-clicked the file, and chose "convert selection for Ipod/Iphone". There were no options to choose at all, one could not set anything. It took many hours, much longer than Nero, I had to let it run all night.

When I looked at the completed file this morning, I was surprised to see that it is 640x480 resolution. (Perhaps due to Iphone support, which I think has that res.) And surprisingly, despite the statements on the Apple web site regarding the resolution limitations of my Ipod, the video transferred to the Ipod. Somewhere over 1500kbps video bitrate.

I thought---"This has to work for TV Out. A video created by Itunes itself (since the videos downloaded from Itunes store worked), and 640x480 resolution no less"! Well, still another surprise--the video also looked terrible on TV Out! And furthermore--NO SOUND AT ALL!

So--I guess Itunes is out as a conversion method!!!

Anyone have any insight into this mystery???

[toxicbyte]

This is a short sample of a tv-series that i encoded for storage
as well as looking on my 5.5g ipod or via TV-Out.
I choosed a horizontal resolution of 640 because going any further
just cuts off the picture... dont know whether this is due to
ipod tv-out limitations or my crappy tv. :)
I once tested horizontal resolutions up to 720 successfully so there
is room for improvements.

I use mencoder for all my encodings so far and use settings
fairly similar to this:

Video First Pass

mencoder.exe "C:\test.vob" -fps 25 -ofps 25 -vf scale,harddup -zoom -sws 2 -xy 640 -o "C:\out.264" -of rawvideo -nosound -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1350:pass=1:ratetol=100.0:frameref=4:bframes=0:nob_adapt:b_bias=0:nob_pyramid:nocabac:direct_pred=none:noweight_b:partitions=p8x8,i4x4:no8x8dct:me=umh:me_range=24:subq=7:chroma_me:mixed_refs:nobrdo:nobime:nofast_pskip:nodct_decimate:level_idc=30:threads=auto


Video Second Pass

mencoder.exe "C:\test.vob" -fps 25 -ofps 25 -vf scale,harddup -zoom -sws 2 -xy 640 -o "C:\out.264" -of rawvideo -nosound -ovc x264 -x264encopts bitrate=1350:pass=2:ratetol=100.0:frameref=4:bframes=0:nob_adapt:b_bias=0:nob_pyramid:nocabac:direct_pred=none:noweight_b:partitions=p8x8,i4x4:no8x8dct:me=umh:me_range=24:subq=7:chroma_me:mixed_refs:nobrdo:nobime:nofast_pskip:nodct_decimate:level_idc=30:threads=auto


Audio

mencoder "C:\test.vob" -aid 129 -edl edl.txt -hr-edl-seek -fps 25 -ofps 25 -of rawaudio -o "C:\out.aac" -af resample=44100:0:1,volnorm=2 -ovc copy -oac faac -faacopts br=128:mpeg=4:object=2


Muxing

nicmp4box.exe -add "c:\out.264" -add "d:\out.aac" -fps 25 "C:\out.mp4"


I know those settings are far from perfect but they are working
and could be a starting point for yours.

Here is the sample http://uploaded.to/?id=6cgrbd

PS. Please turn a blind eye on my english.. its not my native tongue :p

[RsVolcom]

Well, look at my post again. With Nero I also tried the Ipod h.264 preset, which encoded at 320x240. Again--looked good on the Ipod, terrible on TV Out.

Everything I've tried has looked real bad on TV Out, except for those video podcasts (320x240) downloaded from Itunes.

--------------------
Another surprise. Since those videos downloaded from Itunes store were the only ones that looked at all passable on TV Out, I thought I would try using Itunes to encode a video. I have the newest Itunes, the newest Quicktime Pro, and the QT MPEG-2 plugin. (The video being encoded was MPEG-2.)

I imported the MPEG-2 file into Itunes, then right-clicked the file, and chose "convert selection for Ipod/Iphone". There were no options to choose at all, one could not set anything. It took many hours, much longer than Nero, I had to let it run all night.

When I looked at the completed file this morning, I was surprised to see that it is 640x480 resolution. (Perhaps due to Iphone support, which I think has that res.) And surprisingly, despite the statements on the Apple web site regarding the resolution limitations of my Ipod, the video transferred to the Ipod. Somewhere over 1500kbps video bitrate.

I thought---"This has to work for TV Out. A video created by Itunes itself (since the videos downloaded from Itunes store worked), and 640x480 resolution no less"! Well, still another surprise--the video also looked terrible on TV Out! And furthermore--NO SOUND AT ALL!

So--I guess Itunes is out as a conversion method!!!

Anyone have any insight into this mystery???

First of all, I just realized you have a very specific goal of TV out which for now I have no intention of messing with, so I'm sorry I cannot be of much help. I'm not sure why your situation is not working.

I also am not sure what you were referring to when you said "contrary to what has been said here" so am not able to clarify this for you.

I'm not surprised however that no matter what you're trying to do, iTunes is not going to be a salvation of any kind.

[drunken_clam]

For those who had problems syncing videos with iTunes to iPod.

For me it's only a problem with 640x480 h.264 mp4's for the 5th generation ipod (http://support.apple.com/specs/ipod/iPod_Fifth_Generation_Late_2006.html), iphone and ipod touch worked without any problems.

To solve this problem you can use NicMP4box, AtomicParsley or as from now a new svn-build from ffmpeg (f.e. SVN-r12488). The ffmpeg-team has updated their mp4-muxer for ipod files ("-f ipod"), for me it works fine.

[Schrade]

For those who had problems syncing videos with iTunes to iPod.

For me it's only a problem with 640x480 h.264 mp4's for the 5th generation ipod (http://support.apple.com/specs/ipod/iPod_Fifth_Generation_Late_2006.html), iphone and ipod touch worked without any problems.

To solve this problem you can use NicMP4box, AtomicParsley or as from now a new svn-build from ffmpeg (f.e. SVN-r12488). The ffmpeg-team has updated their mp4-muxer for ipod files ("-f ipod"), for me it works fine.

Aaaah! Anyone have a Win32 build of this available for download?

[SimonSez07]

you can download the svn build of ffmpeg here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=205275

anyone know where i can get the svn build of AtomicParsley?