iTunes Video Smartlists & Video Conversion

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swain69

18 posts

Geek

#38448 29-Jul-2009 14:32

Hi,

I just recently got the iPhone 3GS and thought I'll get the 32GB and then transfer my converted TV series to it. However, as I've converted all my DVDs to avi, I obviously needed to convert everything to mp4 (major pain). I have not had much luck. I've tried Videora and Xilisoft but some of the episodes have audio video sync issues. Any idea what might be causing that? I read somewhere, that I should drop the framerate to 25fps, but would that still be playable on my PS3? I don't intend keeping two copies of each episode or series.

Another question:
On iTunes (PC), music smartlists work as it suppose to, but video smart playlists will not sync. I have to manually select the episodes I want to sync. Is this by design or a bug?

I'm truly impressed with the iPhone, but iTunes is so unbearably slow . I've tried all the tweaks I could find on the net, but it still crawls. Are there no other alternatives to iTunes?

Thanks in advance

clicknz

477 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 94

Trusted

#240206 29-Jul-2009 16:46

Hi - not sure whether this will work in your situation (there are so many flavours of video formats... some with the same file extension) - but if I drop an avi file into iTunes it will place it in the 'movies' folder & from there I can select it & look under the 'advanced' tab to let iTunes do a 'convert for iPod/iPhone' - it will then chug thru' the conversion process & allow me to sync with the converted version.
Re. syncing - I have iTunes set up to allow me to manually manage music & videos on the iPhone... I'm pretty sure that by trying a few of the options you should be able to have it automatically sync with your videos.
I'm using a Mac, but I think the options are the same/similar on a PC. iTunes seems to run fine on my laptop (sometimes I have to wait...nothing serious) - maybe it's a RAM thing, or the fact that it was written to run on a Mac...? Good luck.

Edit - Heh, heh - just noticed the banner ad running currently at the top of this page - an ad for video conversion - www.avs4you.com Maybe worth seeing what their product does....

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

swain69

18 posts

Geek

#240491 30-Jul-2009 10:04

hey,

iTunes for Windows does not have that functionality of importing or dragging avi's into the library.

Re syncing : I've changed my sync type to manual and tried to sync a video playlist...still doesn't work.

I've downloaded and tried the AVS Video converter...converts great, batch conversion fails though, another annoying thing...converted videos do not inherit the file name, so you have to manually type in
Star Trek Voyager Season 2 Episode 1 The 37's .....times 26 for each season.
I will continue seaching for a better conversion program.
I kinda missing the ease of use and fully functional (probably not pretty) Windows Mobile now

alsta

278 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 28

#240500 30-Jul-2009 10:19

Have you tried Handbrake. Accepts avi's and has excellent high quality presets. Highly recommend the Universal one.

www.handbrake.fr

http://handbrake.fr/?article=snapshot

the snapshot is the most uptodate version however I have a feeling it won't accept AVI input.

Best bet would be to rerip DVD's with handbrake...it does allow a queue if you have them pre ripped to your hard drive.

Twitter : @twocolddogs

swain69

18 posts

Geek

#240509 30-Jul-2009 10:37

I will check out at Handbrake.

Thank you

swain69

18 posts

Geek

#240914 31-Jul-2009 12:06

clicknz,
I've reinstalled iTunes and video playlist works. I'm not sure what I did wrong the first time around.

alsta,
I've installed Handbrake. I've did some test conversions and it works perfectly on my PS3 and iPhone.
It does not support batch conversions, unless you use the queue thing. It does however have a really cool command line inteface, so scripting is possible. And it's FREE.

Again thanks for your guidance and help.

Newguy

211 posts

Master Geek

#241148 1-Aug-2009 09:27

I have found ipodme a good program to convert the files for my iPhone.

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

Newguy

211 posts

Master Geek

#241149 1-Aug-2009 09:27

I have found ipodme a good program to convert the files for my iPhone.