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Guides and articles
Guides and articles
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Free iPod Video Converter Interface
 Thankfully this software has an easily understandable interface. In the centre there is a Track List. Free iPod Video Converter can process an unlimited amount of files, so when you add them they will be listed in order in the Track List. To the right of the list is a set of simple buttons. Add Files and Remove are obvious (though remove will only work when there are files in your list of course), Edit Task will allow you to change settings for a selected video file, Convert will begin the conversion, Help will open a help file, Live Update checks for updated versions, Cool is a list of other software offered by Jodix.com and About gives version and license info.
Below we also have a Video Information window, but it is useless without videos in your Track List. Notice also that you can hide both the track list with a little button that is on the title bar of each. This same button will also restore them if they are hidden.
So now that you are familiar with the simple interface, let's begin.
Adding Tracks
 To add a file or multiple files (don't all have to be the same type of video input) click the Add Files button. To select multiple files, hold down the CTRL key while clicking them. A second click on a selected file will deselect it, but a click without the CTRL key held will deselect all files except the one you just clicked.
You can also simply drag video files into the Track List. When you do this, another small window will popup; a Settings window.
Input Settings
 When the settings window pops up, the first thing you will receive is nothing more than information on your source file(s). The program deals with each files settings for input and output individually, we'll look more at that in a moment. So as you can see in the picture it will give you the Duration, Resolution and Audio details of your source file under Video File Information. You can click Cancel if you accidentally selected this file and start again, or click the button beside the Input File field to select another input file.
If you are ready to continue, click Next.
Output Video Settings
 The settings on this window will let us determine the quality and size of the files we will be creating. Output File will allow you to choose a path to save your MP4 file. It will be automatically set to the same directory as your source file, with the same filename with an .mp4 extension. Feel free to change it to whatever you want. Video Size is next. Your options will be 320x240 or the same resolution as the source file. Stick with 320x240 for compatibility reasons.
The video quality slidebar lets you choose between a set of 8 pre-set bitrates; 128kb/s (very low quality), 256kb/s (fairly low quality), 384kb/s (low quality), 512kb/s (acceptable quality), 768kb/s (good quality), 900kb/s (high quality), 1500kb/s (higher quality) and 2000kb/s (best quality). The bitrate selected will show in the Output File Information box. I usually keep mine at 768kb/s. Remember that rubbish input video quality will produce rubbish, and even worse, output quality.
There is also a slide-bar for output audio quality, again with 8 options. 32kb/s, 48kb/s, 64kb/s, 80kb/s, 96kb/s, 112kb/s, 128kb/s and 160kb/s. Audio quality really depends on your input audio. If it is a music video or something similar, you shouldn't go below at least 112kb/s, but personally I always stay at 128kb/s. The lower bitrates can be acceptable for audio with just speech but if you want to use a low bitrate, you will probably have to experiment with output quality a few times before you get it right.
If you are ready, click Next.
ID3 tag setting
 If you are unfamiliar with ID3 tags, then go to our Glossary section and check it out. Adding ID3 tags to your video will ensure that your iPod will name the video correctly. Of course, you can change these settings in iTunes, but why not now when you have an opportunity that will only take a few second?
The available tags to change assume that the file is a music video. If it is not then perhaps you will only need to fill in Title and Author. There are a couple of pre-loaded authors to choose from and a huge list of Genres. Put in whatever you want for Copyright.
If you are done click OK.
Did you select multiple files?
 As I mentioned before, the software allows you to add multiple files which it processes individually. This means that you will have to set the output settings for all the files but, you will have the option now to apply the same output settings to all the video files you selected, saving you some more time.
If you select no it will give you the option again after you change the settings for the next file in line. If you selected multiple files and you want to change the settings for one of these files, but it is not the next file in line, you don't need to go through them all until you get to it. Simply click Yes and you will be able to change the settings for individual files afterwards.
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Created: 9 February 2006 Last updated: 14 August 2007
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