Been doing lots of research here and elsewhere on the Internet for info on converting existing vid files such as mpg, avi, wmv, and vob files that are ripped when copying a DVD.
There is a lot of junk software out there, and after getting some replies in a thread I started here I came across a good application.
But first you need a way to "unlock" some of the DVDs that you own.

Some are copyrighted, some are not.
You also have to decide if it is your right to make a backup copy or not.
The movie industry seems to think it is not top make a backup copy of the disc you have bought, but there are a lot of folk's who feel otherwise including myself.
I loan out my videos to friends, relatives, ect, and they can come back scratched.
I believe in my right to make a backup copy of them, as well as having a mirror of the files on my hard drive.

1. You will need a ripper that can take the encrypted files from a DVD and copy them to your hard drive or a blank DVD.
I use DVD Shrink for that
http://dvdshrink.org/
It does not contain a burning engine, so you would have to use another app like Nero that contains the Nero Burning ROM plugin which will burn it to a DVD or to your hard drive as vob files.

2. You will then need another application called InterVideo DVD Copy 4
http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/InterV...py_Profile.jsp
It does not unencrypt copyrighted DVDs, so that is why you would use DVD Shrink first.

3. Here you have a few options now after having ripped a DVD to a backup copy or vob files to your hard drive.

a. If you have a backup copy of your movie on a DVD, it is already unencrypted.
You simply use the DVD copy feature in InterVideo Copy 4, and tell it to output the main movie, no need to use the extra junk when converting to an MP4 for playback with the iPod.

b. If you are using the vob files that are stored on your PC after DVD Shrink has been run, you can not use them as vobs with InterVideo Copy 4.
What you need to do it rename the vob file to name.mpg.
Yes, you can simply rename the file and it will run as an mpeg movie.

Now you can use the third icon at the top of InterVideo Copy 4 called "File to DVD" and search for the mpg file.
Then you have to have a location for the output file.
I name the location folder the same as the movie and I work off of my Desktop folder.

Click on step number 3 "Copy as" and select ipod mp4 from the drop down list.
If your movie consists of a few vob files that you have renamed to mpg, you can select them all and they will merge with this feature.
I would rename them numerically such as "1.mpg, 2.mpg, 3.mpg".
This will make them merge into the correct order when InterVideo makes it into one mp4 file for the iPod.
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See the added post below that explains how to get around the muliple VOB files, and end up with only one which is more ideal.
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You also want to go into the settings for it and make sure it is set at 320x240 pixels which is the ideal resolution format for the iPod Video.

4. If you already have other types of movie files such as mpg, avi and wmv, you simply select them as stated in step 3b above.

5. Now you can use iTunes or drag the folders of the movies you outputted the mp4 file in to your iPod and watch the movies playback.

I hope this tutorial is of help to anyone wanting to get their own videos converted over to the correct format to watch them playback on their iPods.

This info also works for the new Sony PSP hand held gaming unit.
There is the option in the drop down list to create the corect format to put onto the the PSP.

 

Using a free program called Videora iPod Converter
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/

With this program you do not even need the DVD Copy program that you have to pay for.

I converted several movies this way, and it works great.
You can simply rename your VOB files with an MPG extension, then convert them to the MP4 format with the above converter.

Some more necessary info:
When using DVD Shrink to compress any DVDs you own, make sure you have it set to not split the VOB files up into one GB chunks.

You need to devide them into one GB chunks if you are going to backup your store bought DVDs in order to burn them to a blank DVD.
But when converting them to view them on an iPod or PSP, you want one large VOB file instead.
That will be the file you rename the extension to MPG which Videora will then covert for you to the iPod format.

This works too for Sony PSP owners, and the software for that can be found here.
http://www.pspvideo9.com/

It is basically the exact same software as for the iPod.

 

my dad was going to get me the nano for christmas but they were sold out everywhere, now that i am back at his house, we went to the apple store tonight. but after reading this thread i decided to pay the extra money to upgrade to the video. i;ve already converted one of the many Divx movies on my computer and it worked perfectly. i am converting 5 more as i write this... once again thanks to Yotatech, i am spending money i didnt have to.

 

He he he...
This site will make you want all the lastest toys for the girls and boys

I watched Aliens Verses Predators at work last week, as I converted it a while back.
Took me a few days to watch it though during lunch time and breaks.

 

is there any settings i can change to get the battery to last longer? i looked to see if i could turn down the brigtness but couldnt find anything. any of the slectatble formats better then another for battery useage?

 

use a wall charger instead of your usb drive. the usb sucks balls when it comes to charging and gives you a ***** battery life. buy a wall adapter, trust me i work with these damn things everyday

 

I read about this once... I'll see if I can remember most of it:

• Turn off the backlight
• Turn off the equalizer
• There is a brightness setting there... just gotta find it. Turn it down.
• If you hold down the play/pause button for a few secs, it'll force the iPod into it's "off" mode when you're done with it. That helps some.

That's all I can remember. www.ilounge.com has a wealth of info.

 

If you have a Mac you can also download a free program called Handbrake. It works like a charm and even allows you change the screen sizes so everything is the right pixel count and size. You can also change the sound and vidoe quality as well. I downloaded American History X and watched it during this horrible Finance class I had last semester.

 

Good page here too.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/

Yeah, Handbrake is good from what I read.
They also state on their site they will not make a Windows version.

 

i read through all the manual and how-to;s on the apple support site, couldnt find anythign about it. i dont want it off completley but if i am in a dark room watching a movie i want to turn it down to save battery and my eyes.

 

I believe you can not turn down the backlight for a vid, as the vid is the back lighting.

You can however go into the settings for how long the backlight stays on when surfing the menus.

 

I only have a ipod mini, but really wish that i had gotta the video one.