Converting your DVD to iPhone and iPod Touch - The Easy Guide
Getting your DVD to iPhone is easy but ...
I made a search on Google and found a lot of sites where you could buy software that help you achieve this. But there is a better way and you do not have to shell out any money to get it done, and the end result is likely to be as good as the applications you pay for, or better. We can get your DVD converted using only free Mac software.
Welcome to the world of Open Source and free software! Handbrake is the name of the application you will be using during this guide, I will try to guide you step by step on getting your DVD to iPhone, and if you cant understand the guide you HAVE TO contact me so I can make the guide easier for people to understand.
This guide also apply to the iPod Touch. And now, let us start the dvd to iPhone process ...
Step 1 - Download HandBrake
Go to http://handbrake.fr and download handbrake, as of this writing it is version 0.9.3. When you get to the download page it is the one called: GUI (Universal Binary, DMG). Download that one now. If you do not have Mac OS X Leopard you have to download the 0.9.1 version further below on their download page. However this guide only cover the 0.9.3 version that only works in Leopard.
Step 1.5 - Download VLC
Since version 0.9.3 handbrake had to remove the internal DVD decryption. That is why you need to download VLC to get those libraries that can encrypt DVDs. You do not need to have VLC running but you need to download it. You can download VLC here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. Put it in your applications folder so Handbrake can find the DVD encrypting libraries.
Step 2 - "Install" HandBrake
When the file has been downloaded double click on it to open the file. You get a screen looking something like this:
Now you just drag the HandBrake icon from this window to your application folder to the left. You dont really need the docs folder to follow this guide, but it could be nice to have anyway, your decision. When you have done this you can eject the handbrake file you downloaded by pressing the eject icon you see to the left. The one that is marked blue in the image. Then you can delete the downloaded .DMG file.
Step 3 - Launch HandBrake
HandBrake should now be in your Application folder, start HandBrake by double clicking it. You might get a message that tells you that this application was downloaded from the Internet, you would want to select Yes on this question, then this screen will greet you:
If you havent done it already pop in your DVD, you will then probably se a DVD icon to the left. Click on that DVD icon and then press the Open button. Handbrake will then think for a while and give you the main screen. Just a few steps left until you have your DVD to Iphone ready.
Step 4 - Adjust The Settings
The great part with handbrake is all the presets it come with, this makes converting the video pretty easy. You should have a little box to the right that looks something like this:
As you can see i have selected the iPhone / iPod Touch preset. You might notice other iPod presets. However this guide only cover iPhone and iPod touch at the moment. But feel free to experiment if you wish.
Step 5 - Final Adjustment
Now to the final adjustments, look at the picture below and i will try to explain what you are doing now.
First crank up the bitrate. Around 2500 is great for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This will ensure the best possible image quality. Because you want that, right ?
Then select 2-pass encoding and Turbo first pass. This will also make the picture quality higher, and you would want that too i assume.
Now you are ready to press that big green button in the left corner looking like a Play button, the button with the text Start beneath it. This will start the encoding process and be prepared, this can take a long time! Several hours maybe, depending on what hardware you have in your computer of course. And the length of your DVD movie.
Also you can check the line that says Destination: you can give your file some other name if you wish, and also place it somewhere else as suggested. Your choice.
You also may have noticed that the iPhone / iPod Touch preset in the box to the right have been de - selected. This is okay, dont select it again, just leave it this way. This happens because we used our own settings later on, not to worry, it is normal.
Ready ? Press the start button and be prepared to wait. Do something else during the encoding process. To watch this process is as fun as watching your washer doing its thing...
Step 6 - The End
Encoding is finished ? Great ! You should now have your encoded file at your Desktop, or the place you specified. What you need to do now is connect your iPhone or iPod Touch to your computer. And just drag the video file to iTunes. Then drag the file from your iTunes library to your iPhone or iPod touch.
You have now converted a DVD to iPhone, wasn't so hard was it ?
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