Howto convert videos to iPod format

There are a lot of ways to make videos play on the iPod or PSP. With Windows, you have expensive bloatware, and on Linux buggy commands that ultimately don’t work. This is the simplest method for making all your videos handheld compatible.

First, download Avidemux. It’s a nice program that runs on every OS. After that’s installed, open the video. Select MP4 format, Mpeg4 (lavc) video and FAAC audio as pictured to the right. If you need to shrink the video to 320×240, add the MPlayer resize filter.

Now press save, and the video will convert. If you’re running Windows or Mac, use iTunes to sync the file. Linux users, however, must use gtkpod-aac which is also available in Ubuntu’s multiverse repository.