How to Make Video for iPod & PSP with Video Editing Software

Video iPod Rendering Specs for Video Editing Software

Are you making your own original video content? Beyond video podcasts, your indy band may want to put your last killer music video on the iPod and PSP. Perhaps your company or ad agency craves creating the next hot viral video or marketing tool for the PSP and video iPod platforms. It's just another popular video format.

You may have access to video editing software like Final Cut pro, AVID, Sony VEGAS, Adobe Premiere or others, which makes editing using the video specs below fairly easy. Since these tools can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, we also discuss less expensive software solutions below for rendering video for iPod or PSP.

At HighlyDef Productions we've used Sony VEGAS and Cineform for editing High Definition TV documentaries, music videos and TV commercials.


Which iPods Play Video?
You can view video in iTunes and on the color iPod. Older iPods won't play the video but might play the audio part of a video. If you must have video on your iPod Nano, you can always install the iPodLinux operating system on your Nano. Install iPodzilla and it allows you to play video avi files in color.

Most videos for Sony PSP will also play on the iPod and ITunes and vice versa. The PSP has a larger resolution than the iPod at 480x272 pixels in a 16:9 widescreen, 4.3 inch TFT-LCD. The wide aspect ratio of the screen makes it great for games, widescreen movies and HDTV. The PSP has a better screen, and Wi-Fi allowing users to connect the internet or to another PSP. The iPod has a larger HD onboard, holding 20, 30 or 60 Gig of video, photos and music. The PSP is limited to the Sony Duo memoy sticks in 1 Gig, 512 Mb or lower, with no HD. The iPod also has 30% longer battery life.
Note to Sony: add a hard drive to the PSP. If you are rendering video just for the PSP, you might render a MPEG 4 video file at 480x272 video size. If creating a video for both try using the iPod resolutions below.


Formats and bit-rates for the video iPod and PSP
Hardware:
Use a windows PC with processor of 3 Gig or faster. Faster is better, as in all types of video rendering.

Low cost software for iPod rendering:
Windows - PSPVideo9 is shareware for download at: http://www.pspvideo9.com/
MAC - Handbrake : http://handbrake.m0k.org/

The Video iPod can actually play back any video stored in the H.264 or MPEG-4 format
and properly sized for the iPod's screen. (320 x 240, 30 frames per sec.) But H.264 seems to convert very slowly on some software.

H.264 Format
If you must use H.264 then:
H.264 750-Kbps video combined with 128-Kbps audio allows up to 2 hours of video on the 30 Gigabyte iPod or 3 hours of video on the 60 Gigabyte iPod.

H.264 video settings: up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec.,
Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats. 320x240/768kbps stereo/128kbps setting works best.

With MyTV ToGO, you can move video onto the iPod, a PSP, or a Pocket PC handheld. Download it for $29 at https://store5.esellerate.net/store/checkout/CustomLayout.aspx?s=STR9773482746&pc=&page=EmbeddedSimpleCatalog.htm

.MOV Quicktime format
Apple's QuickTime Pro software can convert many types of digital video for playback on the new video iPod. With Quicktime Pro you can pick the 3ivx D4 4.5.1 codec, set the quality to medium, set the frame rate to 24 and set bitrate to 400 kbits/sec. Setting the framerate to 24 frames per second will save file space but can make the video movement look choppy on some programs. 30 frames per second give smoother movement.

If you're using professional or prosumer video editing software you can use these settings to guide your rendering efforts:
If your video source file is 740x480 standard video or larger(HDTV or HDV), then shrink it to 360x240. The new iPod is actually capable of handling MPEG4 video up to 480x480, but 360x240 is convenient because it's half of standard TV video resolution at 720x480. Set the sound to AAC 44.100 kHz Stereo at 160kbps.
MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per second. You can set the audio portion to to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio and output the whole file as .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats

For best iTunes support, avoid the "mp4" suffix and opt instead for a "m4a" or "m4v". You can also use a .mov quicktime wrapper for playback in the iPod or on a PC browser.