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How to Add Video to an iPod and iTunes

For watching video on your computer you can use many different media players. Some are better than others but they all do the trick so you don’t really need to ever add movies or tv shows to your iTunes library. Not unless you particularly anal about organizing all of your files in one place.

But what if you want to take your movies or tv shows with you on your iPod? This is where adding videos to iTunes becomes necessary.

First things first. You need to get content. So you can download television shows for free on the internet and you can rip your dvd’s to your iTunes as well. Follow the links to learn how to do that.

How to import AVI into iTunes

Now depending on what you are wanting to add you will need to convert your video to an .mp4 file so that it can enter into your iTunes library.

When you download television shows they most usually come in an .avi file format. iTunes will not accept this format. The program you need to download to do the conversion is called iSquint. The developers for iSquint have discontinued work on this software however you can still find copies of it out there. It is free and very simple to use. You just have to drag a file into the window and check the settings you want. You can even check that you want it added to iTunes.

Below is a screenshot of the iSquint interface. You can almost tell exactly how to use it by looking at it. Just check the appropriate boxes and drag your file into the larger white area. Make sure you select your destination so you know where your files are once the conversion is complete.

iSquint Screenshot

iSquint works like a charm for converting .avi files to play iTunes. After the conversion is done, all you have to do is drag your newly converted file into iTunes (if you didn’t click the box for iSquint to do it for you) and iTunes will start importing it.

Add video to iTunes Library

Once you have completed adding your video to iTunes you need to put it onto your iPod or iPhone.

Take a look at the screenshot below. Note that we are looking at the movie section of iTunes. Also note there is a device listed which is my old school iPod nano with video screen.

iTunes Movies

To do this simply plug in your device and add the video like you would for a song. Your video will be kept in your movies folder in iTunes by default until you change the information to reflect that it is a tv show. Click on the Movies section and you will see your videos that you have imported. Click on the appropriate video and drag it to the iPod or iPhone icon along the left hand side listed under Devices.

You will then have your video added to your iPod or iPhone to take on the road with you. I personally like to have some workout videos on my iPod so that I can see proper exercise technique when I’m at the gym. It can be hard to remember all of the different exercises in P90X or the 10 minute trainer series.

So now you should be all set up to go with your portable device and some video content to keep you entertained on your commute or for even more practical applications like bringing presentations or tutorial videos with you to learn on your way to something.

It’s a lot of writing for a few simple steps:

  1. Convert your AVI to MP4 using iSquint OR Rip your dvd using Handbrake
  2. Add your MP4 to iTunes
  3. Transfer to your device

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