I am a mac user and I am trying to add a movie to my iphone for the first time. I was wondering if someone could walk me through the steps with what programs I need to download for my mac in order to do so. I am not very good with the whole computer thing but I would like to give it a try. I am heading to Alaska and it would be nice to be able to watch a movie while I am there. thanks for the help in advance
My apology for no one noticing your post until now. There is, I believe, a Mac Video section. Because I never touch mobile phones, I can't answer this. However, 1. I visited the Apple Discussion Boards on this topic and found people are very angry. Apple has always released things before they worked. A fix will appear. 2. On a mobile phone. Well, at least they have a use. The format of the movie will likely be highly compressed, such as MPEG-4. The format of DVDs is compressed less, but of better quality: MPEG-2. People here will have no trouble telling you how to convert any DVD to iPhone format, but Apple has likely done much of this for you. 3. Open iTunes and click 'Help' & read. Do the same with Quicktime Pro. I noticed a 'plug-in' for Quicktime Pro that converts (MPEG-2 probably) into MPEG-4. iTunes, no doubt, will place in on your iPhone by cable or Bluetooth. The people here would be happy to show you how to 'rip' your iMovie DVDs, for example, into an MPEG-4 format for iTunes to deal with. However, (1) suggests it may not work. If I had a Mac at the moment, and if I had ever used a 'mobile phone', I should be happy to have walked you through it. Until one does, I should examine the Mac programs 'MacTheRipper' and 'Handbrake', discussed in the 'Guides', in a tab at the top.
Another great app for the PC or MAC users is FFMPEGX. Free open source converting software. Another is MPEGSTREAMCLIP
djhotwhee, Thanks for the reply. Can you help me out with directions on what I have to do do copy a dvd and then add it to my iphone? I normally use shrink and anydvd. but I have read that I have to convert the files to add them to the iphone. if you could give me a step by step directions that would be awsome! also I downloaded some software but it gives you a water mark in the middle of the movie and I dont want that! is there anything that does not give you that water mark? Thanks again for the help
First thing you need to do is get the programs. You'll need 2 different ones and please take the time to learn how to use them before moving on. www.ffmpegx.com Download the program and the binary files needed from the site. Another is Handbrake. Search the web for this. Get these installed and setup, mssg me back.
Thanks to 'djhotwhee', and good luck! Here are some alternatives, if things don't work out. In the past, nothing was more difficult than using FFmpegX (or even getting it); and the formats needed appear to be (avi or) mov (the QuickTime format from which mpeg-4 was derived). Handbrake was built to convert DVD to iPhone movies, so it is never a mistake: and, it has a forum! It never used to rip, which is why I suggested an older copy of 'MactheRipper'. The normal way is to use Quicktime 7, which (I am told) has a preset menu option for creating movies for the iPhone. If you have 10.6, you may be able to use QuickTime X; otherwise, you may need to instantly buy a US$30 code that coverts Quicktime into Quicktime Pro. If you have problems with 'ffmpeg', the above normal methos requires you have a pre-ripped (copyable) VIDEO_TS file: try a free DVD ripper (check the Wikipedia for a list). Users come here for support for both video on Macs, and support on the iPhone. Some must use both and have done this before. So, unless 'djhotwhee' does this regularly, there are: iPhone General Discussion http://forums.afterdawn.com/forum_view.cfm/218 Digital Video Discussion for Mac Users http://forums.afterdawn.com/forum_view.cfm/56 Though I don't know the rules for multiple posting, you can always write separate letter on these forums. It isn't clear to me what you want to do. Have you a commercial DVD (that you bought) that you wish to place on your iPhone? GUESS: Have you an object (playlist or folder) in iTunes that you have duplicated (synced) with your iPhone? If you can do that, I suggest (1) you just need to convert part of your DVD to a file of the right format, move it into that 'object', and (2) re-sync your iPhone with iTunes. The video forum above would certainly answer (1), and the iPhone forum would certainly answer (2). Or, once you have a ripped VIDEO_TS file on your hard disk, you can ask in Apple's forum on playing audio & video on the iPhone: http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1140