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Watch Avatar on your iPod
You'll need these two programs. Download whichever handbrake version you need, Mac or PC, you don't need both of them:
DVD43
Handbrake for Mac
Handbrake for Windows
A little background info: DVD43 is a program which sits harmlessly in the background of your machine, and tricks your computer into thinking there is no copy protection on your DVD. If it is running, a yellow smiley face should appear in your Windows taskbar. If DVD43 successfully bypasses copy protection on your DVD, the smiley face will turn green. Handbrake takes your DVD, and converts it to iPod compatible MPEG-4 format. Don't worry, neither of these programs contain any spyware, I have them on my computer and everything is OK :)
Step 1: The first step is simple, once you've downloaded from the above links, run the EXE's and install the programs. Once you've done that, make sure DVD43 is running. If it is, in Windows, there should be a yellow smiley face in your taskbar. Put in the Avatar DVD you want to rip (technically, this process should work for just about any DVD, but the next steps in this guide are designed especially to rip the Avatar DVDs).
Step 2: Open handbrake. In Windows, you should see a screen like this:
Check the "Folder box", then select "Browse" near the top of the screen, and browse to the DVD. It should be in My Computer, usually D or E Drive. Open the DVD Folder, and select the "VIDEO_TS" folder. A screen will popup with a bunch of text. Hit "OK", and wait a minute while Handbrake scans your DVD.
Step 3: When it is done scanning, there should be a drop down menu next to the word "Title: ". Open the Drop Down menu, and there should be anywhere from 5 to 8 items on it, depending on which DVD you're ripping. The length of video file you're going to rip is displayed in parantheses after a number in that drop down. Number 1 should be the longest one, and contains one long video of every episode on that particular DVD. If you want all of the episodes in one giant file, then click on the longest file, and skip down to Step 4. I prefer having each episode seperate though, and if you do too, keep reading.
The last file in the drop down list should be about 3 or 4 minutes, if it isn't, don't panic, it doesn't matter. The actual episodes are the ones in the middle, and are all around 24 to 25 minutes long. Each track that is about 24 minutes has a number next to it. When you put your DVD in a DVD player, that number tells the DVD which order to play the files in. So, the first 24 minute file is the first video on the DVD. For example, Book 2 Volume 2, which contains episodes 6-10, should have 5 24ish minute long tracks on it. The one that appears closest to the top of the drop down list is Chapter 6, the one right below that one is Chapter 7, and so on. If the above didn't make sense to you, check out this image:
So, select the episode you want to rip.
Step 4: This is somewhat of a verification kind of thing. Find where it says "Chapters: ", and make sure both boxes next to that say "1".
Step 5: Find where it says "Destination: ". Click on Browse, way to the right of that, and navigate to the folder you want the final video file to be placed in. I suggest putting it on the desktop because you can always move it later, but wherever works for you works for Handbrake. When you've found the folder, go down to where the browse window says "Save As". Type in the name of the episode that you're going to rip. I suggest you use a number prefix, for example "20 - The Crossroads of Destiny", but it doesn't make a difference. Then, under "Save as Type: ", MAKE SURE THAT THE FILE TYPE IS EITHER MP4 OR M4V, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT PLAY ON YOUR IPOD. I personally use mp4, but either one should work.
Step 6: We're almost done. Next to the word "Encoder: ", select "H.264 (iPod)". You can play around with other encoders if you just want to play the file on your computer, but this is the one you need to use for your iPod. To the right of that box, there should be another one labeled "Audio Encoder". By default, it should be on AAC. If it isn't, change it to "AAC". Finally, next to "Width/Height: " type "320" in the first box and "240" in the second. When you've gone all the way through Step 6, the top half of your handbrake window should look something like this:
If your window doesn't look pretty close to that, carefully re-read steps 1-5.
Step 7: Now to deal with all those tabs on the bottom. You should only have to fiddle with the "Video Settings" one, but first, make sure "Picture Settings" looks like this:
If your window doesn't look like that, change it so that it does. The only other tab you have to play with is "Video Settings". Click on it. Whatever you do, once you're in that tab, DO NOT play with the Constant Quality, or Video Framerate boxes. This will screw up your whole video.
Step 8: Last step! You only have one or two things to change. Near the top of the Video Settings tab, you should see two boxes, "Avg Bitrate (kbps)", and "Target Size (MB). Average bitrate will control the quality of your video, target size controls how big it is. You have two options:
Larger file size and more quality, or smaller file size and less quality. If your video has to be a specific size, put that number in (in megabytes) the "Target Size (MB)" box. If you don't care about size, go to the "Avg Bitrate (kbps)" box, and put in a number anywhere from 700 to 1200. 700 will have the lowest quality (but it will still look very good), and 1200 will have the highest. To be honest, it's hard to notice much of a difference, but I still like the best quality :). So, in the picture below, I have my bitrate set to 1200, but anywhere from 700 to 1200 will do. However, don't leave that range, or the video might not play on your iPod.
Now, look at the right half of the video settings tab. Make sure "Turbo 1st pass" and "Larger MP4 Files" are UNCHECKED. The only box you have to worry about is "2-pass encoding". Selecting this will tell Handbrake to go through the video and convert it twice, catching and fixing any errors it may have made the first time. If you select this box, the rip process will take longer, but your video should be perfect. Without two pass, your video might black out for a frame or two, or you might lose audio for a frame or two, nothing major. If you want the DVD to rip as quickly as possible, don't select two pass. For maximum quality (the file size isn't affected), select "2-pass encoding". Ignore everything else in the box.
Make sure the video settings tab now looks something like this:
Hit "Encode Video" on the bottom right of the Handbrake window. A DOS window should pop up, and, after a few seconds, display how much time is left in your rip. Sit back and wait, and when it is done, put your file in iTunes, plug in your iPod, and BOOM!
If you used this guide to put Avatar on your iPod, and it worked, please email me, I'm curious as to how many people will use this :)
Page Last Updated: May 1, 2008 5:04 PM
