iTunes can't play MPEG-4?

[Sagitta]

Hello, I've recently downloaded some movies in MPEG-4 format. However I was not able to add them to iTunes and therefore couldn't put them on my iPod. I thought iPod/iTunes was suppose to be able to accept/play MPEG-4 files? Is it possible for me to convert the movies to another format (such as AVI) and then back to MPEG-4 and try again to add them on iTunes? Any suggestions?

[Sagitta]

Just a bit more info: the movies couldn't be played with QuickTime, but worked fine with VLC Media Player.

[GMaq]

Sagitta,
iTunes and iPods DO play MPEG-4 files but only if they are within certain specs. My guess would be that the files you downloaded probably were encoded with "B frames" which Quicktime, iTunes and iPods won't play. You have two options: 1. Try running the file through NicMP4Box which involves command line skills and isn't guaranteed to work. or 2. Re-encode the files with one of the many iPod encoders out there which will cause significant quality loss.

[Sagitta]

Hey GMaq, thanks for you help. Do you have any suggestions as to what iPod encoders I should use? I just tried with Videora, and it won't work. Quality loss is not too big of a concern, since the original movies are in high definition.

[GMaq]

Hello Again,
It just so happens I've been working on this little project:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic331773.html

It's free, however I don't know if it'll work with HD files....It works great with DVD's etc. try it if you like, let me know if it works. Most of the iPod encoders haven't caught up with HD yet.

[Sagitta]

Hi GMaq, I downloaded the single core version, but the program will not let me drag & drop the movies into the box. I then tried it with some other movies, and it worked fine. Perhaps it's the HD that's messing everything up?

[GMaq]

OK,
You are probably right about the HD thing being the issue. I'm sorry I'm not more knowledgeable about it, that definitely is why they aren't working in iTunes though. You may want to look into Nero Recode, it isn't free but it is always my fallback program when others fail. I believe it has a free trial version. Best of Luck!!

[Sagitta]

Thank you very much for your help