Batch Convert iPod Videos?

[DavidA]

I have a iPod Classic Gen 5 which I use to keep kids TV shows on and then plug into a TV when we go on holidays.

I have a lot of cartoons which I'd like to get on there, but they're not the correct video format. I'm no stranger to video encoding so I figured it wouldn't be hard for me to pick some software to batch convert them. I've tried about a dozen pieces of software now, each claiming to do the job but either getting the formats wrong or crashing half way through a batch job. Any Video Converter and MediaCoder were the best, but still a bit too flaky.

I was thinking about batch converting using a command line tool or similar. Really, anything reliable that will do the job. At least I'd have a better sense of what was really going on with a batch file that points to a file list.

Here's the video format that the iPod uses:
The iPod Video plays video in MP4 (up to 2.5 Mbit/s) and H.264 (up to 1.5 Mbit/s, baseline profile only) formats. Video such as TV shows, podcasts, music videos, and movies may be purchased from online stores such as the iTunes Store, or downloaded from Google Video and other sources, then imported to the iPod via iTunes software.

Any recommendations?

[Baldrick]

Tried VidCoder?

[DavidA]

Ooh. That looks good. Let me take a better look...