Floola problems: an alternative? (for PC)

[Leo]

iTunes doesn't like the mp4 files that HB 0.85b1 makes on my PC, so I use Floola to get them onto my 80GB iPod. This is fine except:

A) I have ended up with a load of old videos that used to play fine that the iPod now seems to think are audio files and mixes them in when I use Shuffle Songs but plays only the audio, and

B) (most distressingly) all my Smart Playlists have been converted into regular playlists , so they don't get automatically updated when I add new music that should get added to the playlists! Some of them had dozens of rules I'll have to spend ages reconstructing! I want to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

So is there a free alternative to Floola that doesn't mess up the iPod's database/whatever?

PS - does anyone know how to back up the rules in a Smart Playlist? e.g. into some sort of text-based file? That would be great.

Thanks

[cbud]

iTunes doesn't like the mp4 files that HB 0.85b1 makes on my PC, so I use Floola to get them onto my 80GB iPod. This is fine except:

A) I have ended up with a load of old videos that used to play fine that the iPod now seems to think are audio files and mixes them in when I use Shuffle Songs but plays only the audio, and

B) (most distressingly) all my Smart Playlists have been converted into regular playlists , so they don't get automatically updated when I add new music that should get added to the playlists! Some of them had dozens of rules I'll have to spend ages reconstructing! I want to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

So is there a free alternative to Floola that doesn't mess up the iPod's database/whatever?

PS - does anyone know how to back up the rules in a Smart Playlist? e.g. into some sort of text-based file? That would be great.

Thanks

Time to buy a Mac.

[Leo]

you reckon it's a pc thing? you think they'd add ok on a mac running itunes? Can some x264 mp4 files produced by hb on a pc be used with itunes on a pc to add it to an ipod?

[baggss]

What are the specific settings you are using in HB to rip these videos?

[krn]

A) I would guess that the video type for those videos has been changed to Music Video. That would make it behave the way you are describing. In Floola, right-click on the video, choose "Edit..." then go to the Options tab. Look at the pulldown menu labeled "Movie kind:". Also, uncheck the box labeled "Skip when shuffling".

B) Do Smart Playlists really exist as such on the iPod, or are they just a feature of iTunes, which would create or update a regular playlist on the iPod each time it copies files over? I've never really used playlists in iTunes or on the iPod.

I do like using Floola myself, but I've been having issues of my own, especially under Linux, I think, where updating podcasts sometimes fails, and where trying to copy files over (music and movies), they don't show up at all. Floola can find them through the Tools menu (Tools --> Advanced --> Find lost files) and put them in a place where I can try to transfer them again, but they usually still don't make it the second time, either.

I love the fact that I can keep Windows and Linux builds of Floola on the iPod itself, and that it can download podcasts from any computer to the iPod, not just the one computer where I've enabled podcast syncing in iTunes. If there's a better alternative that's just as portable, I'd love to try it, but I'd like to see Floola get its edges smoothed out, too.

[Leo]

baggss, like this:

C:\HandBrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe -i "C:\DVDs\The Big Lebowski\VIDEO_TS" -o "C:\The Big Lebowski iPod 640.mp4" -t 2 -e x264b30 -Q -q 0.6 -m -w 640 -B 128

C:\HandBrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe -i "C:\DVDs\The Big Lebowski\VIDEO_TS" -o "C:\The Big Lebowski iPod 320.mp4" -t 1 -e x264b30 -Q -q 0.6 -m -w 320 -B 128

(I usually crop the smaller one to 320x208, but this DVD has a second 4:3 track, very helpful.)