Can someone make Things clear for iPod video Transfers?

Question

Hi there:
Ok, 30 Gig iPod Video
All software up to date
iTunes latest and greatest
After reviewing the "discussions" here, the information provided, while good for "specific" instances, doesn't really cover any answers.
So here's the problem: and also a bunch of questions which hopefully someone will take the time to answer, and with that, have a one stop place for all questions regarding the same. Thanks
Windows XP
All updates
All iPod/iTunes latest greatest software.
iTunes Latest
iPod 30g Video
iPod has been reset, redone, etc. so it's like brand new.
Have Videora iPod Converter
Also Azureus
So..I download a movie, and snag it it shows up as
MovieNameHere.mp4
it's huge, so I'm assuming the whole thing was downloaded
I drag and drop this to iTunes library but it doesn't show up in the library
I drag and drop this to the iPod and it also doesn't show up
I open quicktime to see if it will play in there, and i'm presented with "Not a valid movie file"
I open Videora and try to convert and it doesn't show
I've downloaded the "sample" movie file from the site, and it worked just fine, played no problem.
Now this is the way that I feel that things "should" work.
Simple...
Music transfers' no problem so the iTunes library file is fine
making sense?
So my questions are as follows...
What is the best place/medium for snagging movies.
What format is iTunes looking for for the movies?
What steps are required to get a movie and be able to transfer it. (Specific Please)
Is there a piece of software out there that is better than the other? e.g. I get a bit torrent info file for a movie,
download said movie, but it's not being recognized at all
Won't copy, won't move to either iTunes or iPod.
Please don't ask for a reset/reboot or any of the 5 R's, as this is just a waste of time at this point, as that's not the problem
Would appreciate any help, and while this may be long, I understand, that with other people looking around and seeing that a lot of us are having the same problem, then this would be a good link to have.
This shouldn't be hard to do..or at least as hard as it's seeming to be...
download a movie
transfer to iTunes,
transfer to iPod
Transfer transfer transfer etc...too many steps...this should be just like music, find it, add it and it's done.
Thanks in advance for all answers, and I'll give mega points to anyone that comes up with the simplest of answers too.
I monitor this discussion group various times of the day.
Thanks again
P4   Windows XP Pro   Kick *** System

Answer 1

Thanks....I responded below, but basically...
iTunes isn't or can't be recognizing the video.
Window media player shows them, and plays them just fine
I'll use videora to convert to the H264 format and see what happens then.
It "should" be like music, add to library and all that.
I can't use the "convert" option as iTunes isn't recognizing the format as yet.
Will let the forum know
Thanks
Let's work our way through your questions:
What is the best place/medium for snagging movies?
- Sorry, I'm not going to help you get movies that
you didn't pay for, there are plenty of other forums
for that.
Illegal movies wasn't the initial question actually and I fully agree
What format is iTunes looking for for the movies?
- It will play two types .mov and .mp4 but the .mp4
must be H264. I've had an .mp4 movie that wasn't
H264 and it wouldn't play on my iPod. The other part
of this is the naming of the file. iTunes is
stricter then Windows when comes to file names.
Generally, if you stick to letters and numbers
you'll be fine.
I didn't know about the H264 format...so that's a good start.
What steps are required to get a movie and be able to
transfer it. (Specific Please)
- You need a program that will convert the file or
DVD to .mp4 or .mov. the free one that I know
about is Videora.
iTunes also has a converter built in, right click on
the file and then convert (it's never worked for me
though). As for the specifics of how you rip and
convert that depends on the software, follow those
directions. For loading it into iTunes and then onto
iPod, its the same as a sound file.
This is where one of the problems lies....I have a video, Mpeg-4 format, I can't get it into iTunes, or have iTunes recognize it. Same thing with quicktime player, it won't be recognized in there too..I've even tried changing the extension to .mov but to no avail.
I have videora, and see all the coding options there
So I will take that Mpeg-4 video that I have, and using Videora, convert it to the H standard...(am I right so far?) Will iTunes then be able to recognize it?