IPod Info for those who need it

Question

Just thought I'd give some help to those who need it.
- For those who are having trouble with their ipods accepting some videos and not others, try shortening the names of the video files. As long as the video files are in the proper format, this should clear up that issue.
- For those who want to get the songs off of your ipod without having to worry about the iTunes one-way syncing issue the following programs will help you with that:
PodPlus
iPod Agent
- For those who are just curious, here are the size incriments for data:
Bit
Byte
Kilobyte
Megabyte
Gigabyte
Terabyte
Pentabyte
I've got the 5th gen iPod and after a little finessing, I think I've got it all pretty much figured out. So, if anyone has questions, gimme a shout. Or maybe you've got some cool ideas I can use!
5th Gen Windows XP Pro
  Windows XP Pro  

Answer 1

What is an ideal average setting for my homemade iMovies?
Settings for your iMovie for what? If your are talking about conversion to an iPod compatible format, which format? Are you more concerned with quality or quantity?
First, what's the best, fastest and easiest way to convert these iMovies to the H.264 (is that done through iMovie or QT Pro or both) and what other settings (audio for one) should I be using besides the standard 30 fps ?
Your are using the same QT tools whether you convert directly from iMovie or indirectly via QT Pro using a reference file. (I.e., the only time you save is the time it takes to write the reference file itself.)
Define what you mean by best.
The "Movie to iPod (320x240)" option is the fastest in terms of programming your conversion but the slowest in terms of time it take for processing. The "Movie to MPEG4" option is slower/harder to program for a single pass H.264 encode, but takes half the time to process as the dedicated H.264 option. MPEG4 video options (single pass and 2-pass modes) are faster than H.264 codec. Audio options are the same for both H.264 and MPEG4 formats -- AAC LC. I personally would stick with the 44.1 kbps sampling rate and 128 kbps data rate for audio but you could take it up to 48 kbps at 160 kbps if you want. As to frame rate, I would stick with the current (original) setting of your source. 30 (29.97) fps provides the smoothest flow of motion. You could, of course, try 24 or even 15 fps in some cases to see if it is acceptable. Dropping below 12 fps would probably be unacceptable to most people. But you're the producer and director here, so you have to make up your own mind.