Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I recently bought and downloaded a movie onto itunes. I can watch the movie on itunes but it wont sync to my ipod classic. I tried to manually select the movies to sync to my ipod, and when i clicked on other movies the number of gygabites free on the bottom of the screen dropped, but when i clicked the new movie the number dosent change. Whats wrong? please help
iPod classic
There is a resolution limit to what an iPod classic can play. iTunes will not sync video content that is beyond what the iPod can play. For example, if the movie is "HD" that is too high a resolution for the iPod's screen.
The iPod classic specs
http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html
says that 640x480 is the highest resolution it can play, although the screen is only 320x240. There is a command in iTunes to convert video to a format playable on iPods. In the latest iTunes, It is at
File -> Create New Version -> Create iPhone or iPod Version
However, this command usually does not work on Movies and TV Shows from the iTunes Store because they have DRM (copy protection). Instead, if the reason it does not sync is because it is in HD, try to find the SD (standard definition) version of the same movie in the iTunes Store. If you paid for the HD version, I believe you can download the SD version at no additional cost (not 100% about that...). The SD version should work with iPods that play video.
FYI - You don't need to "quote" my entire previous message... I had a bit of trouble figuring out what you added that was new. 😉
To clarify, if you add the Date Added column to your view of the Movies list, you can determine the "new version" that was just added at a glance. That's the one that should sync to the iPod. The Kind column is just "more info."
I think you have TWO different ways to proceed. First, for one of the videos that has the original version and a new "iPod" version, change the name of the new version (on the Movies list) by doing something like adding "(iPod)" to the name. Then, go to the iPod's Movies settings screen, and see if that video now shows the original version and new version shown separately. If they are now shown separately (so you can check only the new version), go back to the Movies list and change the names of ALL new versions in the same way. Now, on the iPod's Movies settings screen, make sure ALL original versions are NOT checked, and ONLY the new versions are checked. Obviously, keep the videos that synced without creating a new version checked too. That should get rid of the error messages during the syncing.
Second way is using the playlist. I'm not sure which step is not clear... Create a new playlist in your iTunes library, which will be for videos you want on the iPod. Using the Date Added to distinguish, add ALL of the videos you want on the iPod to that playlist. On the iPod's Movies settings screen, find that playlist under Include Movies from Playlists. Select (checkmark) it there. You do not need to have the movies separately selected on that screen, so you can uncheck them where they are listed separately; just checkmark that playlist. When you click Apply, the videos on that playlist sync to the iPod. If you only put videos that can sync to the iPod on that playlist, they should sync with no errors.
The reason the second way may be more convenient is because (going forward) you can just update that one playlist (add new videos and remove old ones) to change the videos on the iPod. The iPod does not need to be connected. The next time you connect the iPod, iTunes automatically updates the iPod with the same changes. NOTE: You can create multiple playlists in your iTunes library (not just one), then select those playlists (not just one) on the iPod's Movies settings screen.
If something is not clear, you'll need to be more specific, or I'll just keep repeating the same thing...
Well, it finally worked. I created the new versions as you said, moved them to the new playlist, unchecked old, etc. and it all worked. Eureka. I am truly thankful for all your patience and the time you took to walk me through all this. It's really amazing how this all occurred in the first place but I'm very glad all is is good working order now - a great holiday present, thanks to you. Happy Holidays and have a great new year.
Glad to hear your iPod and iTunes are working as desired. By now, you should be an "expert"... 🙂
Thank you. I have been hunting and pecking this issue for some time.
As far as iTunes movies, you were right on. I downloaded the movie in SD and the sync to iPod Classic was perfect. Also, I was not charged for the download.
I did not try the convert function you mentioned, I thought I would try the easy method first.
Video won;t sync to my ipod
