Can You Use WinAmp to Convert Movies for Your iPod Nano?

WinAmp is a common audio player for the Windows operating system. WinAmp is not designed to convert or transcode video from one format to another. The iPod Nano from Apple has supported video playback since the introduction of the third generation of the device. With an appropriate plugin to WinAmp, you can transfer audio and video files to an iPod Nano device. You will need other software utilities to convert your video to iPod Nano supported formats such as MPEG-4 Video (M4V).

Things You'll Need

• Winamp Full (version 5 or later)
• Ml_ipod plugin

Instructions

1. Verify the generation of iPod Nano that you have from the Apple website, if you don't already know. Only third generation and newer iPod Nano devices support video playback.

2. Install the ml_iPod WinAmp plugin. This will allow you to access your iPod Nano from within WinAmp. There is an ml_iPod installer available through Sourceforge.

3. Configure the Nullsoft MPEG-4 Audio Decoder to also handle MPEG-4 Video (M4V) files. This configuration is done within the WinAmp preferences, under Input Plugins.

4. Transfer the M4V movie to your iPod using your preferred method with ml_iPod: sync, drag and drop, or the "SendTo" menu.

Tips & Warnings

• WinAmp is primarily designed for playback of audio and not conversion of video. You will need an alternative program to transcode your video from a different format to M4V. Neither WinAmp or any of its plugins will transcode video files. The free, open source Handbrake is capable of transcoding video to M4V.

• WinAmp will only play the audio component of M4V files, but once they have been transferred to your iPod with the Ml_iPod, the video will also play.

References

• Apple Support: iPod Nano Technical Specifications
• Apple: iPod Nano Third Generation Technical Specifications
• WinAmp: FAQ
• Ml_iPod Wiki: Videos: Winamp iPod Plugin Ml_iPod

Resources

• Ml_iPod
• Handbrake