If you have been trying to transfer your videos or DVD’s to iPad and not sure how to do it then here you will find all the answers. Unfortunately Apple hasn’t made it easy for us to transfer videos to iPad and I think the main reason for that is because Apple want to encourage people to download films and videos from the iTunes store.
What video formats work with iPad?
As you know to transfer your videos to iPad first you will need to add it to iTunes the same way you add music. All your videos will then appear under “Films” in iTunes. The only issue here is that unlike music there are so many video formats but iTunes only supports QuickTime and MPEG-4 movie files that end in “.mov”, “.m4v”, or “.mp4” and are playable in QuickTime Player.
First challenge here then is how to convert your videos to a format that iPad supports. First drag and drop your video file into iTunes library Films section. If iTunes lets you add then it’s a good start but still not certain this will sync with iPad. File formats such as .mpeg and .mpg can be added to iTunes but will not sync with iPad. To sync you need to go to advanced menu and select “create iPad or Apple TV version” and try syncing the newly created file.
How to Convert Video Files into a format that is supported by iPad?
There are various free or paid for software that lets you do this. A couple of popular software for Mac and Windows mentioned below:
Miro for Mac Users: http://www.getmiro.com/ (Free)
You will find a full review of Miro by Shane at tcgeeks.com
Videora: http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPad/ (Free)
I have a Windows laptop myself and I have tied Videora which does the job but be warned it’s full of advertisement and has a busy interface.
How to transfer your DVD’s to iPad?
iTunes and QuickTime Pro do not support importing content from DVD videos. DVD and Blu-ray purchases may include an iTunes Digital Copy. But at the same time I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to copy my DVD which I have paid for to my iPad so that when I travel I can watch them. Here is how to do it.
It’s a two stage process, first you need to copy the DVD do your computer (also referred to as ripping or DVD rip). Second you need to convert the copied DVD into the correct format that will play on iPad. The second stage is what we already covered.
For DVD ripping there are various software that allow you to do this. There are free ones which might be a bit harder to use and requires a bit of technical knowhow and then there are paid for ones which are easier to use.
Handbrake (Free)
Recommended!
Free but reported to be hard to handle. The Mac software helps make MP4 and MKV files from DVD.
DVD Decrypter (Free)
If you install Videora then it will actually explain the steps you have to take with DVD Decrypter before you can convert to iPad format. It actually will take some settings before you can copy the DVD into one big video file on your computer.
http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/
If you don’t mind to spend a little and instead have an all in one software that will do both the ripping and conversion to iPad format then here are two good suggestions.
Cucusoft iPad Video Converter Suite ($39)
Recommended!
http://www.cucusoft.com/dvd-to-ipad.aspx
This is my favourite and the one I use myself. I don’t mind paying a bit and instead have reliable and easy to use software as opposed to the complex and not so reliable free ones. The Cususoft iPad Video Converter Suite contains two tools, one DVD to iPad converter which allows you to copy your DVD with one click. It saves the copy in the right format which can then be added to iTunes and synchronized with iPad. The second tool as part of the suite is a Video convertor which will convert any video format on your computer to a format which syncs with iPad.
iPad Converter Suite ($35)
http://www.aiseesoft.com/ipad-converter-suite.html
Video Wizard ($19.99)
http://www.easyipodtransfer.com/videowizard-dvd-and-video-to-ipad-converter
I purchased this but when I tried to copy from DVD I got an error message and when I emailed customer service I had no response. Being a bit impatient I have moved straight to another app (Cucusoft) which worked perfectly fine. If I pursue the customer service I might get a refund at some point. Based on my experience I wouldn’t recommend this one.
IMToo ($59.95)
Lets you Rip and convert CD/DVD to iPad/iPod/iPhone compatible music/movies and move converted files into the devices immediately after the conversions are done. It also does a lot more and hence cost more than the other software mentioned.
We had a discussion going on in Linked in and some people suggested a couple of other software:
Aiseesoft
Load the DVD. Find the largest file in the DVD’s folders. Click convert. Easy. Ah, unless there are multiple editions in different languages, then you need to figure out which.
CineXPlayer app – $4.99
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I use handbrake and don’t find it hard at all to convert videos to m-peg 4 for playing on the iPad. I would recommend you try it.
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