We are in the habit of storing and consuming vast amount of data in the form of music, pictures, videos and since these are available in various file formats - your music could be contained in CDs and videos in DVDs - not always are you able to carry them in one device. So that one moment you wanted to catch a clip of Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun is lost! Not always. There is a way out of this.

You can dump your favourite DVDs onto your iPod player to satiate that sudden urge to listen to a song or watch a video. The way to look at it is by converting your DVDs into video files compatible on iPods. But before you go ahead, remember copying and distributing DVDs without the express permission of the movie company is not permissible. So while it may be alright to consume it for personal satisfaction, distributing copied files is a strict no no.

Here is what you need for this mini sound workshop

Software:
1. DVD Decrypter
http://fileforum.betanews.com/download/DVD_Decrypter/1011845169/1
2. VOBMerge: http://medlem.spray.se/evilmastr/mainmenu.php?menu=6
3. 3GP Converter: http://www.free-codecs.com/3GP_Converter_download.htm

Hardware:
1. DVD-ROM drive on your PC
2. Loads of disk space to rip your chosen DVD

One last thing before we begin: files in DVDs typically come with three extensions. These are .IFO, .BUP and .VOB. Without going into technicalities – the .VOB files are the ones that contain the actual movie.

Ripping your DVD
Load the DVD in your drive and start DVD Decrypter. Press F to start in File mode, which handles each VOB file separately. DVD-Decrypter will automatically locate it and display its contents. You would also be able to see information such as region codes and copy protection instructions on the DVD, if any. The software will bypass the copy protection. Keep the [CTRL] button pressed and select the .VOB files. Next, choose the destination folder where you wish to store the video files and click the large green arrow at the bottom to start ripping. The bars on the right indicate progress. Total time elapsed and required is displayed on the left.

Merge the files
Your destination folder should now contain couple of GBs of .VOB files. Start VOBMerge and add the files. Arrange them if they are not in order and click 'Merge'.

Provide VOBMerge the name and the destination folder for the merged file. Depending on the size of the files and your PC’s performance, this could take anywhere between five to twenty minutes. While the files are being merged, it is important to note that whenever you rip anything to your hard drive, it is always a good idea to check if it has been decoded correctly. The best way to do this is to play it on your PC's DVD player software. PowerDVD, WinDVD, etc should be able to play them perfectly. There should not be any green or pink blocks although it is quite normal for it to have a slightly squashed looking image.

Convert the video
First, start up 3GP Converter. If you are using it for the first time, you will need to select 'English' as the language. Next, you will notice several lines with numbers and numerals. These are various video formats for corresponding mobile phones and hand-held devices including the PSP. Scroll down to the bottom, select 'Model: MP4 for iPod' and click on 'Apply'. Minimize 3GP Converter. You will notice that it moves to the system tray as a green icon. Single Click on it to invoke the pop-up menu. Click on Option(O) to start the 'Options' dialog. Put a tick on 'Launch an external application'.

Next, click on Browse. This will take you to the ‘Finishing’ subfolder of the folder in which you extracted 3GP Converter from the downloaded zip file. Select the application – UpdateiPod (iTunes).exe. This neat little trick will automatically invoke iTunes once we are done with conversion. When you are done, click on 'OK'. Select the folder to store your converted iPod video by clicking on 'Browse'. Next, select the quality of your output video based on bitrate. As a thumb rule, higher the bitrate, better the quality and bigger the file size. Based on your requirements, take a call. Next, Drag and Drop the previously merged .VOB file into the empty area at the top. This will immediately start the conversion. You can add multiple files to run as a batch. Here it is worth mentioning that 3GP Converter can convert AVI, DivX and MPEG files also, the process for which is indicated in the bar at the bottom along with resultant file size.

After converting, 3GP Converter will automatically start up iTunes and place the newly converted file you just made in the play list window. In the iTunes window, right click the file you just made and click 'Get Info'. On the screen that pops up, click the 'Info' tab at the top, and fill in the details (Name, Artist, Album, etc.). The file name can be up to 255 characters in length if you wish to change it. You also have to re-add it to the play list if you decide to rename it. Now, all you need to do is transfer your files to your iPod and enjoy the video!