itunes music vs. movies

[nbs2]

I am planning on replacing my 3G/15 with a 5G, but I have a concern that will drive my decision on 30 or 60. I keep all my music (currently 15GB) and photos (currently just under 3GB) on my laptop. Movies, I keep on my external. I was wondering if adding movies to the library will keep the movies in their current location on the external even though I have iTunes organize my music (and copy into iTunes when I add music).

I called Apple Care to get the tech support side of things - they told me that I need QT Pro to add any movie to iTunes, and that if I add a movie to the iTunes library it will be added to my internal HD where the music is. Is that right and for home movies is iMovie or any free software able to make the conversion?

 

[mikemodena]

iTunes will copy your movies to your internal HD in the iTunes Music folder. I import movies I convert into iTunes, put them on my iPod, then delete them from my HDD. I usually just watch TV shows and so I end up deleting them off my iPod after 2 views anyway.

As for converting, google MovieToGo.. it's a great program that converts any file (except mpg, the audio doesn't convert) to m4v. It does take awhile, though, ~3 hours for an hour long show.. so I usually load up a couple files in queue and let them encode overnight. I hope that helps!

 

[nbs2]

iTunes will copy your movies to your internal HD in the iTunes Music folder. I import movies I convert into iTunes, put them on my iPod, then delete them from my HDD. I usually just watch TV shows and so I end up deleting them off my iPod after 2 views anyway.

As for converting, google MovieToGo.. it's a great program that converts any file (except mpg, the audio doesn't convert) to m4v. It does take awhile, though, ~3 hours for an hour long show.. so I usually load up a couple files in queue and let them encode overnight. I hope that helps!

So it sounds like the 30GB should be sufficient for my needs....hmmmm.....I hadn't thought about the fact that I wouldn't be watching movies that many times before deleting.

MovieToGo (now MoviesForMyiPod) looks like exactly what I was trying to find. I guess I can make copies of all the movies - I should have plenty of space for that and can copy them to the library whenever I to. The only disappointing thing will be anything I ever download from iTMS (I may get a Pixar eventually).