The films that are submitted to Hayah Film Competition have to be playable on an Apple iPod video. This means that the films have to be playable in Apple’s iTunes software because it’s through iTunes the films will be placed on an iPod for the judging to take place. Simply put, the iPod supports two video formats: H.264 (up to 768Kbps, 320 x 240, 30fps) and MPEG-4 (up to 2.5Gbps, 480 x 480, 30fps)
Technical details:
- Codec: MPEG-4 or H.264
- Container format: QuickTime *.MOV
- Frame rate: maximum 30fps
- Frame size: any frame size is accepted, but remember it will be played back and judged on an iPod screen at 320×240 pixels.
- Aspect ratio: any aspect ratio is accepted, but remember it will be played back and judged on an iPod screen which is 4:3
- File size: maximum 100MB. If you’re film is larger than that, consider reducing the size (remember it will be watched on an iPod screen). If that is not working, contact us.
Suggestions to check if it’s the right format:
- Does it play in QuickTime 7 without any extra codecs installed? If it does, that’s a good indication that the format is right. Note that QuickTime Pro can also play MPEG2, so try play back in regular QuickTime.
- Try to import it into iTunes. iTunes > File > Import. See if it plays in iTunes. If it does, it’s okay.
Suggested tools to convert video to correct format:
- Apple QuickTime Pro
- Videora iPod Converter
- Xilisoft Video Converter
- M2 Convert for iPod
- Avex DVD to iPod Video Suite
- iSquint
- VisualHub
Selected resources:
