Shannon writes, "I don't have a video iPod, but I was wondering if there was some program or anything that would help me strip the audio off of a video from YouTube and convert it so it will play on my iPod."
Without knowing exactly which iPod you have, there are two possibilities. Many of the newer iPods with no video support will playback the audio portion of an MP4 file without playing the video portion. If your iPod will support MP4 playback, the easiest thing to do is use one of the software apps for converting YouTube videos for iPod playback. If MP4 playback is not an option, taking video from YouTube and converting it to an audio file is relatively easy. You download the video file and then use file conversion software to go from the FLV format used for video on YouTube to an MP3 file playable on an iPod, Zune or any other portable media player. This second option requires a two step process. First download the video and then convert the file.
Downloading Files from YouTube
There are several ways to download files from YouTube. The easiest method is to download RipTiger, which will download the file and convert it to any format you choose. Using RipTiger isn't free, but it will save you some extra steps.
The free method is to use an online service like KeepVid. I step through the process of downloading YouTube videos with KeepVid elsewhere, but the basic process is simply go to KeepVid.com, copy and paste the URL of the page where the YouTube video is displayed and download the video file.
If you use this method, you'll end up with a file called get_video. You need to rename this file to get_video.flv or any other name ending in .flv so that the conversion software will recognize it.
Converting FLV to MP3
If you used RipTiger to download your files, it can convert your FLV to MP3 without any extra software. If you used some other method, you need additional software to convert the FLV to an audio only file format, I recommend using WinFF. The software is free and reasonably easy to use.
The process is a simple three steps:
1) After downloading and installing WinFF, launch the application and select the FLV file or files you want to convert to MP3.
2) Choose the MP3 (audio only) option from the Choose Format to Convert to... menu.
3) Pick a Destination folder to save your file(s) and click Start Converting.
The default settings for MP3 output from WinFF is 64kbps 22050Hz audio, which is acceptable for voice audio. Import the finished MP3 into your iTunes Library when you're done and put it on your iPod.
