Convert iTunes video M4V to AVI, WMV, MPEG, MP3, VOB, etc

[windbell]

iTunes monopolization

"I purchased videos on iTunes, but I can't play them on my video player, because they are in some 'protected' M4V format that only works on iPods. How can I convert iTunes videos to MPEG or WMV format so I can play them on My portable video device?"

Many people are frustrated when they purchase videos on iTunes, and then find out they can't play those iTunes video on their portable player, PDA or cell phone.
Apple, provider of the popular iTunes service only allowed customers play the iTunes video with portable players manufactured by itself (iPod, iPhone).

Those with other brands of portable video players such as Archos and Creative Zen players are comparably priced, have much larger screens, and will play almost any video format, including the standard MPEG, AVI, DivX, and Windows-only WMV files. But iTunes will not copy a protected M4V video to any of these non-iPod devices.

So, here is the reason why we need to convert the iTunes video:
1. To play videos on operating systems where iTunes does not exist, such as Linux.
2. To use a non-Apple portable video player to play iTunes video.
3. To watch your videos in the car, or the big screen in your living room
4. To loan the video to a friend, just like you'd do with a book, record or CD
5. To convert iTunes M4V Video to VOB(DVD format) and use some DVD Burner software like nero to burn DVD Movie played on portable and home DVD players



How to convert iTunes video M4V to MPEG, WMV, AVI

I searched on Google, Yahoo answers and post the question on large number of forums, unfortunately, after scouring the Web for days, I couldn't find a FREE way to convert M4V to MPEG, WMV or AVI format.

Then I tried to burn the iTunes video onto a DVD and re-import it into iTunes just like how to remove the protection from the iTunes audios (M4P) by burning it onto a CD and re-import it as mp3. I failed, cause iTunes doesn’t have a DVD burning option, then I used Nero, but it still doesn’t work as Nero doesn’t supports M4V format.

And finally, a software solution. I came across a few kinds of converters on Google search, they are Tunebite, Daniusoft and Noteburner. When I was testing the free trials one by one, what makes me comfortable is the Daniusoft media converter which has a much more simple interface (which I captured from its website below) and usage, it lets you convert copy-protected M4V iTunes video clips to unprotected WMV and other video with only three steps (Add files->Choose output format->Conversion). And this media converter "watches" as you play the video on your screen and captures the video stream, which can then be saved in the format you choose. According to the Daniusoft website, This DRM media converter does not circumvent DRM copy-protection technology, so it is completely legal. It costs US$35, but you can download a trial version that will convert the first 60 seconds of the video for free.



Finally, please remember to keep the converted iTunes video files only for personal use because of the restrictions imposed by iTunes. Otherwise, it might be smarter (and possibly cheaper) to just buy the video on disk.

[OttO]

MelodyCan Protected Audio/Video Converter is a software tool you can use for conversion of wide range of different audio/video file formats to most commonly used formats like MP3, WMA, WAV. This software is especially useful in case if you have protected music/video files you want to listen on playback device, which doesn't support particular DRM technology, like MP3 CD player, iPod/iPhone, Zune or other portable digital player, cell phone, Pocket PC, etc.

Main features of MelodyCan Protected Audio/Video Converter:

1. Straight and easy to use interface

You can easily convert your music file with just few mouse clicks: add your music files to batch list, select appropriate output format and press start button. You can create custom profiles for output format settings or use build-in standard profiles, Drag'n'Drop.

2. Protected music files conversion

All protected music files playable by both Windows Media Player and QuickTime Player can be converted to unprotected MP3, WMA. This is not protection removal though, software just plays protected files and places resulting sound into unprotected music file.

3. Wide range of supported input formats

All music files with filename extensions listed below are supported as valid input files for MelodyCan Protected Audio/Video Converter: wma, m4p, m4b, m4a, aac, mpeg, m4v, mp3, ogg, aif, ra,wav.

4. Batch conversion support

If you have massive amount of files you want to convert this software is exactly what you need to speed up the process.

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