How to Put YouTube Videos on Your iPod the Easy Way

How to Put YouTube Videos on Your iPod the Easy Way
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Downloading YouTube Videos

Before you get started learning how to put YouTube videos on your iPod, you first need to be able to download the YouTube videos to your hard drive so that you can eventually import them into iTunes. There are several different methods that people use to download YouTube videos, but for this tutorial, we will be using a standard procedure involving Firefox and the Video DownloadHelper Plugin. Here is the general process:

  • If you don’t already have Firefox, head on over to the Mozilla homepage and download it. Upon download, go ahead and install it onto your computer.
  • Launch Firefox.
  • On the top Firebox toolbar, select click Tools and select Add-ons from the drop down menu.
  • Click the Get Add-ons tab.
  • Type the phrase Video DownloadHelper into the search box and hit the enter key on your keyboard. Firefox should find the Video DownloadHelper plugin.
  • Click the Add to Firefox button, and wait for Firefox to restart.

How to put YouTube Videos on your iPod for Windows Users

Now that you have the Video DownloadHelper plugin ready to go, it’s time to start grabbing some YouTube videos.

  • Open Up Firefox.
  • You should see a three balloon Video DownloadHelper logo located towards the top of your Firefox browser. Most likely, it will be located next to the Home icon, which is located to the right of the stop and reload buttons.
  • Right-click on the logo and select Preferences from the drop down menu.
  • Under Preferences, select the Conversion tab. Put a checkmark in the box labeled Conversion enabled. This will bring up several additional options. Click the button labeled Install Update Converter. This will redirect you to the official Video DownloadHelper website where you can download the converter extension.
  • Click the Download ConvertHelper Setup Program button. Save the file to your desktop and install the program on your PC.
  • Close Firefox and Reopen. Right-click on the Video DownloadHelper balloon logo, select Preferences, and click the Conversion tab. Make sure there is a checkmark in the box labeled Conversion enabled. There should also be a prompt displaying ‘The Converter Program Has Been Found.
  • Navigate to YouTube.com and find a video that you want to download. For quick reference, here’s a video that you can use for this tutorial.
  • The three balloon Video DownloadHelper logo should now be colored and animated. Click it and download the YouTube video.
  • Once downloaded, right-click on the Video DownloadHelper logo (in Firefox) once again, and select Convert Video from the drop down menu. Navigate to your video and click the Open button.
  • Select the iPod format from the Converter Options window and click OK.
  • Your downloaded video file should now be formatted and is iPod ready.

Mac Users Continue to Page 2

Be sure to continue to page 2 to learn how to put YouTube videos on your iPod for Mac users, how to import the videos into iTunes, and how to transfer them to your iPod.

How to put YouTube Videos on your iPod for Mac Users

Now that you have the Video DownloadHelper plugin ready to go, it’s time to start grabbing some YouTube videos.

  • Open up Firefox.
  • Navigate to YouTube.com and find a video that you would like to download. If you can’t find one, you can use this one for the tutorial.
  • Locate the Video DownloadHelper icon, which should be directly to the right of the Home button.
  • Right-click the Video DownloadHelper icon and select Preferences from the drop down menu.
  • Click the Conversion icon and put a checkmark in the Conversion enabled box. Under Converter, select the option FFmpeg from the drop down list. You should get this option: /usr/bin/ffmpeg
  • Open a new tab and navigate over to the FFmpeg website and download the program. Install it on your Mac.
  • Change the directory to reflect your FFmpeg install. Most likely, you will need to change /usr/bin/ffmpeg to /Library/Application Support/ ffmpegX
  • You can close out of the Preferences window.
  • On the YouTube video screen, normal click the arrow next to the Video DownloadHelper icon. You should see the video file in the drop down list. It will appear to be something like: yourvideofile.flv.
  • Hover over the video file name and a secondary menu will appear. Select the Download and Convert option. Click the drop down arrow and select iPod from the different options. Alternatively, you can select iPhone if you are using an iPhone.
  • Click the OK button or Save button, and you will now have your video in iPod format.

Importing your Video to iTunes

Now that you have your YouTube video saved on your PC or Mac, it’s time to move the video to iTunes so that you can put it on your iPod. The hard part is over and now that you know how to use Video DownloadHelper, this process will be much easier in the future. Now, you need to learn how to move the video to your iTunes library. That’s where we’re going to leave it for now. Proceed to this guide to learn how to import the videos to iTunes, and move them to your iPod.