iFunia DVD to iPod Converter Review

All in all, the iFunia DVD to iPod converter is a program that reaches for interesting and differentiating features, but the shortcomings in its core functionality combine to leave it with room for improvement.

Version
2.2

Publisher
iFunia

Cost
US$29

There are many programs to help users convert movies from DVDs to iPod or iPhone formats. Given the crowded market, programs need something special to stand out. The iFunia DVD to iPod Converter offers some features I haven’t seen in other programs, but its core features aren’t strong enough to merit a top recommendation.

The main basis on which to judge a DVD-to-iPod program is how well it converts movies from DVD. DVD to iPod Converter works similarly to other apps: insert a DVD, select the encoding type, select the video to encode, and go.

This can be tricky because DVDs don’t title their chapters, instead using things like Chapter_01. As a result, finding the clip you want to convert can be a guessing game. IFunia solves this problem with a preview window that shows what part of the movie you’re selecting before you convert.

Once you’ve got the proper clip, choose from conversion presets various iPod models and encode the video at different quality levels (you can also convert audio tracks only). While presets are nice, the options aren’t terribly clear and, while you can manually change the presets, how to do this is not immediately clear (the gear next to the “Convert to” drop-down reveals this window).

Now the big question: How does the converted video look? The answer is “just OK.” I converted a 7-minute clip from Glengarry GlenRoss with four different settings for the iPod touch: MP4 for widescreen, MP4 Extra video, MP4 480p, and MP4 widescreen manually set to 30 frames/second using the h.264 encoder.

While the resulting filesizes varied from 37MB (manual encoding) to 88MB (MP4 Extra), the resulting videos showed very little difference when viewed on an iPod or a computer.

All four videos offered varying levels of herky-jerky motion, giving the clip slightly unnatural-looking movements (not terribly so, but enough to feel that something isn’t quite right), choppy camera panning, and an overall middling experience. The picture qualitywasn’t terrible, but I’ve seen better from other DVD to iPod converters.

While the core feature isn’t as strong as with other applications, iFunia offers something I haven’t seen before: video editing. DVD to iPod Converter allows users to crop, and add visual effects and watermarks, to video. This is, especially for users who want to grab short clips from within chapters or edit movies they’ve shot themselves.

In the second case, I’m skeptical whether this program will appeal to most users. Consumer Macs ship with iMovie – a strong editing program – and it seems likely that most users would prefer that for their own work. Still, this is a useful differentiator.

Something else unusual here is that iFunia sells three different products for converting DVDs to iPod, iPhone, and iTunes. Given that all three use similar hardware and software, three separate products – rather than a single, integrated one – smacks of trying to extract more money from users.