Below is the step by step tutorial about how to transfer DVD movies and TV shows, videos, YouTube and Google videos, iTunes DRM protected music to Microsoft Zune.
Before getting started, let’s take a look at the audio and video formats Microsoft Zune recognizes:
Audio Support
Windows Media Audio Standard (WMA) (.wma); WMA Lossless; Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) (.mp4, .m4a, .m4b, .mov); MP3 (.mp3).
Video Support
Windows Media Video (WMV) (.wmv); MPEG-4 (MP4/M4V) (.mp4) Part 2 video; H.264 video; DVR-MS.
So, you see, in order to put DVD movies and TV shows, video files and YouTube and Google video onto Zune, you will need a converter that will go from DVD and video to Zune WMV or MP4 (Video) or Zune WMA or MP3 (Audio). This kind of program can only rip the DVD’s or convert the video files to your PC, however, Microsoft offers Zune users the free program called “Zune Software” to sync the media from PC to Zune. You just need to download it from its official website http://www.zune.net , where you can get the most detailed information about Zune as well.
In this tutorial, I’d like to demonstrate how to rip DVD’s and convert videos to Zune using Clone2Go DVD to Zune Converter. The reason I choose it lies in that, unlike other DVD to Zune converters that can rip only DVD movies for Zune, this DVD to Zune converter can also be used to convert regular video files to Zune. Plus, it allows you to download videos from YouTube and Google and then convert YouTube FLV videos to some format accepted by Zune. Let’s take a look at how it performs:
1. Add DVD movies or TV shows
Insert the DVD disc into the disc drive, click the Open DVD button to import it if you are going to enjoy the DVD movie on your Zune. Or if the DVD movie is saved as a folder on your computer, you need to click the Add Video button to locate that folder, which is composed of two separate folders: VIDEO_TS and AUIDO_TS. From the VIDEO_TS folder, select the .vob file to import and then click OK.
2. Import video files
You can also import videos stored on your PC by clicking the Add Video button and then click OK. The supporting formats are shown as follows:
3. Download YouTube or Google videos
If you want to enjoy online YouTube or Google videos on your Zune, click the YouTube button on the main interface. In the pop-up window, copy and paste the URLs of the YouTube videos one by one.
There will be a list of the added YouTube videos, which will be downloaded automatically one by one. And the downloading status is clearly shown on the list. After the status of all of them indicates Completed, you can tick whichever videos you want to watch on your Zune.
After the DVD’s, videos or YouTube/Google videos are imported, you can preview it on the main interface. If you only want a clip of the DVD/video, you can drag the Start to trim and Stop to trim button to get the certain segment.
After making sure you have chosen the right profile from the Profile drop-down list, now you can click the Start Encode button to starting ripping DVD movies or TV shows, converting videos or downloading and converting online YouTube/Google videos for your Zune.
4. Convert iTunes M4P music to Zune
The music downloaded from iTunes Store is under DRM protection. In order to play it on your Zune, you need to strip the DRM off and have the iTunes protected AAC (M4P) music converted to Zune WMA or MP3 format. The easiest way is to burn the iTunes M4P playlist to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to convert the audio CD track back to MP3. And iTunes allows you to burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD:
A. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You’d better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.
B. Create a new playlist in iTunes. Add the protected songs to your playlist until you have 72 minutes of music. Click the Burn Disc button, in the pop-up window of Burn Settings, tick Audio CD from the Disc Format checkboxes. Note: You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 or WMA files.
C. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes or Windows Media Player to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 or WMA files.
