More on Video Transcoding
Continuing on video transcoding I just came across another easy technique to transcode videos to a variety of formats. This one involves the highly popular player and video manipulation tool - VLC.
Following is the procedure to transcode a video using VLC :

1. Download vlc player from www.videolan.org/vlc/
2. Install it n open VLC player
3. Click File...n then.."Open File".."NOT" quick open file...
4. Click the "Browse" tab n select the movie u want to convert..
5. Check the stream output option and click the settings tab next to it..
6. Under output methods Check File option n give the destination n the name of the file....the way u want to store it... For instance if u r converting the movie "crash" n u want the converted video to be stored in c:\ in the folder movies...then in Output Methods check the file dialog n type the following:- C:\movies\crash.mov
7. In Encapsulation Method check MOV
8. In Transcoding options check Video Codec n select mp4v...Bitrate 1024...Scale 1
9. Check Audio codec n select mp4a...Bitrate 192....Channels 2.
10. Click OK n then again OK....ur video will start converting...
11. You can find the video where ever u stored it n transfer it to ur ipod!!!
    

But there are certain constraints. You cannot convert real media files (.rm and .rmvb) because VLC does not come packaged with their codecs. But with the appropriate codecs installed, such problems can also be solved.