How do I Put Videos From My Dish DVR onto My iPod?

by Alexis Lawrence, Demand Media

Video recorded on your Dish digital video recorder, or DVR, stores on the unit's built-in hard drive. If you would like to transfer any of the video files on the DVR's hard drive to your iPod, you must first save those files onto a computer. From the computer, you can convert and transfer the videos to the iPod.

Capture Video to Computer

Step 1

Connect the Dish DVR to the computer using an appropriate connector. If the Dish DVR has either an S-Video port or USB port, connect the DVR directly to a computer's USB drive using an S-Video to USB or USB to USB cord. If the Dish DVR has only audio and video ports, connect the DVR to the computer with an audio-video to USB digital capture cable.

Step 2

Open a video-editing application that has capturing capabilities by going to "Start" and "All Programs" on a Windows system or to "Finder" and "Applications" on a Mac. Video-editing applications with capturing capabilities include iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Final Cut Pro.

Step 3

Access the "Capture" feature in the video-editing program through the "File" menu or from the main screen. In the window that comes up, enter a name for the file, browse to the folder where you want to save the file and click "Continue."

Step 4

Press the "Start Capture" or "Import" button in the program to start capturing and begin playing the video that you want to capture through the Dish DVR. Click "Stop Capture" or "Import" again to end the capture.

Transfer Videos to iPod

Step 1

Convert the video file to a file format that iPod accepts on a conversion website, such as Zamzar, Media Converter or Movavi Convert. iPod accepts MP4, MOV and M4V files.

Step 2

Connect the iPod to the computer with the cable provided with the device. Launch iTunes on your computer.

Step 3

Import the converted video file into iTunes. Click "File," "Add File to Library" and navigate to the file in the window that comes up. Double-click the file to add it to iTunes.

Step 4

Drag the imported file from the right-hand pane of iTunes to the iPod device in the "Devices" pane at the left. The file copies onto the device.

References

  • Dish Network: DVRs
  • Apple: iPod Classic Technical Specifications
  • Apple Support: iTunes: About the Add to Library, Import, and Convert Functions

Resources

  • Zamzar
  • Media Converter
  • Movavi Convert

About the Author

Alexis Lawrence is a freelance writer, filmmaker and photographer with extensive experience in digital video, book publishing and graphic design. An avid traveler, Lawrence has visited at least 10 cities on each inhabitable continent. She has attended several universities and holds a Bachelor of Science in English.