The article includes FOUR parts.
 
Part 1: Natively supported video formats by Zune & Zune software
Part 2: Convert DVD and popular video&audio file formats like AVI, MPEG, DivX, XviD, MOV, ASF, RM to Zune (WMV, WMA) step by step quickly
Part 3: Convert iTunes to Zune, iPod to Zune, M4P to Zune, M4v to Zune
Part 4: Download and convert video from YouTube, FLV, Google, Myspace, iFilm, etc. to Zune WMV/WMA
 
All conversion supports encoding to WMV and WMA playable on Zune without converting using Zune software again. All software are picked and popular on the internet.
 
[color=red]Part 1[/color]
 
1) Natively supported formats for Zune
Microsoft Zune player supports WMV, WMA, MP3, AAC natively. You can sync the following movies and music to Zune device directly without any converting process.
 
Video: WMV (up to 320x240, 1.5Mbps video bitrate, 30fps frame rate; With WMA audio up to 192Kbps audio bitrate, 44.1kHz sample rate)
Audio: WMA, MP3, AAC, M4A, M4b, MP4 (up to 320Kbps bitrate, 48KHz sample rate)
 
Hints: To 16:9 widescreen videos, the resolution is 320x180.
Hints: Zune only supports unprotected media files unless they are purchased or downloaded from Zune Marketplace.
 
2) Straight convert Zune video with Zune software during sync
If the movies you downloaded online or your personally created videos don't meet the limitations which Zune carries (such as any specific parameter is exceeded), but they can be imported into Zune software and played back successfully, then Zune software will convert the media files in the background during synchronization.
 
Supported formats for Zune software are as follows:
 
Video: WMV, MP4, M4V, MOV, H.264 with various video sizes, bitrates, frame rates
Audio: MP3, WMA, M4a, M4b, MP4 with no any limitation.
 
[color=red]Part 2[/color]
 
--- Convert DVD to Zune video & rip DVD to Zune audio
 
1. Free download latest version DVD to Zune + Zune Video Converter from here. More information about the great Zune converter is here.
 
2. Insert the DVD you'd like to convert to the DVD drive.
 
3. Click 'File' menu and 'Open DVD', or directly hit 'Open DVD' button to load the DVD.

 
4. Click around in the DVD's menu to set up DVD playback as you like, then begin to play the movie through the software.
 
5. The following window will pop up. Here, you can rename 'Title Name', set 'Save Path' and output quality, then click 'Yes' button to start ripping DVD to Zune WMV or Zune MP4 video from the point that the movie starts. That is all. Just so easy!  

 
If you'd like to record from certain time point, or want to change some parameters like 'output format', 'video bitrate', 'frame rate', 'audio bitrate', please click 'No' button to close the window.
 
6. Optional parameters settings
* Select subtitles and lauguages
Click 'Subtitle' or 'Audio Track' in the 'Setting' menu; choose the related value you like.
* Set output formats
Choose the target file format from 'Profile'. The software supports converting DVD to Zune WMV, Zune MP4, Zune H.264, Zune audio WMA, Zune MP3 and Zune TV size.

* Set the start time to convert
Use the video playback controls to queue up the point at which you want to start ripping. Or click 'Setting -> Go to' and jump to previous/next chapter.
* More parameters
Click 'Setting -> Output video settings', here you can choose different profile, video/audio bitrate, video size, disable video/audio, aspect ratio, frame/sample rate, etc.
If you are not familiar with these options, please view the descriptions listed at the bottom of the window.
 
7. Hit 'Convert' button, choose the recording time point and quality, then click 'Yes' to begin to convert DVD to Zune video or audio quickly.
 
8. After ripping, transfer the converted files to Zune software, and then sync to your Zune player.
 
--- Convert movies to Zune video (WMV, H.264, MP4) and Zune audio (WMA, MP3), AVI to Zune, MPEG to Zune, WMV to Zune, MOV to Zune, DivX to Zune, Xvid to Zune, DVR-MS to Zune, RM to Zune, RMVB to Zune, ASF to Zune, AVS to Zune, MPG to Zune step by step
 
1. Free download latest version DVD to Zune + Zune Video Converter from here. More information about the great Zune converter is here.
 
2. Click 'Open file' button to load the video file(s) you'd like to convert. The Zune converter software supports batch conversion mode.

 
3. The default output format is Zune WMV video. If you'd like to change this, click "Advance" button, set the output format to Zune video (Zune MP4, Zune WMV, Zune H.264, Zune TV) or Zune audio (MP3, WMA). Here, you can also set video size, frame rate and more.
 
4. Hit 'Convert' button to start converting video to Zune.
 
5. Transfer the converted video or audio files to Zune software and put them on Zune player.
 
Just so easy!
 
[color=red]Part 3[/color]
 
--- How to convert iTunes to Zune WMV WMA
 
Tunebite can convert iTunes to MP3 file, including converting M4P, M4V, WMA, WMV, AAC, M4A, AA and M4B to unprotected MP3, MP4, WMA, WMV or OGG file.
Note: you can only use the article to make copies of the purchased music and video for personal use or share copies with your closest relatives.
 
1. Download Tunebite and install the software on your computer.
 
2. Sound card and recording settings: Launch the program, follow the configuration wizard to set the sound card (there will be some sounds which are necessary to detect your sound system). Click "Next" to config high-speed digital dubbing which can accelerate digital recording.

 
3. Set output audio formats from MP3, WMA, OGG: Click "Next", select the audio format you'd like to output from MP3, OGG or WMA. Let's take "MP3" for example.  

Download MP3 encoder by clicking "Search for lame_enc.dll" or download it from here. Then click "Import lame_enc.dll", browse to the .dll file and load into.  

 
4. Set output video formats from WMV, MP4: Click "Next". If you want to record and convert protected M4V or WMV files, please check "record video, when original music file contains video" and click "Next" to continue. Then select the output video format you like from "MPEG4" (Playable on iPod, PSP, MP4 players) or "WMV" (Most portable media players).

 
5. Start converting: Add media file(s) or complete folder(s) you want to record by clicking "add" button or by dragging and dropping them into the window. Click "GO" to start recording and converting. If you only want to recode audio, please check "audio only" box.

Done!
 
[color=red]Part 4[/color]
 
--- Put YouTube, FLV, etc. Video on your Zune
 
How to put YouTube video on your Zune? It is very easy. You only need a couple of utilities to accomplish this. One utility is to download video off of YouTube (the FLV file) and another to convert the file to a Zune player compatible video. The following are steps to transfer YouTube video to Zune:
 
Download YouTube, Google, Myspace, iFilm, etc. video files and save as the FLV file and convert to Zune and other popular file formats
 
For Internet Explorer (PC) users
 
Find a favourite video clip, copy the url link which is located right below the video you've chosen and paste it to the “URL:” box from the site . After clicking on the “search” button, [Download Link] would be showed. You only need to right-click the [Download Link] and save the file.
Note: rename the file extension from *.php to *.flv when saving it. So, the FLV video file was saved to your computer.The FLV file isn’t widely used, so you need to download a special player to play the file. Freeware FLV Player is highly recommended. Download FLY Player
 
For Internet Explorer (Mac) users
 
Search your hard drive for a file called "get_video". You can use Spotlight to find the file.

 
Copy it to your Desktop. Rename the file extension from *.php to *.flv.
http://www.dvd-video-converters.co [...] ide-11.jpg  
 
Please note: There is another method to download videos from YouTube, Google Videos, iFilm, Metacafe, Dailymotion, MySpace, etc. Use the VideoDownloader plugin for Mozilla Firefox to download all your favorite videos.
 
How to convert the FLV files to Zune wmv
 
There are many programs to convert the FLV file. Mac users may look at iSquint. It's a free application. It can be downloaded at the site. Windows PC users just download the FLV Converter. It can convert FLV to Zune WMV, FLV to AVI, FLV to MPEG, SWF, iPod, PSP, MP3, M4B, M4A, etc.
 
---
 
ImToo Zune Converter is also a nice program which supports converting DVD and various video/audio files to Zune (WMV, WMA). If cucusoft doesn't work great on your computer, take a look at the following guides and download it to have a try.
 
Convert DVD to Zune WMV, WMA, etc.
 
1.Download DVD to Zune Converter, run it.
 
2.Click "Add DVD Folder..." in the File menu or directly click the "DVD" button in the main interface, then select your DVD-ROM in the pop-up window and press the "OK" button.
http://www.dvd-video-converters.co [...] ide-12.gif  
 
3. All files from DVD are loaded. If you only want to convert certain chapter(s), press "Show Chapters" button on the main interface and then check the chapter(s).
http://www.dvd-video-converters.co [...] ide-13.gif  
 
4. Select the target output format in "Profile" combo-box on the interface. Here WMV is recommended because Zune natively plays the format. If you choose MP4, zune Software will need to transcode it to WMV again, that waste a lot of time.
http://www.dvd-video-converters.co [...] ide-14.gif  
 
Tip: The software can also extract audio from DVD and save as Zune audio WMA.
 
5. After selecting "Zune WMV" as the output format, the right panel will show Zune WMV settings. By clicking certain setting(s), you may specify it. We suggest you to keep the default settings.
http://www.dvd-video-converters.co [...] ide-15.gif  
 
Tip: It supports clip or segment conversion. You can convert any clip or segment by setting the start point and duration at will. For example, you want to rip a clip from 00:03:20 to 00:08:00 please click "Start time" to set the starting time 00:03:20 and click "Duration" to specify the length 00:04:40.
Tip: Zune video size: 320x240
Tip: Zune video must be WMV with wma audio.
 
6. There are other options on the interface you can adjust.
>> In 'Zoom' section, you can find four options. 'Letterbox', 'medium', and 'pan scan' will convert 16:9 format to 4:3 format. The Full option does not correct the aspect ratio. If you have a 4:3 DVD, use the Full option.
>> In the 'Split' drop list, you may select the size of the volumes that you would like to generate.
>> Select the output folder by clicking the "Browse..." button or directly enter a path in "Destination" box.
 
7. Press the "Encode" button to start converting. You would see the info "Completed" in the status column after a successful conversion.
 
8. After the files are successfully ripped, you may transfer to your Zune with Zune Software.
 
Convert video and audio files to Zune WMV, WMA, etc.
 
1. Download Zune Video Converter, install and run it.  
 
2. Load the file(s): Add the video or audio files you would like to convert by clicking the "Add" button in the main interface or choose "Add" in the "File" menu.
 
3. Highlight the file(s) you'd like to convert, select the target output format from "Profile" combo-box.
http://www.dvd-video-converters.co [...] ide-16.jpg  
 
Tip: It supports clip or segment conversion. You can convert any clip or segment by setting the start point and duration at will. For example, you want to rip a clip from 00:02:20 to 00:07:00, please click "Start time" to set the starting time 00:02:20 and click "Duration" to specify the length 00:04:40. For sync problem, you may lower down the video bit rate to have a try. You can also try to solve it by adjusting the frame rate.
 
4. Finally, press the "Encode" button to begin to convert.
 
5. Drag the converted Zune video/audio files to Zune software and sync to your Zune player.
 

Great, It's helpful.Thank you.

When will Microsoft release the zune v2?

I have not heard some rumor about it. Maybe next year!

Can I use Zune as a hard drive storage or I can just listen to music ,watch video and pictures?If I can HOW?

1. Make sure your Zune is not plugged in and your Zune software isn't running  
2. open up regedit by going to the start menu and selecting "run". Type regedt32 and hit "OK"  
3. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Enum\USB\
4. Search for "PortableDeviceNameSpace". This should be contained in the Vid_####&Pid_####\########_-_########_-_########_-_########\Device Parameters within the above ...\USB\ The ##'s listed here will be numbers and letters specific to your Zune  
5. Change the following values: * EnableLegacySupport to 1 * PortableDeviceNameSpaceExcludeFromShell to 0 * ShowInShell to 1  
6. Plug in your Zune, and make sure the Zune Software starts up.  
7. Hopefully at this point you can open up "My Computer" and browse your device, though it does NOT show up as a drive letter.
 
Right now I can access it both as a harddrive and sync through the Zune Software.  

I think we all want to enjoy the funny YouTube videos on iPod, iPhone, etc. There is a great YouTube video download and conversion software which may be very useful for us. YouTube video download and conversion software can download and convert YouTube videos to iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Pocket PC, PSP, or Zune fast and freely!

It is a great software, also ,there are some great Zune software here:
http://www.top5soft.com

Touch comes to iPod, will it come to Zune?

I'm fond of this Zune Video Suite.
The suite includes DVD to Zune Ripper and Video to Zune Converter.  
DVD to Zune Ripper can rip DVD and convert DVD, VOB, and IFO to Zune video formats WMV, MP4, MPEG-4 with fastest speed.  
Video to Zune Converter could help you convert video formats including AVI, DivX, XviD, WMV (Window Media Player), MPEG, MPG, DAT (VCD), RM, RMVB (RealPlayer), MOV (QuickTime), ASF to Zune supported video with excellent image quality.

Will Zune v2 be released next month?

Yes, Zune v2 will be released soon. This guide also fits for Zune v2. Also, you can find some best DVD and video conversion software for iPhone, Apple TV, iPod, Zune, PSP,etc on Windows and Mac OS here:
http://www.dvdtoipod.us/

Even though the flash-based device will have the same (lame) WiFi, Microsoft's expecting to pump out 2.4 million next-gen Zune devices before holidays 2007. Believe it?

How do i make categories on my zune for my videos? (ex. movies, tv shows, music videos)?  
 
Is some software for this? if someone could teach me that would be very helpful. thanks

You can find some software on
http://www.top5soft.com

if you put video, music and pictures in the zune is it possible to get them back on a computer?

I know we can use some ipod copy software to transfer video,song,picture from iPod to computer. But I have no idea about Zune.

iTunes videos are MP4, compatible with Zune 4, 8, 80 (and automatic software convertable for Zune 30) but iTunes use DRM protection which is incompatible with any other player except to iPod/iPhone. It this guide remove the iTunes DRM protection?