Preparing your files involves several main steps:
Step 1: Record and edit the audio or video content you want to create for iTunes and iPod. See “About Creation Tools.”
Step 2: Compress the files for distribution. There are different ways to compress and decompress audio and video files called codecs. Choose the file format that suits your needs, balancing audio and video quality with file size. Apple recommends using AAC for audio and H.264 for video. Some applications will compress the file if you export it for iPod. Apple recommends using iTunes > Advanced > “Convert Selection to AAC” for audio files or iTunes > Advanced > “Convert Selection for iPod” and iTunes > Advanced > “Convert Selection for iPhone”.
Step 3: Once the file is compressed, add embedded metadata. iTunes itself can be used to add metadata to files that accept metadata. Metadata is descriptive information about the content (sometimes referred to as a tag). This might include an image, detailed descriptions, author, and copyright information. For more information, see “What Is Metadata?.”
Step 4: Distribute the content through iTunes U or by other means.
Step 5: Your audience can access the content through the Internet and download it to iTunes where they can sync the content to iPod or listen to it on their computers using iTunes.
© 2009 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2009-11-04)