Let’s say you have a movie, song or other sound that you want to use as a ringtone. Here’s a way to do it with free software.
Say you have a PC.
If you have a movie, you should turn the part of it you want into an MP3 using this free video-to-MP3 converter.
Once you have the sound file, load it into this free sound editing software.
Cut the sound clip down to the size you want. It’s pretty self-explanatory but can I recommend that when you’ve finished cutting, you select the first fraction of a second of the clip, right-click, select “effects” then “fade in,” then select the last fraction of a second of the clip, select “effects” and “fade out.” This will made the ringtone start and stop smoothly.
Save the clip, but change the file type to “Apple AIFF.”
Find the file in Windows Explorer and drag it into iTunes.
Find the track in iTunes, right-click on it, and select “Create Apple lossless version.”
iTunes will make its own copy of the file, probably in “My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Unknown Artist\Unknown Album.” It will have the file extension “m4a.”
Copy the file, and change the new file’s extension to “m4r.”
Drag this file into iTunes again, and it will appear as a ringtone. Then you can sync your iPhone to get the ringtone into the iPhone, and start using it!
Phew, there’s quite a few steps to that, even if they’re quite simple. I’ll edit this post if anyone has any suggestions for how to do it more easily.