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Handbrake's video conversion app update was 13 years in the making
In the fast-moving world of modern app development, users can often wait days or a small number of weeks for an update. However, if you're the team behind Handbrake -- one of the world's most popular video conversion apps -- years can pass before you're ready to show off what you've been working on. Well, 13 years to be exact. After more than a decade in development and available as a beta release, the Handbrake team has released version 1.0.0 of its transcoding software, which delivers a much-needed set of new features.
Friday Favorite: Handbrake bridges the gap between DVDs and my iPad
Fact: It is often ridiculously cheaper to buy physical DVDs off Amazon than to purchase the same material in an existing digital format from your vendor of choice, like iTunes. Case in point, a friend of mine and I recently started watching Conviction, a one-season series that broadcast a few years ago. Shipped via Amazon Prime (unfortunately not Amazon Prime Air), the three-disc set cost all of US$3-7 depending on which day you shopped for it. Amazon prices jump around a lot day by day. The same series would have cost $20 at iTunes. Ripping DVDs does take extra time -- both for shipping the product as well as performing the rips, but the results are satisfying. One of our TUAW staffers adds, "I always get a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. I rip the DVD and keep the Blu-ray for when I care about the quality of picture." Enter Handbrake, our Friday Favorite of the week. From disc, it takes just a few steps in Handbrake (donationware see this, thanks evcjackson) to transform episodes to iPad-ready formats. You start by scanning the contents of a DVD, a process which takes a few minutes, and can sometimes be the most frustrating part of the sequence. Once scanned, you select which episodes you wish to rip (typically the items that are 40-odd minutes long), and add them to a processing queue. Click Start and let Handbrake do its work. Handbrake's presets simplify the process of converting files, ensuring that the ripped files are perfect for iPad viewing, as an example. Built-in presets also include iPhone and Apple TV. Handbrake will never win awards for interface beauty or simple GUIs. If you're willing to work with the presets on offer, however, and have the patience to Google up some basic how-to instructions, Handbrake provides a terrific solution for quick, easy, effective DVD rips. It's a reliable, time-proved tool with great utility, which is why we made it today's Friday Favorite. Got a favorite app of your own? Suggest it in the comments. Maybe we'll cover it in an upcoming Friday Favorite column.
Smart Converter provides free media format conversion for OS X
Smart Converter (free) provides a way to drag, drop and convert a wide range of media from one format to another. You drop a file, choose an output format and click to convert to popular device formats from iOS and Apple TV to Sony, Samsung, Android and more. The price is, of course, right for anyone who doesn't want to mess with adjusting presets or export settings as you would with QuickTime and Handbrake. The simple workflow is quite appealing and the app got the job done for all the formats I tested it with (flv, m4v, avi, mkv). I did not experience any crashes or have any problems similar to some of the cranky reviews left at iTunes. I tested on a recent-generation Mac mini with tons of memory and the latest OS update, which may have had something to do with it. Importantly, the quality of the output matched the quality of input and I was satisfied by all the processed files. The app is pretty bare bones, with an uncustomizable interface and a few assumptions (like the one that decided on my behalf that I'd want to add the converted file to iTunes) that didn't exactly win my heart. Nor did the integrated ads that showed up with each conversion really appeal to me. And yet, Smart Converter provided a pretty good little workhorse for doing a job without much fuss and bother -- one you should consider downloading. In the end, Smart Converter proved to be a handy tool. Yes, it has room to grow and I'd have rather paid a little for the app with a few better preferences and nicer design, but even exactly as is, it was a nice find.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: HandBrake
Open-source software is a beautiful thing. It's free, community driven, and more often than not, incredibly useful. HandBrake, one of the best video converters around, is a classic example of great open-source software. The Swiss army knife of video converters and a perennial TUAW favorite, HandBrake is a Mac users best friend. Using libavformat and libacvodec, it'll take almost any video format or container you want to throw at it and convert it into something more useful. Want to convert a video for playback on an Apple TV? No problem. Open the offending video file, select "AppleTV" (version 1 or 2 depending on your model) from the preset list under "Apple" and click the "Start" button. If you want to get a bit more involved than simply using presets you can tweak almost every video and audio conversion setting available. From bitrate, FPS and target size, to video and audio codec, embedding of subtitles and breaking-down the video into chapters, you can do it all with HandBrake. HandBrake is available for the Mac, Windows and Linux, but on a Mac it's 64-bit, multithreaded and will use all of the available resources of your modern Intel-based machine. That means conversions are fast and efficient. If you've got a video file and you need something to covert it then HandBrake is the tool you need. It won't decrypt things, so if you're trying to rip a DVD or something similar, you'll need a tool to remove the copy protection first, but that video of your mate jumping the gate you shot won't know what hit it. Download HandBrake for free from the HandBrake Project website.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Apple TV and oddball video formats
Hey Auntie TUAW, I just ordered my new Apple TV, and have a ton of footage in MKV, AVI, etc. which probably won't work with iTunes, let alone my Apple TV. What can I do to batch convert and import all my movies to iTunes, which will work with Apple TV and be as high-rez as possible? With all my love, Ari
iPad 101: The easy way to get high-def videos onto iPhone or iPad
Even though the iPad has that HD feel, there are plenty of HD files it can't stomach -- the maximum resolution for videos to sync via iTunes is 720p, and anything higher (1080i or 1080p) simply won't transfer. On the iPhone and iPod touch, the upper limit is even tighter; those devices can only handle 640x480 videos, meaning that a 720p file will stall out. Generally, movies or TV shows purchased from iTunes will arrive with versions tuned for both devices, but for anything you've created independently of the store, you may run into a spot of trouble. There's an extensive walkthrough over at Gizmodo covering how to use Handbrake for downsampling your 1080i/p videos to a more manageable resolution, very helpful if you're in a DIY mood -- but there is an easier way. It takes advantage of a feature in an app you're already using: iTunes. Just select your movie file(s) and check under the Advanced menu. See those two "Create..." options? The iPod or iPhone version will deliver a resampled video at a resolution the smaller devices can manage; the iPad/Apple TV choice will spit out a 720p file. All you need to do is select your choice and wait for a while... depending on the length of your video and the speed of your Mac, it may take quite a long time, but be patient. You can try out the steps with an Apple-provided sample file, if you like. Once the conversion is done, you'll see a second instance of the video in your media list -- then you can sync at will. Note that if the file you're choosing is already adequately low-res, you'll see the dialog box below. Happy squeezing!
Beta beat: Backup your Blu-ray discs with MakeMKV
You know that it's possible to backup your CDs with iTunes and your DVDs with Handbrake, but what about that new Blu-ray disc (BD) you just received during the holidays? Macworld has a good write-up of a beta utility called MakeMKV that will rip both DVDs and BDs to perfect quality MKV format. Bear in mind that this will require having a connected or internal Blu-ray drive that can read said discs. This is currently a bit of a novelty in most Macs being that Steve Jobs considers the whole thing a "bag of hurt." However, if your system meets the hardware requirements, you're ready to go off on your first Blu-ray ripping journey without the typical mess involved. Macworld's test resulted in a file nearly 32 GB in size as compared to the original 35 GB on the physical BD. While this is useful for those of you with a farm of terabyte-sized drives at your disposal, for others, a lower quality backup is acceptable. If space is a concern, or you want to put a copy on your Apple TV, it's possible to use previously-mentioned Handbrake or Video Monkey to transcode into a lower quality (but still excellent) file. MakeMKV is available now for free while in beta. The Blu-ray ripping functionality is only free while the software is in beta so grab it while you can. Once the beta period ends, only the DVD-ripping will be free. [via Macworld]
Handbrake 0.9.4 released, includes 64-bit support
It's been a year in coming, but Handbrake, the multiplatform, open-source video transcoder, has been updated to version 0.9.4. It's one of the tools I included in my list of 10 must-have apps for a new Mac. The Handbrake team has been busy indeed over the past year -- their change log shows over 1000 changes since the build they released last year. The biggest new feature with this update is support for 64-bit, which allows Handbrake to encode approximately 10% faster than previous 32-bit builds. The 64-bit build is not exclusive to Snow Leopard, so if you're still running 10.5 on a 64-bit capable machine, you'll still be able to reap the benefits of reduced encoding time. That 10% performance improvement estimate appears to be very close to the mark, at least on my MacBook Pro. Using 0.9.3, Handbrake encodes would average around 27 - 29 frames per second when transcoding a VIDEO_TS folder to H.264. In 0.9.4, using the same settings, I'm seeing encoding rates of closer to 30 - 34 frames per second. This means that on my Mac, Handbrake is now transcoding DVDs in real time or faster thanks to the improvements in the new version. The Handbrake team has trimmed some of the fat from this release. There are no more presets for the PSP, PS3, or Xbox 360; all three have been replaced with a "Normal" preset that should work on any device that supports Main Profile H.264. Handbrake has also removed support for transcoding to AVI, OGG, and XviD. Personally I won't miss any of these, as I always transcoded to H.264, but for people who are still clinging to AVI (for whatever reason), this update will force them to abandon the format. Another new feature that looks like it'll be incredibly useful is Live Preview, which allows you to encode a small portion of the video source using current settings and then see what it looks like. This will keep you from having to encode the entire video only to find out two hours later that one of your settings was off, forcing you to start all over again. Handbrake 0.9.4 is a free download, available here.
Giving or getting a Mac for the holidays? 10 apps every new Mac user needs
All new Macs come with great bundled software. Between the iLife suite, Safari, iTunes, and TextEdit, plus the ability to access and use cloud applications for free, almost all of the most basic modern computing needs get met for most users. That said, having used four different Macs over the past seven years, there are several applications that don't come with OS X that I find myself immediately loading onto a new Mac. Most of these are big-name apps that you've probably already heard of, but it's still pretty amazing how much extra functionality you can eke out of a Mac with only ten additional programs, and all of them (save the last one) are free. Whether you're buying a new Mac for a relative this holiday season or getting a new one for yourself, these are ten applications you should download as soon as that shiny new machine loads the desktop for the first time.
Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone
Every time I walk through Warehouse Stationery (New Zealand's equivalent to Office Depot) or Dick Smith's Electronics (pretty much Best Buy), I'm struck by how probably half the products in each store are pretty much useless to me since I've got an iPhone. Thanks to the apps that come pre-packaged with the iPhone and the more than 100,000 third-party offerings now available in the iTunes Store, the iPhone has gained functionality that might have seemed hard to fathom under three years ago when Steve Jobs first announced the device. "A widescreen iPod with touch controls... a revolutionary mobile phone... a breakthrough internet communications device... these are not three separate devices. This is one device." So Steve Jobs told us all back at Macworld Expo 2007. But since then, the iPhone has grown to be much more than just those three concepts. What follows is a sort of anti-buyer's guide, a list of products and devices that you may never need or even want to buy again (or receive as a gift) if you have an iPhone. Some of these are certainly open for debate, but more than a few of them are products that, for all intents and purposes, are completely unnecessary if you have an iPhone. (Items in bold also apply to the iPod touch).
Batch tagging your iTunes videos the easy way
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare, Romeo and JulietIf we applied Shakespeare's logic to today's digital age, then it would also mean that watching mis-tagged or untagged videos on your Apple device (be it a Mac, iPhone, iPod or Apple TV) would be just as enjoyable. Okay, you got me, they'd probably be just as good. But this doesn't mean you're excused from tagging your videos appropriately.First, a bit of background. The vast majority of videos purchased from the iTunes store, as well as "digital copy" (iPod/iPhone pre-formatted videos that are sometimes included on DVDs and Blu-Ray discs), will come pre-tagged. So, the situation for those in this camp (myself included) is peachy, especially when using an Apple TV. Your videos show up on the screen screen with proper titles, season and episode numbers, actors, and descriptions. Just the way Steve likes 'em.But what if you already own the DVD and want a version for your iTunes library? For those of you with the time and patience to rip an MPEG-4 version (and believe me, this takes some patience, especially if you use H.264 encoding) of your favorite videos, a HandBrake-MetaX martini make tagging your videos a bit more of a pleasurable experience - as if it wasn't fun enough already.
Ask TUAW: Online backup, Bluetooth with iPod touch and OS 3.0, converting DVDs for iPhone, and more
In this round of Ask TUAW we've got questions about connecting a MacBook to a plasma TV, using a Bluetooth headset with an iPod touch, backing up online, ripping DVDs to watch on an iPhone and more. As always, your suggestions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!
HandBrake 0.9.3 adds Universal Input
The well known, open-source DVD ripping and video transcoding application HandBrake has been updated to version 0.9.3. Among the changes, perhaps the most exciting is universal input -- now you can use HandBrake to convert any kind of video file it recognizes, not just DVDs. This is particularly exciting given the recent demise of the much loved VisualHub (although the open-source reworking of VisualHub via the TranscoderRedux project is underway). In fact, the new HandBrake incorporates some of the same ffmpeg libraries that did the heavy lifting in VisualHub. Among the many changes are an updated interface as well as improvements to both audio handling and video quality. Interestingly, the HandBrake developers have removed its internal DVD decryption which means you'll need to have the free VLC on your machine to utilize HandBrake's classic DVD ripping functionality (though as long as you have VLC they promise it will work as before).HandBrake 0.9.3 is a free download from HandBrake.Thanks Will!
RipIt yanks your DVDs right off the disc
HandBrake handles most of my DVD-ripping responsibilities just fine, but RipIt came to our attention recently, and as a simple one-touch way to get a movie off of a DVD and on to your hard drive (in order to, say, watch it on a laptop without lugging the disc itself along), it looks pretty simple. In fact, it's about as cake as these things get: load up the app, throw a disc in your drive, and press Rip -- a few minutes later (a 7.9gb rip took about 30 minutes for me), you've got a DVDPlayerMedia file on your hard drive to watch at your leisure. It's $18.99, which is pricey, especially (again) compared to HandBrake, which is conveniently open source, and provides tons more ways to rip things. But if you do a lot of movie ripping and want to have one single button rather than worrying about formats or encoding, that $19 might be well spent.
Getting DVD movies on your iPod touch and iPhone
If you're like me, you take one or more of your DVD movies, TV shows, podcasts and other content with you on your iPod or iPhone when traveling. Heck, I even take stuff for long car trips across town, or to watch when I'm sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Most of the time, it's pretty simple to get movies, TV shows or podcast content onto your iPhone or iPod touch for viewing at a convenient time -- you can simply use iTunes to download it (for a suitable fee). Things get a bit more complicated when you want to watch a commercial DVD from your collection on one of these devices.Fortunately, as we reported recently, there's a great tool called HandBrake that accomplishes this task quite nicely and has just been updated to a fully-compatible, Leopard-only version. OK, but now that you have the software, how do you use it so you can watch that 300 DVD when you're on the train to work tomorrow?The folks at iPhone Atlas have taken care of that one for you; they've just posted an article that guides you step-by-step on how to take video from that purchased DVD and get it onto your iPhone or iPod touch. It's a pretty simple and painless process that yields surprisingly good results -- especially when watching something on the very nice, touchable screen of the iDevices.
Handbrake 0.9.2 now out & Leopard-only
If you're a fan of Handbrake -- the tool that allows you to extract your DVDs* into more portable formats (such as your iPod / iPhone / Apple TV) -- listen up. Handbrake has hit version 0.9.2!So what's changed from the last version, released back in October last year? Well, first-off the application is Leopard-only which may well irk some readers (debate away in the comments, folks). Throw in improved queueing, Sparkle updating for keeping Handbrake up-to-date, iPhone Anamorphic video, 'multi-track audio on Apple devices' and Elgato .eyetv file support. Of course, there's many, many, more enhancements that we're not mentioning, and the changelist shows there's plenty of new goodness in this release.All for the very excellent price of free, the new version is available from the Handbrake site for Mac, WIndows and Linux citizens.*It goes without saying that you should only use Handbrake for DVDs which you are licensed to do so. TUAW does not condone piracy.Thanks, Rouven!
The real reason why the Apple TV is useful
Many were very excited about the Apple TV finally offering HD rentals as we all ran around comparing HD quality with other download services like Vudu and the Xbox360 Live Marketplace. But there is one thing the Apple TV can do that services like Vudu can't, play whatever you got from wherever you want. As much as we love the ultimate in HD picture and sound quality, we also like convenience so the idea of ripping all of our HD movies and DVDs to be stored on the network for consumption is real nice. And no sooner did Apple add Dolby Digital 5.1 support to the Apple TV, developers rushed to add the feature to their conversion software. The Mac favorite swiss army knife of video conversion, VisualHub was very quick with an update that does just this, and based on the latest nightly builds of HandBrake, the feature is iminent for DVD rips as well. So if Apple doesn't offer the HD movie you want to see, find it yourself and convert it. In our experiences, the movies we encoded looked as good, if not better, than those Apple offered -- and with no 24 hour limit of course.[Thanks, Randy H.]
Get those DVDs onto your iPhone or Mac
HandBrake is one of those applications that we adore here at TUAW HQ. It makes converting DVDs into a variety of digital files a snap (though only use it with DVDs you own. Don't be pirates, kids). Chris Breen, of Macworld fame (and an amateur astronomer it would seem) shows us how to use HandBrake like a pro. Breen goes a step beyond 'use the presets' and delves into what many of the options HandBrake offers up actually do, and how they impact your files.Check out the video, and get to ripping your DVDs!
HandBrake updated to 0.9.1
It's not often that an application update is announced by the developers with chagrin instead of excitement, but the new 0.9.1 of HandBrake is delivered somewhat sheepishly as it consists mostly of bug fixes. The full list of changes to the DVD-ripping open source tool is below.You can download 0.9.1 now from the HandBrake site. As always, a reminder that beta software may do you harm, and that you are bound by local and national laws regarding content protection and copyright with respect to the responsible use of HandBrake. Go in peace.Thanks Rouven
Roxio releases Popcorn 3, adds TiVoToGo support
Roxio has released version 3 of their DVD and video conversion utility Popcorn. The biggest new feature is probably the "exclusive TiVoToGo support for the Mac" that lets you burn TiVo recorded shows to disc or convert them for playback on other devices. However, other improvements include the ability to create compilation DVDs and custom DVD menus as well as improved Apple TV and iPhone/iPod support. Popcorn is $49 and is available now.For my own money, I think the the only compelling feature of Popcorn is the TivoToGo support. Unless that's a big deal for you, I think you'd probably do better with VisualHub ($23.32) plus Handbrake (free), as the ffmpeg based conversion of the former is considerably faster than the QuickTime based conversion that Popcorn appears to use.[via MacMinute]
