Comments on: Manage video archives with iTunes 7 http://elifoner.com/172 .com Thu, 3 Jul 2008 22:38:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: rdas7 http://elifoner.com/172#comment-6746 rdas7 Mon, 28 May 2007 10:25:19 +0000 http://elifoner.com/172#comment-6746 Great post. I'm doing the same with all the tv shows coming in as AVI's - transcoding them to 640x352 H.264's and cataloging them in iTunes. I've been using VisualHub as the default settings are optimal (although I add 2-pass). The upside of this is that a season of a 42min show fits on a DL-DVD, and a season of a 22min show fits on a standard DVD. There is an indespensible widget for this called Descriptor. Once your videos are transcoded and sitting in iTunes with names like Lost.S03E01, you select all the files you want to tag, and then click "Process Selected Files" in the widget - it'll go and fetch show name, episode number, and description from the net and apply it to the files. Filling out show data for episodes in iTunes used to be the most time-consuming aspect, but with the Descriptor widget it's a breeze. Two-pass transcoding can take up a little time - my MBP Core2 Duo 2.66 bolts through in under 30mins per episode (faster than realtime) while my mac mini 1.83 Core Duo takes a little longer. Word is that the new batch of machines due this year specifically target transcoding performance in their speed improvements and we should see most machines handling faster-than-realtime H.264 encoding. Here's to hoping! :) Great post. I'm doing the same with all the tv shows coming in as AVI's - transcoding them to 640x352 H.264's and cataloging them in iTunes. I've been using VisualHub as the default settings are optimal (although I add 2-pass).

The upside of this is that a season of a 42min show fits on a DL-DVD, and a season of a 22min show fits on a standard DVD.

There is an indespensible widget for this called Descriptor. Once your videos are transcoded and sitting in iTunes with names like Lost.S03E01, you select all the files you want to tag, and then click "Process Selected Files" in the widget - it'll go and fetch show name, episode number, and description from the net and apply it to the files.

Filling out show data for episodes in iTunes used to be the most time-consuming aspect, but with the Descriptor widget it's a breeze.

Two-pass transcoding can take up a little time - my MBP Core2 Duo 2.66 bolts through in under 30mins per episode (faster than realtime) while my mac mini 1.83 Core Duo takes a little longer.

Word is that the new batch of machines due this year specifically target transcoding performance in their speed improvements and we should see most machines handling faster-than-realtime H.264 encoding. Here's to hoping! :)

]]> By: Eli http://elifoner.com/172#comment-646 Eli Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:30:40 +0000 http://elifoner.com/172#comment-646 Thanks for the tip - I'll make sure to check it out! In starting to convert my collection, the first milestone is 50GB, showing a 15% overall size decrease.. Thanks for the tip - I'll make sure to check it out! In starting to convert my collection, the first milestone is 50GB, showing a 15% overall size decrease..

]]> By: Doug Stewart http://elifoner.com/172#comment-645 Doug Stewart Wed, 28 Feb 2007 21:46:43 +0000 http://elifoner.com/172#comment-645 I've actually found that Roxio's Toast 8 is pretty darn good for transcoding as well. I've been moving all of my Battlestar episodes (of which I'm a woeful 1 season behind) onto my iPod for easy viewing. Seems to work like a charm. I've actually found that Roxio's Toast 8 is pretty darn good for transcoding as well. I've been moving all of my Battlestar episodes (of which I'm a woeful 1 season behind) onto my iPod for easy viewing. Seems to work like a charm.

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