Automated video format conversion on Windows?

Hi all,
I'm sure there are dozens of posts on here about video conversion, but I'm looking for something quite specific so thought best to start a clean thread. On my MBP I use Visualhub quite happily to convert other formats to MP4 for ATV, but I'm looking for a separate solution for my Windows machines that does the following:
- Monitor folders for supported video files
- Supports XVID, DIVX at a minimum, preferably more
- Works relatively quickly and/or performs well, preferably able to respect the processor requirements of other apps on the machine by optionally using 'idle' processor
It would be brilliant if there were something that did all of the above for free, but I'm happy to pay a reasonable amount for something that works well. I've tried using ImToo MPEG Encoder but it only satisfies the second criteria above and not very well at that. In my tests it also resulted in really bad audio sync issues in most formats (although i did have a slightly older version).
Thanks in advance!
Tom

If you are willing to roll your own solution, directory monitoring can be done using DirMon2.
http://www.dragonglobal.org/
Transcoding can be done using MPEG StreamClip
http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-win.html
And if you do a Google search, you can find some code that uses the iTunes API's to add a file to iTunes.
Of course, other than DirMon2, it's all theory to me. I've never been able to get MPEG Stream Clip (or Quicktime Pro for that matter) to transcode anything longer than a couple of minutes. I've had pretty good results with Handbrake but it only works with DVDs.
As far as "relatively quickly" goes, Handbrake runs at about .5x real time for me (AMD X2 3800+) on a two pass encode.
I've pretty much given up on transcoding as an approach to feeding Apple TV until something that's more reliable and less work comes along. Or Apple comes to its senses and realizes that the lack of MPEG-2 support is hurting sales. Or I buy another Mac (my Powerbook takes forever to transcode). Short-term, I'm settling for photos, music, podcasts, and ITS content on my Apple TV

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Video format conversion help

My friend imported video footage from two separate "action" cameras onto his mac book. The files are labeled as .avi files. I plan to edit the videos in PE4 to create a movie. I've transferred the files to my PC, but they only play on VLC media player. Other media players only play the audio portion.
I tried importing the files into PE4 and again...only audio. I believe what I need to do is to download video conversion software and convert to a usable format (although I thought .avi was usable).
I don't want to compromise video quality. Can someone suggest a good "free" video conversion program? Are there better programs for a nominal fee?
Thanks.

I'm not sure how he converted those files to AVIs, tm (Macs don't use AVI natively), but my guess is that they're not DV codec AVIs. More likely Cinepak AVIs.
To see, open the videos in Windows Media Player and go to File/Properties. You'll see the codecs displayed there.
From there, you could look for a converter -- or, even better, you could ask your friend to output DV-AVIs instead. He should have that ability if he's using Final Cut or even Quicktime Pro to output those AVIs.

Video Format Total Solution: How to Convert and Edit Video on Windows/Mac

More and More video formats are coming out with different video encoders and it makes our spare time more and more colorful. However, it is not to say that there is no problems. Actually, different video formats make it difficult to share video with others, even your own camcorder and iPod. Is there an easy way to convert videos effectively. Yes, there is.
In this article, I will show you guys how to convert videos on windows and mac.
Part 1. How to Convert and Edit Videos on Windows
For Windows users, you need a Video Converter(http://www.aiseesoft.com/total-video-converter.html) to do that for you.
Here I use Aiseesoft Total Video Converter(http://www.aiseesoft.com/total-video-converter.html)
Step 1: Download and install Aiseesoft Total Video Converter
After you download it to your computer, double click it and it is really easy to install.
You just need to click “next” and it will complete it in seconds. It will automatically run after installation.
http://www.aiseesoft.com/images/guide/total-video-converter/screen.jpg
Step 2: Load Video
Click “Add File” to find the video that you want to convert and click “open”. It will be loaded automatically.
Step 3: Select the target to decode
In the “Profile” drop download list you can find your target according the usage of your output video, such as if you want to put the video on your iPod touch, you can select the “iPod” in the first list and “iPod touch 2 MPEG-4 640*480(*.mp4)” in the second list.
Step 4: Set Advanced Parameters
After you select the right output profile, you can click “setting” button to set your advanced parameters. You can adjust video and audio settings separately. In video section, you can change “video encoder”, “resolution”, “frame rate”, “video bitrate”In audio section, you can change “audio encoder”, “sample rate”, “channel”, “audio bitrate”If you want to save this profile and settings and use it next time you can click “save as” button to give a name to it. And the next time you want to use it you can find it in the profile list named “user defined”.
Step 5: Choose a Destination
To browse and find a output folder for your output files or just the default one.
Finally, Click “Convert” button to begin your conversion, here in the converting
interface you can choose “shut down the computer when conversion complete” or “open output folder when conversion complete” or you just do not choose neither one.
Tips: How to Edit the Output Video
This video converter is also a video editor, you can use it to edit your output video as follows:
http://www.aiseesoft.com/images/guide/total-video-converter/effect.jpg
1. Effect:
You are allowed to adjust the “Brightness”, “Contrast”, “Saturation” and you can choose the “deinterlacing” to make the video more enjoyable.
2. Trim:
In “Trim” section you can pick up any part of the video to convert.
There are two ways to select the part of the video you want. One is set the start and end time in the box. The other one is to drag the start and end button in the processing bar.
3. Crop:
This function allows you to choose a certain play area to convert. That means you can choose a part of the screen you like to convert. For example, you just like the tv in the middle of the screen, then you can drag the frame around the preview window to select the tv and the output preview will show you the output video.In this section you can also choose the “zoom mode”, such as “keep original”, “full screen”, “16:9”, “4:3”.
4. Watermark
In the section, you can add a watermark on the output video to show people something, such as your name, website, studio name or other things. The watermark could be words and picture. You can adjust the transparent of the watermark easily to make it more beautiful.
Part 2. How to Convert Video on Mac
This time you need a Video Converter for Mac(http://www.aiseesoft.com/video-converter-for-mac.html)
Step 1: Add File
Click “Add File” button to load the video you want to converter
http://www.aiseesoft.com/images/guide/mac-video-converter/steps.jpg
Step 2: Choose profile and adjust settings
You can find your output video format from a drop-list called “Profile”You can also adjust the specific settings of the output video, such as “Resolution”, “Bitrate”, “Encoder” and so on.

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On the latest version of itunes of windows 7 64 bit, no videos downloaded from itunes can be loaded due to "video format not compatabile" what is up

i bought a new toshiba laptop with windows 7 x64, and while i can load regular mp3's or videos i have, everything ive downloaded from itunes will not load, itunes citing that it is because the "video format is not compatible" help please!

http://www.apple.com/feedback/kaywerty wrote:
A rather long winded way of asking if anybody knows if it's possible to have multi-windows open
It's not possible.
Suggestions here -> Apple Product feedback

Automating Video-to-Flash Encoding/Conversions

Hi, I hope someone can help me with this, as numerous calls
to Adobe have gone unanswered (no callbacks).
I need to either find a product and/or solution that will
enable me to convert various video formats (e.g., QuickTime, MPEG,
Windows Media, etc.) to Flash automatically as opposed to doing it
manually via the Macromedia Flash 8 Video Encoder or other manual
process(es).
A good example of the functionality I need is equivalent to
how
YouTube works: When you upload a
video to YouTube, some background process/service runs that takes
that video and converts it to Flash, and this is done
automatically--without user/manual processing. I need to have a
solution that does something like that.
Any suggestions/help are/is greatly appreciated.

In my case, this is 3 physical (not partitions) SATA II HDD's, where I spread the I/O load over all three.
C:\ OS, programs
D:\ Projects w/ Scratch Disks
E:\ Media and Page File (this system)
In the particular case above, the test Project happened to be on my E:\, along with the media, and my Page File. That is not how I normally work, but decided to leave it alone, for this timing test. It is obviously not the ideal, when it comes to "spreading the load," and is not my recommended scheme. The Export was also to that same E:\, so there should have been a bit of an I/O bottleneck there.
I also went against my normal workflow, as I did not shut down anything, including AnitVirus, spy-sweeping and pop-up blocking, plus I had 5 tabs open and active in Chrome (my browser). Again, this should have created a bit of a CPU bottleneck.
Still, with all those things being done in a less than ideal situation, the time was pretty good. Not sure how much I could have shaved off the Export process, had I set things up in my normal fashion, and created an ideal environment.
Sorry to not define the terms early on.
Good luck,
Hunt

Best Video format to use for Windows

I am creating a CD ROM (for Windows) that will show 3D animation. I need to make sure that the animations will play on user's computers without any problems.
What is the best video format to use?

Flash video has no dependency on pre-installed players, so is often a good choice

TS1424 I purchased the series "Call the Midwife" and downloaded it to my Windows desktop. Then I tried to sync the episodes to my 1st generation iPad and an error message told me that the video format was incompatable with the my iPad. What to do?

After downloading into my computer, I tried syncing to my iPad but to no avail. The purchased tv series would not sync. So then I tried to download via wifi directly to my iPad and the first two episodes downloaded no problem. The following 6 episodes then said that the video format was not compatible with my iPad and therefore would not download. What should I do. I don't even know who to ask in Apple nor how to get in touch without paying a fee.

Hi, jjsylves.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If the media is still located on your computer, I would create a version specifically for the iPad. To create and iPad version in iTunes 11 select the media that you are wanting to convert. From there, select the File menu > Create New Version > Create iPad or Apple TV version. Once the media has been converted, sync the iPad version to the iPad.
iTunes: May be unable to transfer videos to iPhone, iPad, or iPod
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1497
iTunes 11 for Windows: Syncing overview
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12311
Regards,
Jason H.

Best video format for sharing with windows users

I've tried many ways to share videos with different clients, they mostly have windows computers (and windows media player I guess). I tried .mov (H.264) and mp4 (also H.264) from final cut pro X, but also from Compressor. I also did some test exporting Apple ProRes and then converting them with Mpeg streamclip, or even with Adobe Media encoder. Same problem, windows does not see these videos. I finally had to use a mov to wmv converter, but the final quality is really bad. Or upload the videos to vimeo, and then share the link (but I haven´t got a plus account, so I guess what I´m doing is not allowed, and i have only 500 mb per week). I believe that windows media player can be updated to open these phootage, but I cannot explain that to my clients.
Which would be the most compatible video format to share with clients?
Which paramaters should I take care of while exporting them?
Thanks!
Pablo

You should be able to export as H.264... I'm going to guess that your problem might not be the video -- it might be the audio. The audio track should be converted to AAC. Try exporting H.264 directly from FCPX. From Share > Export File (you might need to add that destination) > Settings > Video Codec > H.264 (audio should automatically change to AAC.) If you export as ProRes and transcode from another app, they might not be converting the audio for compatibility (LinearPCM/AIFF is not an "expected" audio format with h264/mp4, or even WMV, etc.)

What kind of video format and/or codecs are used in Health & Fitness (app which come pre-installed in Windows 8.1)?

Hello.
I need any official information regarding what kind of video format and/or codec is used in Health & Fitness app.
Also might be helpful to get a link to resource with officially available (downloadable) drivers and/or codecs of video format which used in Health & Fitness app.
Thanks.

Hi,
Yes, the right place to ask this kind of question is following forum:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1_pr-winapps
Alex Zhao
TechNet Community Support

Use QuickTime Player to convert movies to iPod video format......

I don't know if this has been posted but, thought everyone might find it useful.
You can convert quicktime movies to readable ipod video format without having to purchase Quicktime Pro. Thats right, just the Quicktime player.
Now, I know that you can use Handbrake along with other converter programs for free. but just in case you want to use Quicktime Player here is a link that will show you how via applescript or automator.
http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~ari/scripts/Quicktime2iTunesVideo.html

Here's a step-by-step of ONE of the ways (I have a Mac) you can convert your videos (mpgs) to mpeg4 files to view on your 5th gen iPods so your videos will have sound:
I use Mpeg streamclip found on www.squared5.com.
(This is from memory and I don't have the program opened in front of me so apologies if this is not totally accurate!)
Once you've installed Mpeg streamclip, and opened up a new window, drag the mpg file you want converted onto the new window. You should now see the first clip of your video in the window.
Go to File and choose "Export to MPEG4". This will open up another window. Click the button "iPod" on the upper right corner of the window and that will automatically input the settings for an iPod. Then click the button "Export to MPEG4" at the lower right corner of the window. You have to choose where you want your file saved. I just place them in the Videos folder of my hard drive. Then this will start the conversion of your mpg.
Depending on how large your file is, this may take awhile.
When the conversion is complete, simply take your new file (now with ".mpeg4" as an extension) and DRAG it into your iTunes library. I don't remember if you have to actually drag it onto your iPod as well.
As you drag the mpeg4 file onto your iPod, it should say "updating song" at the top of you iTunes window, then you know it worked.
So now you have a VIDEO on your iPod that plays SOUND!!
Hope this was helpful.

Best video format for converting DVD to NAS for widely sharing

Summary: The article shows you with an easy workaround for
copying DVD to NAS for streaming by ripping DVD to NAS friendly video
format on Mac and Windows
I recently purchased a NAS to store all my music/photos etc on. I
can stream stuff to my iPhone/iPad using the NAS software. What I want
to do is rip all my DVDs (over 400) to my NAS, but I’m not sure which
format to do it in, to play nice with my Apple TV2, Xbox 360, iPhone,
iPad etc. I wanna get some advice as to what format to rip in and what
software to use?
Learn some tips from online, I got know that to copy dozens of DVD movies to NAS,
you need to get the content off the DVD disc as a protection-free and
easily readable element for NAS. In this case, at the first place
powerful third-party software for backup DVD to NAS is what you need.
There are many, many DVD ripping tools on the market. I’ve tired a pile of them.
Brorsoft DVD Ripper
is the best one I’ve tried yet. It is capable of ripping DVD to MP4,
AVI, MKV for NAS streaming with no quality loss; it also enables you to
copy DVD main movies for backup onto NAS in .vob format. And what I’ve
learned is that MP4 would be one best target format for it is fully
compatible with nearly all media devices including iPad, iPhone, PS3,
Apple TV, etc. If you are running on Mac OS X, turn to DVD Ripper for Mac. If you haven’t got the software, download it now and let’s start the conversion.
Ripping and copying DVDs to NAS
1. Launch the DVD ripping program for NAS devices . Then
click "Load DVD" to import the DVD files you want to convert. To select
the subtitles you like, simply click Subtitle and select the one you
prefer. P.S. Before start the conversion, you can choose to backup DVD mian movies.
2. Click Format bar and choose your desired format. To store
hundreds of DVD's on NAS, you can rip DVD to .mp4, or .avi, .mkv, etc
compressed format. And click Settings bar, you can adjust the level of
compression to suit the quality you want.
Tip: If you like, you can click “Settings” to change the
video encoder, resolution, frame rate, etc. as you wish. Keep in mind
the file size and video quality is based more on bitrate than resolution
which means bitrate higher results in big file size, and lower visible
quality loss, and vice versa.
3. Press the "Convert" button to start ripping DVD for NAS streaming.
After the conversion, click Open button to find the output files.
Make sure the wireless network connection is accessible among the NAS
and Apple TV, PS3, HD TV or other media players. Then just enjoy the
high quality DVD movies anywhere anytime.
[quote] movies-videos-convert-tips.overblog.com/2014/02/ripping-dvds-to-nas-how-to-copy-dvd-to-nas-for-streaming.html [/quote]

I've always found encoding with Handbrake and choosing the Apple TV2 preset is an excellent place to start and video encoded using that preset will work on my iPhone 4, 4S and iPad 2.
If the files encoded using that preset are too big for one's taste they can always encoded at a lower average bit rate rather than using the default 'Constant Quality' of 20.
Later on I'm sure the Handbrake group will have an AppleTV '3' preset supporting the 1080p format supported by the ATV3 and iPad '3' but using such a preset would not create a file usable on the iPad 2 or the iPhones.

Photoshop Elements 11 - Video format not supported when importing files

I'm trying to make a gif using Photoshop Elements 11, but I can't seem to be able to find a video format to import that's supported. I go to File > Import > Frame from Video... then choose Browse and select the video I want, but it always tells me that video format is not supported - I've tried AVI, MPEG, MP4 and some others, and none seem to work. Any idea why?

umaniak
Do you have Premiere Elements 11 as well as Photoshop Elements 11?
How are you importing your video into Premiere Elements 11 (assumed Windows)? Add Media/Files and Folders/Project Assets? Or are you moving it from the Elements Organizer into the Premiere Elements 11 Expert workspace? Does the video play back OK on any of your computer players (Premiere Elements not involved)?
Bottom line may very well be a problem with the availability of the MotionJPEG video codec to Premiere Elements.
The 3 remedies that one frequently sees:
a. file conversion
b. download, install of MotionJPEG codec
c. grabbing appropriate codec from a camera utility if the camera has such a utility.
Please review and let us know if you have any further questions.
Thanks.
ATR
Add On...I did not see SG post in your thread until after I had posted this reply. Please respond in to his questions and troubleshooting first.

Best video format to encode for playback on iBook G4 1.2GHz?

I have been scratching my head for a week on this. What is the best video format that is highest quality and will playback smoothly on my iBook g4 and my iPhone 4? It has 1.25GB of RAM and I upgraded the HD to a WD 250GB 5400 RPM IDE drive 2 years ago and it's running dual boot Leopard 10.5.8 and Tiger 10.4.11 (keeping Tiger for Classic Mode).
I have a very large HD video collection consisting of 720p HD DVDs and 1080p Bluray discs that I have already spent a year to convert to MKV and MP4 files for storage on my media server. They have all been ripped and encoded with H264 using Handbrake. The average 720p movie is about 4.5GB and the average 1080p movies run about 8GB. I have over 100 movies stored on my media server and they playback fine on all my computers. They work fine on all my Windows 7 systems, they even play fine on my G5 2.0GHz DC late 2005 Powermac with 8.5GB Ram and the NVidia 7800GT.
Most of my 720p files can be reduced in size and or quality to 1-2GB and are playable on my iPhone 4, iPad 2 and even my little Acer Aspire One netbook in m4v or mp4 format.
I know my iBook is out of date, but no matter what compression method I have tried, the only thing it can play is MPEG-2 encoded media. And it cannot handle any h264 video I make, even at 480p settings using the simple profile. Since MPEG-2 takes 4-8GB per movie, this is a huge waste of HD space. And if I encode my movies like the old iPod video size, it looks like crap in full screen. I really want to store about 20 movies on this iBook for playback when I travel since I have 2 extra batteries. I need to movies to playback on the iBook and be able to transfer them to my iPhone 4 or iPad at any time.
Is there any method for getting 480p to encode and playback well on this iBook without making it look like crap or using the old DivX avi standard? If I have to reduce all my movies for playback on the iBook, I don't want to go lower than 480p because I want the same conversions to work on my iPhone 4 as well with decent quality. It is redundant to keep making copies of each movie for each device. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to take my little netbook around with me because the screen is too small and there is no opticle drive.
If anyone has any ideas, please post which Handbrake profile or other that can work... or let me know if my iBook is just garbage now. Thanks!

I am not asking you how to rip a DVD. I am asking how to convert any video file for decent playback on my iBook or iPhone!
This feature is available in iTunes so you can convert your DVDs to iPod playable formats. But when iTunes or Handbrake (or even Apple Compressor) convert anything, even my own videos made with Final Cut and iMovie, they will play on any iDevice other than my iBook unless I use the lowest most terrible video format.
I am just trying to figure out the proper video format the iBook can play. I am not ripping the DVD's right now... did that years ago anyways (and half of the videos I want to convert I made with iMovie during my travels in China and Hong Kong... I am just trying to play movies I already own on an older iDevice... my iBook. Converting purchased videos and home made videos is in no way illegal.
You misunderstand what I am asking. I am not trying to break digital copyright. If this is breaking digital copyright, then why does iTunes allow me to convert the movies for my iPhone 4 in the first place? You are telling me if I didn't purchase the movie from Apple I cannot watch it on my iPhone and iBook? That is not right.
I just want to know what the proper video playback requirements are for the iBook hardware. Plain and simple. If it is illegal in any way to tell me how to do it, just tell me what video my iBook supports. Apple tells me what video my iPhone supports ie. 1280x720p @ 29fps.... blah blah blah. Seems so far the iBook can only play a DVD MPEG-2 stream and no advanced codecs like h263 or h264. I just want to know what format the iBook can handle.
I have exported movies from iTunes and of my time in Hong Kong from iMovie and I cannot get them to play on the iBook at all if they are even 480p. So I just need to know what the max video playback is. If it can only play 320x240 or something, it is completely useless. I remember years ago when I bought the iBook, it did play the sample h263 and h264 videos that Apple had on their website (some of them 480p-720p)... but today it seems it can't play anything but 320x240 or less without getting locked up. I know the HD video requirements are G5 or higher... but we are talking DVD size cannot play in h264 mp4 formats, only MPEG-2 formats. This makes no sense? So I need to know the exact maximum resolution, framerate and codec this iBook 1.2 GHz can handle.
Don't tell my watching movies on my iBook, even the ones I made is illegal.

IPhone 5 Video Formats / Resolutions

Hi,
Apple Tech Specs for the iPhone 5 says the following:
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640x480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280x720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/specs.html
That gives the maximum MP4 playable resolution as 640x480. I have the option to encode some of my videos as 640x360 MP4s or as 1280x720 MP4s. My questions are as follows:
Am I right that 1280x720 MP4s just won't play on the iPhone 5?
Is it easy for me to convert 1280x720 MP4s into H.264, which would support that resolution? If so, how? (I have access to both OSX and Windows, but would prefer to do the conversion on Windows)
Will I be able to notice any major difference on the iPhone 5 screen between 640x360 MP4s and a 1280x720 H.264?
Thanks very much in advance!

1. If the codec is H.264, iPhone 5 will play it;
2. To convert videos or DVDs to 720p or 1080p videos for iPhone 5, usually, an iPhone 5 video converter has built-in output video profile for iPhone 5, you won’t any worries about the resolution, codec and format.
3. The 720p one is clearer than the 660x360 one, however, the file size is much larger. In addition, the quality of the output video also depends on the resolution of the input video.

Can Quicktime Pro convert .mkv video formats to mp4 video formats

I purchased Quicktime Pro believing it could convert .mkv video formats to MP4 video formats, however, the resulting output file is just a 60kb file from an original 971,936 kb file.
I registered the key as given to me in the purchase receipt email, I used Export to MRP, I selected the input .mkv file. All seemed to be OK until it ended creating the short 60kb file.
Suggestions please.
Mel from Oakville.

I purchased Quicktime Pro believing it could convert .mkv video formats to MP4 video formats, however, the resulting output file is just a 60kb file from an original 971,936 kb file.
As indicated on the Apple web site, keying the QT Player for "Pro" use merely unlocks editing and conversion features built into the app but not available without the key. It does not add any new file type or codec support beyond that for which the QT Player is already configured on your platform.
I registered the key as given to me in the purchase receipt email, I used Export to MRP, I selected the input .mkv file. All seemed to be OK until it ended creating the short 60kb file.
An MKV file will convert only if you have support for both the MKV file container (which is not natively QT compatible) and codecs to handle the specific codecs contained in the MKV file container if available for QT use.
Suggestions please.
I do not normally use MKV files on a daily basis and so, on those occasions when I do need to use them as a source for conversions to mobile devices, I use the free HandBrake application. As I see it, you can either try to add the missing support needed to use QT 7 Pro or you could download HandBrake for iTunes managed/mobile device files or use FFmpeg (on which HandBrake is based) for more general target conversions. As a non-PC user, I am assuming here that the Windows versions of both the HandBrake and FFmpeg apps have the same features as are available in the Mac versions of these apps.

Automated video format conversion on Windows?

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