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EyeTV software with "Apple TV" encoding, anyone using it?

M

mdweezer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 27, 2007
9
0
Has anyone had the chance yet to record a hour long HD show with the new EyeTV software that will automatically encode the show and put it into iTunes for you? How does it look on the Apple TV?

I'm looking for some benchmarks on how well it works and how long it would take to encode on a G4.
 
EyeTV - AppleTV

I am really interested in this too...

I am hoping to set it up this way...

1. Load OSX on external USB and boot
2. Load EyeTV on external and add FrontRow or some other Media software

I bought the EyeTV250 so it encodes on the fly and not on the machine (I think)

I just got the stuff yesterday so I need to first get OSX running on the external.

I have seen alot of sites talking about booting from external - anyone know the most current place so I can get the most up-to-date info. **** is changing every day with this stuff and it's hard to keep up.

AppleTiVo is near.

Also - once the stuff it working then a IR Blaster needs to be added to change digital cable or satelite boxes.
 
dscotts said:
I am really interested in this too...

I am hoping to set it up this way...

1. Load OSX on external USB and boot
2. Load EyeTV on external and add FrontRow or some other Media software

I bought the EyeTV250 so it encodes on the fly and not on the machine (I think)

I just got the stuff yesterday so I need to first get OSX running on the external.

I have seen alot of sites talking about booting from external - anyone know the most current place so I can get the most up-to-date info. **** is changing every day with this stuff and it's hard to keep up.

AppleTiVo is near.

Also - once the stuff it working then a IR Blaster needs to be added to change digital cable or satelite boxes.
Click to expand...

I use EyeTV 250 to create content for my :apple:TV. It does do the encoding in the hardware, so it lightens the load on your processor. The 250 will only accept standard def analog signal, though, so you can't record HD or ED signals. In addition, the 250 compresses to MPEG2, which is not natively supported by the :apple:TV. The EyeTV software will re-encode the MPEG2 to MP4, but it takes a long time -- something like 2x real time (or more) on my 1.4GHz G4 Mini. A solution to this would be to mod your ATV to play MPEG2, but I don't know if this has been accomplished yet.
 
Mpeg2

Doesn't EyeTV play video that it records? When You record a show, doesnt the software come with a player?

My intention is not to watch EyeTV shows in Front or BackRow but to have all the components on 1 device instead of multiple devices.

If I am running OSX, I could use some other Media player that has a better interface for EyeTV. I think MediaCenter allows you to customize the software so you can link to other apps like EyeTV. Not sure about that one.

And I think an older version of the EyeTV software has a link in the software to access FrontRow.

If I really want to save a show and keep it for AppleTV, I'll just move the MPEG2 to my MacPro Quad and let it chunk...
 
dscotts said:
Doesn't EyeTV play video that it records? When You record a show, doesnt the software come with a player?

My intention is not to watch EyeTV shows in Front or BackRow but to have all the components on 1 device instead of multiple devices.
Click to expand...

Ah. Yes, EyeTV software does playback its own recordings, and will do so in full screen, etc. It also has its own, full-featured remote. Not sure if you can use Apple's universal remote with it, though. Haven't tried.
 
mdweezer said:
Has anyone had the chance yet to record a hour long HD show with the new EyeTV software that will automatically encode the show and put it into iTunes for you? How does it look on the Apple TV?

I'm looking for some benchmarks on how well it works and how long it would take to encode on a G4.
Click to expand...
Tried it last night. It took 12 hours and 11 minutes. :eek:

Used EyeTV 2.4 with their new "Export to Apple TV button". The TV show was 51 minutes long and about 2.3Gb, and originally recorded on an Elagto EyeTV 410. My machine is iBook G4, 1.33GHz, 768Mb.

See here and learn from my earlier ignorance. :rolleyes:

markfc said:
i will be trying it in about an hour!!

i'll post back.
Click to expand...
Still running is it? :rolleyes: :p

SL

PS: Edit: Just converted a 22min TV programme (776Mb). It took exactly 4 and a half hours.
 
An SD recording of Heroes (1 hour) that stopped recording at 9:00 PM was about 7/8 through when I went to bed at 11:30 PM.

I'll see if I can get a better read on the whole situation over the next few days.
 
If you choose "export to Apple TV", then it seems to export as follows:

Video: H.264/AVC, 720x576, 25fps
Audio: MPEG-4 Audio, Stereo, 48000Hz
Click to expand...

However, you can also export from Elgato EyeTV in any custom format (H.264, MPEG4, DV, whatever), and using this method, you can customise the settings to your hearts content.

HTH
SL

EDIT: Once you've waited until the end of the world for the encoding to actually complete, the quality is (IMO) very good.
 
I agree -- the quality is very good. You weren't joking about waiting until the end of the world, though. On my 1.66GHz mini, a HD show done recording at 10pm (~8GB) takes until around 4am to finish converting (~2.3GB). :eek:
 
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