My dilemma - please help - AVI to iTunes

[treysik]

Ok, so, I have 200+ movie titles in AVI format. I am a recent Mac switcher and want to get all these into iTunes to stream through AppleTV.

Now, I am aware of VisualHub, however, its no longer available. I then found iSquint, but it keeps saying it converts files so you can play them on an iPod, which I understand it will send those files to iTunes format. However, will this process reduce my quality? Or is iSquint fine for standard file conversion?

I also hear Handbrake will do the same thing, is this true? I have read up on it, but I don't see a clear answer. I want to drag and drop several at once while I sleep, so I can get this done.

Any help on this would be great - or another program suggestion. I do not want to put them on an iPod, just be able to have them in iTunes for streaming to my AppleTV.

Thanks,

J

 

[MacBoobsPro]

VisualHub has been 'discontinued'. Handbrake would be my choice. I used to use VisualHub a lot but haven't needed to for a while and I have yet to use the new feature in Handbrake which allows any video source (not just a DVD). As I understand it you need the latest version of VLC player to get the best out of the new version of handbrake.

 

[treysik]

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply. I will give the new version of Handbrake a shot this weekend. I have the newest version of VLC as well. Although I have been recommended iSquint over and over, the overview of it says it converts files for sure on an iPod. My idea of that would mean the quality of the file will be lower to accomodate the iPod; however, I could be wrong on this.

Cheers,

J

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply. I will give the new version of Handbrake a shot this weekend. I have the newest version of VLC as well. Although I have been recommended iSquint over and over, the overview of it says it converts files for sure on an iPod. My idea of that would mean the quality of the file will be lower to accomodate the iPod; however, I could be wrong on this.

Cheers,

J

Yes and no. It's a bit complicated and I don't understand it fully. All I know is my rips with Handbrake and transcodes with VisualHub look great on my TV but also play on my iPhone with an average file size is around 1.5GB. I don't really watch stuff on my phone so i go all out for quality on the TV hence the slightly larger filesize.

I may have a dabble with Handbrake over the weekend to see what the new version is like.

 

[fastgraham]

Boxee will stream avi straight from your external HD -> MAC -> Apple TV with no conversion needed.

 

[TheCheapGeek]

Use isquint.

I use that and it works great. There is no reduction in quality just because it says ipod. There is a format for tv button, just select that, move the slider to go nuts for quality, and finaly select h.264 and you should be good to go. I have done numerous movies and tv episodes with great results.

 

[treysik]

Use isquint.

I use that and it works great. There is no reduction in quality just because it says ipod. There is a format for tv button, just select that, move the slider to go nuts for quality, and finaly select h.264 and you should be good to go. I have done numerous movies and tv episodes with great results.

Great, thanks a bunch! I will compare it with Handbrake.

 

[dynaflash]

As I understand it you need the latest version of VLC player to get the best out of the new version of handbrake.

No, just to read commercial dvd's.

 

[TheCheapGeek]

Please after you compare it with handbrake, share the results. I have had trouble getting handbrake to encode without crashing, and because isquint does a great job i haven't put much effort into tracking down the problem. Looking forward to your results.