Roxio to announce Crunch, a new video conversion app

I seem to have a problem with both VisualHub and Handbrake converting a video_ts file. I seem to be able to play the video_ts file fine through VLC, but then when it comes to trying to encode the file using Handbrake the audio drops out 2/3 of the way through. Trying numerous times it doesn't necessarily drop out at the same point. When I use VisualHub it only encodes about half the file and again drops out at various points. I've got no idea whether to waste more $$$$ on Crunch or give iSquint a go but I need to try and get it sorted as its my 2 yr olds favourite DVD. Any advice?

I have been using VisualHub for a year, and I've used Roxio's Toast even before it was released, including many years before Roxio purchased it. I cannot imagine anyone paying $50 for what VisualHub does at half the price. VisualHub is a great product and it is sold at a fair price. And, for a web developer or serious multimedia producer, or even someone simply sending videos to their relatives, there are many more uses for VisualHub than those provided by Handbrake. Of course, if all you want to do is rip DVDs without having to pay for the privilege, perhaps Handbrake is all you need. TIVO owners will recall that within the past year, Roxio tried to make a quick buck off Mac Users by attempting to sell the right to transfer video from TIVO to Mac (when Windows users get to do that for free) and all the while, a savvy user could transfer video from TIVO to Mac with a freeware widget (Now Playing). Such opportunism does not enhance my confidence in Roxio’s opinion of their own customer base. My vote is for VisualHub. If ever there was a program that was priced correctly, works like a charm with an idiot-proof interface, and is more than worth its price with features for both casual and professional users, VisualHub is it.

@ staniks -> is there really any reason to convert a 480 DVD to 720 (I'm assuming here that your video_ts folder is coming from a standard resolution DVD)? If you have an HDTV, it's internal scaler will bump up the video resolution natively, so you should be able to just keep the DVDs original resolution, and as a result produce a MUCH smaller file. Also, if you have stereo audio, converting to AC3 doesn't give you true surround sound. You could get a similar "surround" result using your home theatre receiver's Pro Logic mode. Just a thought...

staniks : VisualHub does that already :)

I would like an app that allows me to convert video_ts to 1280x720 like popcorn does and audio to ac3 5.1 like handbrake does.

I think most of you are smoking crunch.

And I think the price in not quite correct. I saw this reported on another website:

"Crunch will cost either $50 or $0 depending if you know how to use Bit Torrent properly. "

VisualHub is a phenomenally good video converter. It combines simplicity with power: it's ready to go out of the box for all the normal iPod, PSP, MPEG-4 type uses, but you can also pop open the advanced settings and get near ffmpeg command line control (without the complexity).

I use it for everything from transcoding downloads to watch on my PSP (which now supports the full 480x272 resolution of its screen, though you have to specify that size in the Advanced settings of VisualHub), to converting various .flv files that I've grabbed while surfing for archiving in video playlists on my 5th gen iPod.

In terms of usefulness, I'd rate my favorite video app thus:

VisualHub (excellent general purpose video converter)
Handbrake (specializes in DVD conversion)
ffmpegX (useful tool, but obscure and ugly interface, and prone to errors)

Crunch has a high bar to meet for me to consider it. And I agree about Toast 8's candy coated interface - too kitschy and un-Mac.

Besides, Michael Arrington (TechCrunch) will sue!

How is this app any different from Roxio's existing Popcorn 2 application? They seem to do the same things to me...

Is Visual Hub any better in any way than Handbrake? Why is it even worth $25... let alone the $50 for this new thing.

Now if either if those two programs can significantly improve the DVD encoding speed (at least twice as much)... then I might consider them.

VisualHub does VIDEO_TS folder conversions - in fact, you can drag an entire folder it and it seeks out the movie VOB files for you. Read the release histories for more.

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