Encoding Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

iTunes 10.6 adds option to sync 192kbps, 256kbps audio

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 12th, 2012)

According to AppleInsider, Apple snuck in two new bitrate options into iTunes 10.6 for users who sync their iTunes library to their iPhone or iPad. Most audio tracks are encoded at 256 kbps if they're bought from the iTunes Store, and now you can keep that quality when you send your files to your ...

QuickTime H.264 Compatibility Update is out

by Cory Bohon (Nov 17th, 2008)

Apple just released a software update for QuickTime. The update titled "H.264 Compatibility Update" claims to improve QuickTime compatibility with iChat. You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update), or by downloading the installer package directly from ...

RipIt yanks your DVDs right off the disc

by Mike Schramm (Oct 16th, 2008)

HandBrake handles most of my DVD-ripping responsibilities just fine, but RipIt came to our attention recently, and as a simple one-touch way to get a movie off of a DVD and on to your hard drive (in order to, say, watch it on a laptop without lugging the disc itself along), it looks pretty simple. ...

Handbrake 0.9 released with speed, quality enhancements and more

by David Chartier (Aug 19th, 2007)

Handbrake, the reigning king of effortless DVD conversion software, has received a major update to v0.9.0. New in this version is a "re-envisioned" interface for the Mac OS X version (as well as a completely rebuilt UI for Windows), and picture quality has been improved quite a bit through new ...

Save space on your iPhone by re-encoding movies and TV shows

by David Chartier (Aug 11th, 2007)

If you encode your own video for watching on various devices and you're looking to save every last MB on your iPhone, it could be worth your time to re-encode at least some of your larger files with more conservative settings. While I, for example, have been copying the iTunes Store's settings and ...

Turbo.264 update brings iPhone formats, customizable encoding settings

by David Chartier (Aug 7th, 2007)

Erica took a first look at Elgato's Turbo.264 USB video encoder last month and found it to be a mixed bag. While it is indeed a powerful accessory to many Mac user's video encoding efforts, it's only compatible with apps that use QuickTime for encoding and export, so HandBrake and VisualHub ...

VisualHub updates with iPhone support

by David Chartier (Jul 3rd, 2007)

And so it begins - with the release of yet another Apple product that has anything to do with media playback, software developers are beginning to release software updates that account for the new functionality. VisualHub, a TUAW favorite for its exceptional video conversion and batch encoding ...

VisualHub 1.24 brings new high-resolution settings, tons more features

by David Chartier (Jun 22nd, 2007)

I just have to come right out and say it: VisualHub is one of the best darn things to happen to video encoding since DVD Jon worked his magic. It's a fantastic app that rocks the house when it comes to encoding videos - especially in batches - and it just got a lot cooler with a v1.24 update. Along ...

Get 35% off Flip4Mac

by Brian Liloia (Mar 6th, 2007)

Ok, so for whatever reason you just need to have the ability to encode darling little WMVs on your Mac, Flip4Mac is probably the way you'll want to go, and macZOT! makes the encoding software more appealing with a nice 35% off discount. The full-fledged Flip4Mac WMV Studio package typically runs ...

VisualHub bumped up to v1.22

by Brian Liloia (Feb 28th, 2007)

VisualHub, the popular and easy-to-use video encoding software by Techspansion, has been updated to version 1.22. This latest version offers a number of minor enhancements and bug fixes that should increase usability and productivity. There is nothing entirely new or groundbreaking to speak of, but ...

MPEG Streamclip: complete video encoding software

by Brian Liloia (Feb 8th, 2007)

Ok, so MPEG Streamclip certainly isn't new but it's such a solid piece of software that I feel like I just need to give it a random mention. I broke it out for the first time in a few months the other day, and I was instantly reminded of how much I really appreciate this software's versatility. MPEG ...

BitrateCalc 2.0: optimal DVD/DivX encoding

by Brian Liloia (Feb 5th, 2007)

BitrateCalc, a teensy little utility that calculates optimum bitrates for encoding video and audio for authoring DVDs and encoding DivX video discs, has been updated to version 2.0. Although it boasts no new features, it is now a Universal Binary. As far as using the program, all you are required to ...

iSquint 1.5

by Scott McNulty (Oct 17th, 2006)

iSquint, the little video encoder that could, has hit version 1.5. New things in iSquint 1.5 include a new icon, 640x480 H.264 low complexity support (whatever that means), Flash 8 video can be converted to iPod friendly formats, and faster tagging for videos in iTunes. All of this for the low, low ...

Newly resized iTS video content just a bad upsample?

by David Chartier (Sep 30th, 2006)

It seems like not all larger iTunes Store videos are actually worth their new dimensions. Reader Paul did some investigating on the newly resized videos (i.e. - ones that were 320 x 240 before the new store, and are now 640 x 480), as a few seemed suspiciously like bad upsamples, rather than truly ...