Our recent video showing a quick and easy video for your iPhone, Apple TV or new iPod required hardware and resulted in some inquiries from viewers for other methods of how to get video from cameras, DVDs, TiVo, downloads or other sources into the proper QuickTime or MPEG-4 file format specs required for transfer via iTunes.
Those really interested in the detailed video specifications should look on Apple’s site:
iPod Classic video specs
iPhone video specs
iPod nano video specs
Apple TV video specs
To make video transfer via iTunes and simple and easy as possible, let me ignore the details of Apple’s specs and simply make a list of the hardware and software solutions that allow video to be converted and transferred with the least amount of knowledge or learning curve possible. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but rather a quick guide to some of the best solutions, not just in ease of learning and use, but additional features you may want to take advantage of once you graduate in your learning.
Here’s our top picks for software that make converting video for the iPhone, Apple TV or iPod quick and easy:
Best hardward/software (fastest) for converting downloaded video or video from a camera:
1) Turbo.264 from Elgato - $90
Best software for converting downloaded video or video from a camera:
2) VisualHub - $23.32
Best software for converting commercial DVDs that you own:
3) HandBrake - Free!
Best software for converting DVDs you made yourself (from iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, etc…):
4) Roxio Popcorn - $49.99
Best software for converting shows from TiVo:
Roxio Popcorn - $49.99
While you could use QuickTime Player Pro, or even iMovie to create/convert video your video, you’ll find tremendous advantages in the above hardware and software in terms of speed, ease, and additional features.
We hope to post tutorials and reviews of these individual products soon. Please come back.
I agree with your post EXCEPT, Roxio Toast Titanium 8 is BEST for converting from TiVo. I have both Popcorn and Toast and the new toast includes a new app called TiVo Transfer. The app was made for getting and converting Tivo shows to your computer, iPod and AppleTV.
Sandy,
Both Roxio Toast Titanium 8 and Roxio Popcorn 3 come with Tivo Transfer, and both offer transcoding options optimized for iPods, iPhones, Apple TV, and the ability to do custom settings for the PSP, Zune, and most media players.
I’m not sure I could say either Toast or Popcorn is better than the other…both are great and pretty much the same for this specific task. Toast, of course, also offers really great DVD and CD burning (I’ve used and loved it for years), but Popcorn is cheaper.
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Quick and Easy Methods for Video on Your iPhone, Apple TV or New iPod at Apple Voices, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.