In this video screencast tutorial I show what tools I use to encode my video files and DVD’s into Apple TV format compatible files that play on the Apple TV seamlessly.
The two apps that I use in this tutorial are Turbo.264 HD that comes with the hardware. MSRP is roughly $150, and it is Mac only. The second was HandBrake. It is FREE and available for both PC and Mac.
Apple TV DVD And Video Rendering Work Flow Settings
December 8, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Elgato Turbo.264 HD DVD Encoding Time Tests
September 26, 2009 by Leave a Comment
One of my favorite tasks to perform in terms of benchmarking systems is video encoding and DVD ripping.
Video encoding is one of those tasks that is very CPU intensive, and when you perform these tasks, you are also utilizing other components on your system. RAM, FSB etc.
Continuing to test my new MacBook Pro, I performed some DVD ripping tests.
For these tests, I used a non-comercial 
DVD that is 12:44 in length. It was encoded into an Apple TV compatible H.264 mp4.
The first set of tests were directly from the optical drive. Let’s begin..
Elgato Turbo.264 HD – One Week Later
June 4, 2009 by 10 Comments
Last week I purchased the Turbo.264 HD from a local retailer. To read about why I purchased it, and why I am so “geeked-up” about it, click here. For those of you who like to watch unboxings, click here.
While I was impressed with the Tubo.264 HD in my initial testing phase, I was a little disappointed with the results I was getting when exporting from iMovie 09. What I discovered, and subsequently found others reporting a similar issue, was video that was exported from iMovie 09 looked very interlaced. See Images below.
*Click on the screen captures to see full them size
Elgato’s new Turbo.264 HD
May 28, 2009 by 1 Comment
In my endeavors, I do a ton of video editing. From home movies of the kiddos, to stuff for family and friends. As well as content for my YouTube channel to satisfy my addiction to technology & what not.
Those who know me, know that I love playing with and editing video. In fact, video and content creation had a lot to do with me switching from the PC to the Mac platforms.
Lately, I’ve been hearing great things about a new product that began shipping this past March from Elgato called the Turbo.264 HD. This is the successor for the original Turbo264 that was released a couple years ago. It is compatible with iMovie, EyeTV (which I use with my EyeTV Hybrid & Hauppauge HD PVR), and it also comes with software with drag and drop encoding support, direct upload to YouTube, as well as DVD to H.264 encoding from non copy protected DVD’s.
All video encoding that I do involves the H.264 codec (except when I am using mpeg2 for DVD’s) due to it’s superior quality to file size ratios. That being said, I just had to get my hands on the Turbo.264 HD because of claims were true, this little device that retails for a mere $149.99, has the potential to save me a ton of time.
See, video editing is one of those processes that takes as much RAM, and CPU processing that you can throw at it. And now days with AVCHD, and HD video in general, it can take hours to encode a single video.
I choose to shoot and edit in HD so I am well aware that I am asking a lot of my MacBook Pro with it’s 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 4GB of RAM. But, if this little device from Elgato can give me the 40%-60% faster encode times that I’ve read about, it will be worth it’s weight in gold.
So I am going to put it through it’s paces and see what it can do, and I will follow up this post in a week or so.
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