why are video forums such a pile

[donkeykong]

have a apple tv for over 2 years and i still cant convert files. what do i do?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Don't but Apple products.

[hech54]

Don't buy them either...

[filmboss80]

Other video forums may be "piles," but if you had spent more time in this one, you might have learned something useful.

[jman98]

Apple TV is known to have severe limitations in what it can play, so the first step would be to do research on the product prior to purchasing to be sure that it really meets your needs and don't buy it if it doesn't.

[16mmJunkie]

Other video forums may be "piles," but if you had spent more time in this one, you might have learned something useful.

Agreed and by the way welcome to the forum

[lordsmurf]

You bought an Apple TV.
I'm not anti-Apple, but the Apple TV is a piece of crap.

If you want a good player, get the WDTV from Western Digital.
That's a good one.

[The Walrus]

What do you mean 'convert files'?

I have a mac mini as a media hub and it's fine in the back room but just a TV in the front. I wanted to see what the Apple TV was all about so got it to experiment. I play movies and other files via iTunes and it does the job.

It is limited but it is only 100 bucks! What did you expect?

[dragonkeeper]

I don't think that video forums are pile, it's the fact that many people jump onto the Apple band wagon with out thought as to what they expect out of a product. Most home video enthusiast go with Windows products, not becase Microsoft products are better than Apple products but because Windows offers more flexibility and there are more product offerings. Not to mention a slue of free software products as well as relatively cheap software products that can be had. Not so for Apple platform.

So there is a wider knowledge base to draw upon when you have questions? Knowledge base for Apple products can be somewhat limited.

[donkeykong]

Firstly i apologize for this bad first thread. I am just so frustrated with the way Apple delivers. I have had my Apple TV for approx 3 years, and every time i seem to suss out the conversion properties of movie files something will change and i have to start all over again. For instance when i first got the Apple TV everything seemed dandy an update came out for it so i updated and then some of the files that were already on stopped playing or they actually caused the apple tv to crash. So after trawling the net and trying different apps to re-convert the files i again felt id solved the problem but now its started again, i haven't done any update but it seems to have a mind of its own, one day playing a file the next it doesn't. So to respond to these posts...

MOVIEGEEK and Hech54- I think your both right....

filmboss80 - Ill do that right away...

jman98 - It was a gift, so i didn't get a chance to research

lordsmurf - You are so right, if it wasn't a gift it would be in the bin

The Walrus - The problem with the apple TV is in accessibility You cant add codecs which i think you can on a mac mini. Which makes me question why the same manufacturer of my iMac and aTV cant build a solution into iTunes to either convert files specifically for their products or have a solution that will allow the aTV to download codecs, (that option is out of the window now cos of the new gen aTV which doesn't have a hard drive and just streams content)

dragonkeeper - Well said. i have found this morning that i am able to connect an external 500GB hard drive directly to my tv via the USB slot and it plays all my backed up videos, so far, without a glitch. So in terms of conversion, I think its about time i converted to Windows.

Thanks

[budwzr]

It is limited but it is only 100 bucks! What did you expect?

Gotcha! I knew you were rich!

Media players that play anything you throw at them are UNDER $100.

[budwzr]

..... makes me question why the same manufacturer of my iMac and aTV cant build a solution into iTunes to either convert files specifically for their products or have a solution that will allow the aTV to download codecs....

It's not that they "can't" do what their customers want, it's that they don't "want" to because if a Mac was fully capable like a PC, the Geniuses at the Apple Stores would be exposed as counterfeit popes, and the EMO at the door would cry.

EDIT: Whew! Hahha, I almost busted my stomach from laughing,

[The Walrus]

It is limited but it is only 100 bucks! What did you expect?

Gotcha! I knew you were rich!

Media players that play anything you throw at them are UNDER $100.

Bahaha...not rich but definitely a little stupid. I do like Apple products for their aesthetics and the theory of fluid connectivity. But it's a bit like socialism, great in theory but not so good in practice!

[jagabo]

There are a few conversion programs with AppleTV presets. Arcsoft MediaConverter and Badaboom, for example. It's a waste of time and money though when you can get a media player that plays pretty much everything for well under US$100.

[poisondeathray]

handbrake has apple tv preset as well

Some Apple products are ok even if they are a bit overpriced. AppleTV is a fail. It doesn't even support 1080

[donkeykong]

handbrake has apple tv preset as well

Some Apple products are ok even if they are a bit overpriced. AppleTV is a fail.

handbrake does have the presets but its way too slow for me and they don't allways work so i hate it, and when i found out how much was paid for the aTV i was disgusted with the lack of support around. i don't mean on forums such as this i mean from apple.

It doesn't even support 1080

With the update i downloaded it does offer 1080 in the screen settings but when i selected it that's when i became aware of the weird 'Pink Screen'. So are you saying that it doesn't support it or that's its just crap with 1080 settings, cos i may be realizing where I've gone wrong

just to throw another beef on the grill. The aTV only has HDMI or Component(a pain in the UK) but the other week i bought a cable for £40 which allows me to connect my iPod touch via composite (which is on most TV's in the UK) and the picture is perfect. now that really is portable media

[jagabo]

handbrake does have the presets but its way too slow for me

Try using CRF encoding and the equivalents of x264's very fast preset:
https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19426

I don't use handbrake but I use x264 CLI all the time. That setting will encode a 90 minute DVD rip in about 6 minutes on my system (i5, 2500K). Even 1080p Blu-ray will encode much faster than real time.

It doesn't even support 1080

With the update i downloaded it does offer 1080 in the screen settings

You're talking about the output settings. Poisondeathray was talking about video files. The AppleTV doesn't play 1080p Blu-ray rips, for example.

[orsetto]

The only thing more tedious than a fire-breathing blinkered new-age Apple fanboy is a mouth-breathing knee-jerk Apple basher. I can't believe its frickin 2011 and every Apple question on forums is still answered with these threadcraps. Apple is Apple, always has been and always will be. They're 50% about trying to do great things and 50% greedy pigs, just like M$ and every other tech firm that ever existed. Sometimes it works wonderfully for both Apple and consumers, sometimes it blows for one or both of 'em. They paved the way for a lot of stuff we take for granted on Windows and Linux, and they've been incredibly clueless and arrived late to the Xmas party while wearing a Halloween costume. They've also completely bungled and dropped out of market segments they created and owned, some so long ago that people forget there was once no such thing as video or photo editing on Windows that was worth a sh#t unless you wanted to pay $100K for a DaVinci Colorbox. Today, the unwary can get equally screwed by an Apple product or a generic Windows/Linux product: depends on your needs, expectations and tech-savvy.

Hating on the AppleTV because it doesn't behave like a generic, undocumented, take-a-wild-guess-how-it-works Western Digital media player is misguided- you might as well hate on a CD player because it can't play your vinyl. The AppleTV was sold as an integrated hardware adjunct to the proprietary iTunes store- period. It was an attempt to hustle more customers into the Apple music and video download ecosystem, as a hub to distribute Apple-sourced content around the home. It was never marketed as a Swiss-Army-Knife catch-all media player that could handle any random download you threw at it: it was more like a clunky non-portable iPod. If you received it as a gift, donkeykong, the giver might not have understood this or how it related to your specific needs for a more versatile tool. The good news is, if you were gifted with the older white AppleTV (that looks like a MacMini), its worth some coin on eBay so you can sell it and use the proceeds to help pay for a more "open" media player like the excellent WD. The white AppleTV has little second-hand value as a media player but is still sought after by some for its hardware component>composite video conversion feature: niche users want it strictly as a hardware adapter and ignore the media features altogether. Apple learned a lesson from the white AppleTV debacle: the new black hockey-puck version doesn't claim to do jack except network your Mac to a TV's HDMI input.

[budwzr]

...allows me to connect my iPod touch via composite (which is on most TV's in the UK) and the picture is perfect. now that really is portable media

Not so much. More like the behavior of a closed proprietary system. And composite is the worst quality output.

[budwzr]

That's hilarious to start off a post calling for tolerance, then going off on your own tirade using disparate comparisons like CD vs vinyl. You might as well throw in Dick Cheney and Halliburton too.

Hahaha

[jagabo]

Dick Cheney is a terrible media player.

[donkeykong]

The only thing more tedious than a fire-breathing blinkered new-age Apple fanboy is a mouth-breathing knee-jerk Apple basher.

I'm assuming that's aimed at me. Well for your information I'm not a new age Apple fanboy. Ive used Macs for some 20 years now, but the beef with me is in how the company has changed so dramatically over the past few years. And people like you are why i hate forums.

The good news is, if you were gifted with the older white AppleTV (that looks like a MacMini), its worth some coin on eBay

how much exactly?

[donkeykong]

And composite is the worst quality output.

How come......?

[TBoneit]

And composite is the worst quality output.

How come......?

In general terms from worst to best for video quality capabilities.

Composite, S-Video, Component , HDMI.

Now if you meant component when you wrote composite that is different.

Composite uses one cable usually yellow plug for video, Component uses 3 cables usually Red, Blue & Green plugs. Both can have two more lower quality cables for right & left audio.

[donkeykong]

handbrake does have the presets but its way too slow for me

Try using CRF encoding and the equivalents of x264's very fast preset:
https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19426

I don't use handbrake but I use x264 CLI all the time. That setting will encode a 90 minute DVD rip in about 6 minutes on my system (i5, 2500K). Even 1080p Blu-ray will encode much faster than real time.

It doesn't even support 1080

With the update i downloaded it does offer 1080 in the screen settings

You're talking about the output settings. Poisondeathray was talking about video files. The AppleTV doesn't play 1080p Blu-ray rips, for example.

6 minutes!!
Im trying to convert an .avi file here are the avi specs


using handbrake to convert to mp4 its eta is about 3hours

[jagabo]

handbrake does have the presets but its way too slow for me

Try using CRF encoding and the equivalents of x264's very fast preset:
https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19426

I don't use handbrake but I use x264 CLI all the time. That setting will encode a 90 minute DVD rip in about 6 minutes on my system (i5, 2500K). Even 1080p Blu-ray will encode much faster than real time.

6 minutes!!
Im trying to convert an .avi file here are the avi specs... using handbrake to convert to mp4 its eta is about 3hours

Did you use the options as described in the link I gave? I just encoded a 1280x720, 25 fps, 46 minute video with x264's veryfast preset in about 12 minutes. So your 99 minute video would probably take about twice that (on the same CPU).

Actually, I start with the veryfast preset but change a few options: --ref 3 --bframes 2 -- keyint 100. The major time savings of the veryfast preset comes from --subme 2.

[donkeykong]

Did you use the options as described in the link I gave? I just encoded a 1280x720, 25 fps, 46 minute video with x264's veryfast preset in about 12 minutes. So your 99 minute video would probably take about that (on the same CPU).

i did, and it meant nothing to me at first. I thought it was for windows. Anyway i created a new preset in handbrake called it 'test' clicked on the advanced tab pasted in the 'very fast' code on https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19426 and clicked 'Start' ETA came up at about 1h15m. vast improvement so im trying the super fast now and its ETA is 40m. just waiting for end result. Thanks

[jagabo]

With CRF encoding the visual quality doesn't vary much between the different presets. What varies is the amount of compression you get. The faster the preset the bigger the file will turn out. I find the veryfast preset (with the changes I mentioned) at CRF 18 to be the best compromise of size, vs quality, vs encoding time.

About the only visual difference I see between veryfast and say, slower, is on the edges of fast moving objects. They're a little smoother with the better motion search methods of the slower settings. But it's not really noticeable at normal playback speed.

[donkeykong]

Spoke too soon, end file wont open. Even crashes VLC. I need a smaller file to play about with. Thanks for pointing that out to me jagabo, ill keep you updated.

[donkeykong]

jagabo. 700mb 90m .avi file took just 11 (yes 11) mins. thank you. the quality is exactly the same. brilliant. thanks

sorry forgot to mention the output file is just 449mb!!!!!!