Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPod, iPhone & iPad > Best approach to converting .mkv files for iTunes/aTV/iPhone Compatibility?

Best approach to converting .mkv files for iTunes/aTV/iPhone Compatibility?
Thread Tools
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jul 2007
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 27, 2008, 07:08 AM
 
Yes I know all about Visual Hub, Handbrake, ffmpegX, etc, etc...My question isn't about what tool should be used, but more along the lines of how to use that specific tool as effectively as possible, given that which is most important to me (which I've listed below)...

Without complicating the issue, consider this...

If you had 10 .mkv files (Matroska Multimedia Container files) ranging from 4GB - 7GB in size, and you wanted to convert these files so that they could be viewed in iTunes, on your Apple TV, and/or on your iPhone, how would you do it?

Additional criteria that matters to me:
  • I don't really care if the movies show up in ultra mega super-duper hi-def in iTunes or on my aTV, just so long as it looks pretty darn good
  • I would really like to avoid having each of these files show up as 4GB m4p files on my iPhone, so that I can avoid having 3 or 4 measly movies taking up all the space on my device...My ideal size range would be anywhere between 500MB (on the very low end of the scale) and 2.5GB (on the very high end of the scale)...somewhere right in the middle would probably be best...
  • I would like to have a single file that was compatible with all of my devices, as opposed to having an aTV version of a movie, and an iPhone version of the same movie

I'd really appreciate any help anyone can offer with this issue (which is completely subjective I realize...but for this reason, the more input the merrier)...and please be as specific as you can regarding the precise settings you would choose for your chosen app, and why you would use them?

I know how to do this about 10 ten ways, and that's the problem...I'd like to know "THE" way (that works best for me of course, and with your input, hopefully I can figure that out!)...

Thanks!
     
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 28, 2008, 11:29 AM
 
Try the Apple TV and iPhone presets in the latest (0.9.3) Handbrake; at least one of them should work on both devices.

Since you haven't told us how long any of your content is (just useless source filesizes), it's hard to say if either will hit your desired output filesizes.
     
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 5, 2009, 12:43 PM
 
I talked to the Handbrake devs about this and they said to use the Apple/Universal preset for Apple TV & iPhone compatibility and better quality than the iPhone preset.
     
Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Punta Cana, República Dominicana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 5, 2009, 01:35 PM
 
I'd have to agree with mduell on this. Just use the Apple/Universal preset.
     
   
Thread Tools
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:41 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2011 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.7 © 2000-2011, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd., Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.3.2