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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > Best way to convert video for iPad

Best way to convert video for iPad
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markw10
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May 18, 2010, 12:48 AM
 
I just purchased an iPad and have some DVD's that I'd like to convert to video for the iPad. These aren't copyprotected DVD's. In the past I've used Roxio's Toast and Popcorn to convert video for my ipod/iphone and AppleTV. Neither of these programs have a selected for iPad though.
I hope a future update to these programs have this feature. Until then though is there another program to convert this video? I hope to find a user friendly program. Both of the above work but also with some DVD's it can be confusing to find the proper files to convert. Thank you for your help.
     
Cold Warrior
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May 18, 2010, 12:55 AM
 
Handbrake
     
Simon
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May 18, 2010, 03:18 AM
 
Yep, HandBrake.
     
mduell
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May 18, 2010, 12:48 PM
 
There's no iPad preset in HandBrake yet, but the iPad is pretty capable for H.264. For iPad (and maybe iPhone 3GS, but no other Apple device) encodes you can use the High Profile preset. Drop the AC3 passthrough track in the audio tab since it's a waste of space (iPhone OS can't play it).

For multi-device encodes, use the Apple Universal preset. Not as efficient as High Profile, but works on AppleTV, iPhone, etc.
     
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May 18, 2010, 01:16 PM
 
I use the AppleTV preset and if I want to put any of my movies on my iPhone I convert down. Would rather have a nice high(er) quality rip for TV and iPad. iPad can handle 720p playback, so anything but BluRay conversions in 1080p will be fine.
     
driven
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May 23, 2010, 12:11 AM
 
I like handbreak, but it is amazingly and painfully slow.
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Cold Warrior
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May 23, 2010, 12:34 AM
 
Have you tried the 64-bit version?
     
Simon
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May 23, 2010, 01:07 AM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
I like handbreak, but it is amazingly and painfully slow.
The 64-bit version on my Core i7 MBP sure isn't.
     
driven
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May 23, 2010, 01:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
The 64-bit version on my Core i7 MBP sure isn't.
Yes. 2.66 Ghz Core i7, 8GB RAM ... 10.5 hours to encode a 1.5 hour movie.
64 bit, Windows 7, 64 bit version of Handbrake.
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Simon
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May 23, 2010, 03:46 AM
 
You did see the --> <-- in my post, right?

Here's what I'm comparing to.

2.66 GHz Core i7 Arrandale, 4GB RAM, 5 minutes to encode a 25 min TV show.
64 bit, OS X 10.6.3, 64 bit version of Handbrake

I'd say it all depends on what type of source you have and which type of format you're converting to. I can imagine if you have very high resolution content and you convert to a high bit rate and high resolution, possibly dual-pass, you'll wait longer. I do find 10.5 hours quite excessive though. In my case its mostly converting from 720p or even 480p material to iPhone h264 (IOW quite similar to what the OP was intending to do). And that has become a lot faster thanks to Core i7 and the 64 bit version of Handbreak. I'd say my encode fps jumped by over 50%.
     
cgc
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May 23, 2010, 09:57 AM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
Yes. 2.66 Ghz Core i7, 8GB RAM ... 10.5 hours to encode a 1.5 hour movie.
64 bit, Windows 7, 64 bit version of Handbrake.
10.5 hours to convert a 1.5 hour movie is ludicrous on that machine. My 1G MacPro might do it real-time at worst (that's using a very high bitrate) and usually can rip at a high bitrate in less then 50 minutes. Something's wrong with your setup for it to take as long as it did.
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 23, 2010, 10:12 AM
 
Windows 7?
     
driven
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May 24, 2010, 10:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Windows 7?
Yes. It was released after Vista.
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phobos
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May 26, 2010, 06:37 AM
 
what kind of frame-rates do you guys get?
I'm usually in the 70-100fps on my MacPro 2x2.66GHz (2006 model)
I could swear that in the previous version I could get 140fps.
But I can't swear also about it!
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 26, 2010, 08:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by driven View Post
Yes. It was released after Vista.
Oh.

I hadn't seen the Dell and was wondering whether there might be driver issues running Handbrake in W7 on an iMac.

Smartass.
     
driven
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May 27, 2010, 07:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Oh.

I hadn't seen the Dell and was wondering whether there might be driver issues running Handbrake in W7 on an iMac.

Smartass.
:-) (I really had no idea where you were going with that question.)

Of course I'd rather have my old MBP here, but failing that, this isn't a bad PC. (Esp since it's provided to me.)
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tonewheel
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Jun 22, 2010, 11:30 PM
 
You need to download the version called "Handbrake Nightly". It's continually being improved, and contains a preset for iPad. You can also use the iPad setting for movies to be played on an iPhone 4, with higher screen resolution. Download it here:

Dashboard [Hudson]

Download either the Mac32 or Mac64 versions. Works beautifully.
     
The Godfather
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Jun 23, 2010, 06:17 AM
 
Air Video works nicely if you don't want to consume GBs in your iPad.
The Freeagent Dockstar one-ups the idea with being an extra feature in a NAS. $20 in Woot today only.
Perhaps Pogoplug offers the transcoding-streaming feature as well?
     
osiris
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Jun 23, 2010, 01:18 PM
 
Chalk up another vote for Handbrake. Using a MacPro it takes about an hour to rip/compress a 90 min film for the iPhone at 750kbps (I sometimes use the tv adapter to view them).
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
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Jun 23, 2010, 02:22 PM
 
Using the latest build of Handbrake (svn3402 x86_64 (2010062301), the "iPad" setting gives me about 2:45 to encode a 2:49 minute movie.

OS X 10.6.4, 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM
     
driven
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Jul 12, 2010, 06:56 PM
 
Tried to rip a movie this morning. Movie length was just under 2 hours. Handbrake wanted 18 hours to encode. I let it run for about 3 hours and it was 14% done. I cancelled.

I *must* be doing something wrong.
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Spheric Harlot
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Jul 12, 2010, 07:28 PM
 
Just tried a 46-minute DVD. MacBook 2GHz took just over an hour to convert it to "Apple universal" quality.

10.5.8, latest version of Handbrake, latest VLC.

Do you have a recent version of VLC installed?
     
driven
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Jul 12, 2010, 07:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Just tried a 46-minute DVD. MacBook 2GHz took just over an hour to convert it to "Apple universal" quality.

10.5.8, latest version of Handbrake, latest VLC.

Do you have a recent version of VLC installed?
Yes. But I'm not sure if it's using it. Handbrake is a 64 bit program and VLC is a 32 bit program. I can't find a download for a 32 bit handbrake for Windows 7.
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driven
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Jul 12, 2010, 07:30 PM
 
Nevermind. Handbrake *is* 32 bit.

So, still no idea what the issue is.
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Spheric Harlot
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Jul 12, 2010, 07:56 PM
 
I would just like to note here for posteriority (and Google) that

XiliSoft/Aiseesoft is a scam.

Xilisoft/Aiseesoft DOES NOT WORK.

They repeatedly and obnoxiously spam various forums, and while the product *sort of* works, it's €30 in the "basic" version, and the attempt to convert a DVD resulted in a separate video file for each .VOB, *wildly* shifted audio, and complete lack of audio for the final .VOB, and no way to claim a refund.

I know this because a client fell for the Xilisoft/Aiseesoft scam before giving me a call. Handbrake and VLC are free and now working fine for him.
     
Wiskedjak
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Jul 12, 2010, 08:21 PM
 
Just in case it's not completely clear through this thread:

Handbrake
     
anthology123
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Jul 12, 2010, 09:37 PM
 
To use 64-bit Handbrake, you need the 64-bit version of VLC, and Leopard or Snow Leopard.
Using 32-bit, it took me about 2 hours to make an m4v file of a 2 hour movie in 480x302 (iPhone)
with 64-bit, it took about 30 mins to make the same file at same resolution.
     
driven
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Jul 13, 2010, 12:18 AM
 
I think I found my issue.

I managed to convert the DVD into a VIDEO_TS folder. When I ran Handbrake on that folder the entire process took 45 minutes for a 2 hour movie. I'm thinking my holdup is the optical drive.
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Arkham_c
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Jul 13, 2010, 01:19 PM
 
I've been using a program called Air Video, and I love it. It does real time, on the fly streaming conversion for your iPad or iPhone. It will convert Quicktime, WMV, and Flash too. They have a free version, but I bought the one that was like $2. I've really been impressed by it.
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The Godfather
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Jul 25, 2010, 11:48 AM
 
I've used air Video with great results, but I am now preferring to use a pogoplug, once I made it work. You need to pre-transcode movies to the iPhone preset with web optimization, but it saves gobs of money in electricity.
Does anybody know the actual fps of an iphone or ipad screen? Many of my videos are at 23.97fps, but I doubt that is truly displayed on an iOS device.
     
subego
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Jul 25, 2010, 12:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Godfather View Post
Many of my videos are at 23.97fps, but I doubt that is truly displayed on an iOS device.
Why?
     
The Godfather
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Jul 25, 2010, 01:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Why?
Because I've seen LCD refresh rates of 30, 60, 75 Hz, not 23.97.
     
subego
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Jul 25, 2010, 03:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Godfather View Post
Because I've seen LCD refresh rates of 30, 60, 75 Hz, not 23.97.
As I understand it, those would be maximum refresh rates. Assuming your source frame rate is less than this, the display will change its pixels at the rate it's fed the change.

I could be wrong though.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 25, 2010, 03:20 PM
 
The LCD "refresh rate" AFAIK is complete hogwash most of the time, as LCD's pixels need constant voltage, and there's always a lag between changing voltage states.

The electronics can poll the bus and pass that state on to the pixel transistors as often as they like (="refresh rate"), but polling at 75 Hz doesn't do jack shit if the pixel needs 300 ms to fade from black to white.
     
The Godfather
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Jul 25, 2010, 08:35 PM
 
If that's the case, I could re-encode at 3 FPS and I wouldn't notice the difference?
     
subego
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Jul 25, 2010, 08:45 PM
 
No.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 25, 2010, 08:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Godfather View Post
If that's the case, I could re-encode at 3 FPS and I wouldn't notice the difference?
If that were the case, you couldn't get away with 3 FPS. Fading between black and white is the biggest extreme. Everything else is somewhere in between and thus faster. I pulled that 300 ms out of somebody's ass, for illustrative purposes. Actual values may vary.
     
Oisín
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Jul 25, 2010, 09:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
I pulled that 300 ms out of somebody's ass, for illustrative purposes.
Oh, that was you. Please don’t do that again without prior warning.
     
The Godfather
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Jul 25, 2010, 10:28 PM
 
It seems that nobody agrees with me on the importance of finding the least FPS to use in an iPhone/iPad. I am pretty sure my 3G provider would really appreciate it I stop streaming sub-optimal video from my video server to my iPhone.
I know there would be an optimal FPS setting dictated by LCD limitations, but an even lower FPS dictated by sensory limitations. These FPS values would be different for action, drama, animation, etc.
     
AKcrab
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Jul 25, 2010, 10:48 PM
 
The iPhone supports up to 30fps for video.

Why would you think it displays less then what it is capable of?
     
The Godfather
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Jul 25, 2010, 11:20 PM
 
I don't think it does, I just didn't even know the ballpark of the iPhone LCD display capabilities.
     
subego
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Jul 26, 2010, 11:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Godfather View Post
It seems that nobody agrees with me on the importance of finding the least FPS to use in an iPhone/iPad. I am pretty sure my 3G provider would really appreciate it I stop streaming sub-optimal video from my video server to my iPhone.
I know there would be an optimal FPS setting dictated by LCD limitations, but an even lower FPS dictated by sensory limitations. These FPS values would be different for action, drama, animation, etc.
You don't really have much wiggle room here. Your new framerate needs to divide evenly into your old framerate or it's going to look jerky.*

Your first possibility then, is to halve your framerate. You'd notice this in most situations, the only exception being traditional animation which is usually filmed at half the framerate** so there's less work for the animators.

Your next possibility is to quarter the framerate. You'd notice this in all situations.


* 24 to 30fps and back again (or 24 and 29.97) involves a special trick which is only available to go back and forth between those speeds. Obviously, neither divides easily into the other.

** To be precise, it's filmed at the full framerate, but each frame is shot twice. Works out essentially the same as shooting at half the framerate.
( Last edited by subego; Jul 26, 2010 at 11:28 AM. )
     
   
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