This is a simple program to reduce the size of your iMovie 08 library.

I love iMovie ‘08. I know, I know, it has less whizzy features than iMovie ‘06 does, but darn it, it’s so darn fast and easy to build videos. I can create a whole hour-long movie in about ten minutes! (Not a very good one, of course — but none of my movies are very good.)

Part of why it’s fast is that it keeps all my clips on hand, ready and willing to be part of my latest (crappy) movie. Unfortunately, all those barely-compressed DV clips take up A LOT of space. (About 10 GB/hour of video!) This application will compress all the DV files in your iMovie library to save huge amounts of disk space! Using Apple’s H.264 compression technology, you can shave 70% off your library space with minimal loss of quality.

UPDATE: v1.2 works with SetFile installed in /usr/bin as well as in the default /Developer/Tools directory.

From the MacOS X 10.4.9 release notes:

Includes iChat support for USB Video Class webcams.

In other words, you don’t need an official Apple camera in order to use iChat AV. It’s about time.

Robert X. Cringely found himself a very interesting rumor:

Now comes the rumor I have heard, that I believe to be a fact, that has simply yet to be confirmed. I have heard that Apple plans to add hardware video decoding to ALL of its new computers beginning fairly soon, certainly this year.

…and it doesn’t just do hardware H.264 decoding, it does hardware H.264 ENCODING, too.

This is a simple AppleScript droplet which includes a binary of the TiVoDecode program. Just drag and drop your .tivo files on it and get an MPEG-2 video out. You can then use other tools to convert that MPEG-2 into something else.

Documentation is included. If you need help getting your .tivo files onto your Mac or converting MPEG-2 files into something more useful, try Google. Problems with the decoding (such as missing audio and other weirdness) are best addressed on the tivodecode sourceforge page. I will not be supporting this program beyond the functionality of the basic AppleScript wrapper.

UPDATE 9/07: There is a great open-source alternative to this little script that is, really, a lot better. Take a look at TiVo Decode Manager.

This post is part of an ongoing series about how to subvert iTunes and make it more agreeable to those of us who dislike DRM, high prices, and general customer-mistreatment. Read the whole series!

We’ve already discussed putting oddball video formats into iTunes, but what if you want to put those same files onto an iPod for watching on the road?

Well, there’s lots of details and things to think about regarding video formats, resolutions, bitrates, and all that. But, in the end, life is too short. So here’s a short list of software to make your life easier, whether you’re on a Mac or a PC.

Personally, I despise DRM, and therefore despise the iTunes Store (formerly the iTunes Music Store). Not only is it overpriced and DRM-laden, but the quality leaves much to be desired. You can get better quality audio and video with a CD or a TiVo and a simple analog->digital bridge (I have a little Dazzle-branded box) and a copy of Handbrake.

And so, in honor of iTunes 7’s release, I will be posting a few articles about how to get your content into iTunes, so that it works as well as (or better than) what’s already in there. Read the whole series!

First up: Video.

iTunes has decent video support, and it’s much better in the latest version. But here’s the thing, you may prefer to encode your video in DivX, XviD, 3viX, Windows Video (WMV) or some other format which iTunes and Front Row won’t accept. (The same is true of most video you can download elsewhere on the ‘net, legally and otherwise.)

So how do you get these oddball formats into iTunes (and, by extension, Front Row) without having to buy your videos all over again from the iTunes store?

Two picks on one day?! Well, I was just too excited about this one to not share it immediately!

Perian isn’t anything terribly sexy or cool. It’s a simple Quicktime component which adds support for a variety of codecs to the Quicktime player. (Specifically, XviD, DivX, AVI MPEG-4, MS MPEG-4, 3viX and more.)

Why not just use VLC?

Well, like VLC, Perian offers easy smooth playback, and simple installation, but it also builds all this video support into Quicktime, so that it works with Front Row and any other video player based on Qu

I’m pretty sure this isn’t covered under warranty, but it sure is fun to watch.

Watch the video: Really Expensive Cat Toy