XH A1 w/ Apple TV at DVinfo.net

Deke Ryland · March 26th, 2007, 09:14 AM

Does anyone know what the workflow would be to get our footage captured in mpeg from our A1's into iTunes so it can be synced with the new Apple TV? Can we just dump our captured mpeg files into iTunes and sync with Apple TV? Or do we have to transcode it to a quicktime format?

I am trying to understand exactly what would need to happen to get my footage from my A1 (mpeg) into Apple TV so I can finally watch it in High Def in my family room's 60" plasma. Thanks for any help.

Tony Tremble · March 26th, 2007, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deke Ryland

Does anyone know what the workflow would be to get our footage captured in mpeg from our A1's into iTunes so it can be synced with the new Apple TV? Can we just dump our captured mpeg files into iTunes and sync with Apple TV? Or do we have to transcode it to a quicktime format?

I am trying to understand exactly what would need to happen to get my footage from my A1 (mpeg) into Apple TV so I can finally watch it in High Def in my family room's 60" plasma. Thanks for any help.

Get QT Pro as there is an Apple TV EXPORT option.

Edit your footage, export in a HiQ QT readable format, export from QT Pro. I've done it with a few clips from my A1. The Apple TV exports are very low bandwidth unfortunately. There are no options to tweak either.

I have exported from FCP as MP4 (1280x720 25p) with increased bandwidth then renamed the file from xyz.mp4 to xyz.m4v and iTunes plays no problem. But I don't know if it is any longer AppleTV compatible. But it does look better!! :)

TT

Geoff Dills · March 26th, 2007, 10:09 AM

Looks like you'll need to turn it into a quicktime movie using h.264 and downrezzing to 720 then import into itunes.

Todd Mattson · March 26th, 2007, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deke Ryland

Does anyone know what the workflow would be to get our footage captured in mpeg from our A1's into iTunes so it can be synced with the new Apple TV? Can we just dump our captured mpeg files into iTunes and sync with Apple TV? Or do we have to transcode it to a quicktime format?

I am trying to understand exactly what would need to happen to get my footage from my A1 (mpeg) into Apple TV so I can finally watch it in High Def in my family room's 60" plasma. Thanks for any help.

I've looked into iTunes for online distribution, and they are being highly selective it seems in what they will accept to sell on the site. More or less, if you haven't secured something with Netflix, Blockbuster, et al, they want you to go through specific third parties they work, who in turn may or may not make your video available through iTunes. So much for the democratizing effect of the internet.

EDIT: reread your question - I was answering something to do with the iTunes retail site, you just want to get it into the program - sorry about that. I think I'll leave my response though, The iTunes store should allow little indies to sell their stuff there too.

Kevin Wild · March 27th, 2007, 01:16 AM

I've done quite a few tests, too, and Apple TV is awesome for viewing and keeping HD content on hand and ready to play. I went out and bought a 2nd Apple TV tonight for my office. The codec does a fantastic job and not looking compressed from H1 and A1 HDV footage.

Compressing is a little long...~4x your footage trt. But it syncs super quickly and looks great. It's a very efficient codec...I did a 4 gig clip and as a h.264 it was about 90 megs!!

This unit is awesome.

Tony Tremble · March 27th, 2007, 02:20 AM

In my testing of the AppleTV export settings showed how poor AppleTV could get.

I have a shot of the sea and a pebble beach with a heat haze so every pixel is in motion. This really showed the limit of AppleTV as it produced a macroblock hell of an image. Canon's HDV codec held up incredibly well BTW.

TT

Kevin Wild · March 27th, 2007, 10:03 AM

Tony, you are really pushing the codec more than normal. It's a pretty amazing picture for most things...and to think it reduced the file size by about a 40:1 ratio is incredible.

Anyone who is reading this should see it for themselves before drawing any conclusions. I am in awe of how good it looks...recorded from an Canon H1, exported directly in QT, moved over to AppleTV...looks great.

Greg Boston · March 27th, 2007, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Wild

Anyone who is reading this should see it for themselves before drawing any conclusions. I am in awe of how good it looks...recorded from an Canon H1, exported directly in QT, moved over to AppleTV...looks great.

I ordered one the day it was announced. I was already thinking that I'd like to try to encode some of my XDCAM HD clips to play on my living room RPTV and wham...they came out with a QT Pro update with the preset already there. I'm lovin' it!

-gb-

Bogdan Tyburczy · March 27th, 2007, 03:47 PM

So, the bottom line is "If you like your iPod, you will love Apple TV", right? :)

It seems to me this is another cool gadget, nice product, but it won't be appealing to lovers of uncompromised HD quality. Those will probably prefer Blu Ray, just like there are people who can't stand the sound of boombox and install quality audio systems in their cars and living rooms.

Tony Tremble · March 27th, 2007, 04:03 PM

I wonder if m4v will become the de facto format for uploading files to share. WMV might take a hit. The compression ratio is amazing.

I downloaded the AppleTV start up movie and it is encoded as 1280x720 24P at approx 6200kbps (IIRC) while the QT Pro exporter only generates 5100kbps files.

Can someone with an AppleTV test what is the highest bit rate it will cope with?

I exported a MP4 from FCP and simply renamed the file to m4v and iTunes accepted it. I wondered if AppleTv would work with such a file?

I really must get one of these boxes!!

TT

Kyle Prohaska · March 27th, 2007, 05:29 PM

The question isn't whether or not it will accept the file...its whether or not the box can handle streaming it. I'm sure Apple locked their export preset for Apple TV for a reason.

- Kyle

March 26th, 2007, 09:14 AM	#1
Deke Ryland Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Washington, USA Posts: 213	XH A1 w/ Apple TV Does anyone know what the workflow would be to get our footage captured in mpeg from our A1's into iTunes so it can be synced with the new Apple TV? Can we just dump our captured mpeg files into iTunes and sync with Apple TV? Or do we have to transcode it to a quicktime format? I am trying to understand exactly what would need to happen to get my footage from my A1 (mpeg) into Apple TV so I can finally watch it in High Def in my family room's 60" plasma. Thanks for any help.

March 27th, 2007, 05:29 PM	#11
Kyle Prohaska Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Ransomville NY Posts: 239	The question isn't whether or not it will accept the file...its whether or not the box can handle streaming it. I'm sure Apple locked their export preset for Apple TV for a reason. - Kyle __________________ Online Portfolio \| Feature Film on XHA1

March 26th, 2007, 10:09 AM	#3
Geoff Dills Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 85	Looks like you'll need to turn it into a quicktime movie using h.264 and downrezzing to 720 then import into itunes.

March 27th, 2007, 01:16 AM	#5
Kevin Wild Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 540	I've done quite a few tests, too, and Apple TV is awesome for viewing and keeping HD content on hand and ready to play. I went out and bought a 2nd Apple TV tonight for my office. The codec does a fantastic job and not looking compressed from H1 and A1 HDV footage. Compressing is a little long...~4x your footage trt. But it syncs super quickly and looks great. It's a very efficient codec...I did a 4 gig clip and as a h.264 it was about 90 megs!! This unit is awesome.

March 27th, 2007, 02:20 AM	#6
Tony Tremble Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 451	In my testing of the AppleTV export settings showed how poor AppleTV could get. I have a shot of the sea and a pebble beach with a heat haze so every pixel is in motion. This really showed the limit of AppleTV as it produced a macroblock hell of an image. Canon's HDV codec held up incredibly well BTW. TT

March 27th, 2007, 10:03 AM	#7
Kevin Wild Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 540	Tony, you are really pushing the codec more than normal. It's a pretty amazing picture for most things...and to think it reduced the file size by about a 40:1 ratio is incredible. Anyone who is reading this should see it for themselves before drawing any conclusions. I am in awe of how good it looks...recorded from an Canon H1, exported directly in QT, moved over to AppleTV...looks great.

March 27th, 2007, 03:47 PM	#9
Bogdan Tyburczy Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brooklyn Posts: 161	So, the bottom line is "If you like your iPod, you will love Apple TV", right? :) It seems to me this is another cool gadget, nice product, but it won't be appealing to lovers of uncompromised HD quality. Those will probably prefer Blu Ray, just like there are people who can't stand the sound of boombox and install quality audio systems in their cars and living rooms.

March 27th, 2007, 04:03 PM	#10
Tony Tremble Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 451	I wonder if m4v will become the de facto format for uploading files to share. WMV might take a hit. The compression ratio is amazing. I downloaded the AppleTV start up movie and it is encoded as 1280x720 24P at approx 6200kbps (IIRC) while the QT Pro exporter only generates 5100kbps files. Can someone with an AppleTV test what is the highest bit rate it will cope with? I exported a MP4 from FCP and simply renamed the file to m4v and iTunes accepted it. I wondered if AppleTv would work with such a file? I really must get one of these boxes!! TT