HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows.

View full post on FileHippo.com

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/0-dropfolders-intro.png" alt="convert video files" width="242" height="242" />Having the ability to convert video files can be pretty useful, especially if you download a lot of video content or create some yourself. There are a lot of potential uses, including converting DVD files into a playable format or making files readable on your iPod, to name a few. Being able to automate this process is even better.

DropFolders can handle all of this for you. href="http://ctl.du.edu/staff/josephlabrecque/DropFolders/">DropFolders is an Adobe AIR program to be run on Windows that integrates with HandBrake. It automates the video conversion process by watching specified folders and performing the actions you assign.

id="more-50999"> /> In this article, I am going to go over what HandBrake is capable of, as well as how its integration with DropFolders will allow you free reign over your video collection.

HandBrake

href="http://handbrake.fr/">HandBrake, by itself, is one of the best free media converters and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-simple-steps-rip-entire-dvd-hard-drive/">DVD ripping tools out there. It is an open-source, multi-platform video transcoder that is available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/1-dropfolders-handbrake.png" alt="convert video files" width="580" height="472" />

HandBrake supports all the different variations of DVD source files, including VIDEO_TS, DVD image, real DVD, and some .VOB and .TS files. It also has miscellaneous features such as chapter selection, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-use-handbrake-to-attach-subtitles-to-a-movie-file/">adding subtitles, an integrated bitrate calculator, picture cropping and scaling, and live video preview.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/2-dropfolders-presets.png" alt="convert video freeware" width="266" height="290" />

Supported file outputs:

• File format: MP4 and MKV
• Video: MPEG-4, H.264, or Theora
• Audio: AAC, MP3, or Vorbis

[Note]: You do not need to install HandBrake separately in order to use DropFolders. However, I recommend that you do anyway because HandBrake itself is a great video conversion tool and you may not always need the features DropFolders provides.

DropFolders

href="http://ctl.du.edu/staff/josephlabrecque/DropFolders/">DropFolders allows you to automate some of HandBrake’s features. Simply put, you can use DropFolders to watch a folder, convert the files within, and output the new files to a different folder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/3-dropfolders-main.png" alt="convert video freeware" width="506" height="508" />

For those of you who are familiar with HandBrake, you will know that you can tweak various settings with the href="https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide">CLIGuide. DropFolders allows for this too. To better specify how you would like your video files to be converted, you have to input various HandBrake arguments.

For example, in order to make a video file compatible on the iPhone or iTouch, you just need to copy and paste the href="https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/BuiltInPresets#iphone">iPhone presets into the HandBrake arguments box on DropFolders.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/4-dropfolders-arguments.png" alt="convert video files" width="506" height="284" />

Once a compatible file is placed into your defined watch folder, DropFolders will automatically start the conversion process and your presets will be saved for later selection. In this example, the newly created file would be placed in your chosen destination folder, ready to be copied over to your iPhone/iTouch.

As stated above, you can find all of the necessary presets for HandBrake on their href="https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide">CLIGuide page. DropFolders handles all of the file input and output commands, so the only presets you’ll need are the encoding parameters, which you can copy and paste over.

If you would like to see DropFolders in action, check out this video walkthrough by Joseph Labrecque, creator of the program:

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="326" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12337742&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="326" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12337742&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Conclusion

If you play around with the various settings I’m sure there are plenty of creative ways to use this application. With DropFolders monitoring your specified media folders and convert video files automatically, you can efficiently create the content you’re looking for without having to open and convert files individually using commercial software.

What do you think of DropFolders? Do you like its integration with Handbrake? Leave your thoughts, ideas, and comments below! />
/>Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to target="_blank" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-share-share-spread-word/">share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. />
/>

 

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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/0-dropfolders-intro.png" alt="convert video files" width="242" height="242" />Having the ability to convert video files can be pretty useful, especially if you download a lot of video content or create some yourself. There are a lot of potential uses, including converting DVD files into a playable format or making files readable on your iPod, to name a few. Being able to automate this process is even better.

DropFolders can handle all of this for you. href="http://ctl.du.edu/staff/josephlabrecque/DropFolders/">DropFolders is an Adobe AIR program to be run on Windows that integrates with HandBrake. It automates the video conversion process by watching specified folders and performing the actions you assign.

id="more-50999"> /> In this article, I am going to go over what HandBrake is capable of, as well as how its integration with DropFolders will allow you free reign over your video collection.

HandBrake

href="http://handbrake.fr/">HandBrake, by itself, is one of the best free media converters and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-simple-steps-rip-entire-dvd-hard-drive/">DVD ripping tools out there. It is an open-source, multi-platform video transcoder that is available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/1-dropfolders-handbrake.png" alt="convert video files" width="580" height="472" />

HandBrake supports all the different variations of DVD source files, including VIDEO_TS, DVD image, real DVD, and some .VOB and .TS files. It also has miscellaneous features such as chapter selection, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-use-handbrake-to-attach-subtitles-to-a-movie-file/">adding subtitles, an integrated bitrate calculator, picture cropping and scaling, and live video preview.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/2-dropfolders-presets.png" alt="convert video freeware" width="266" height="290" />

Supported file outputs:

• File format: MP4 and MKV
• Video: MPEG-4, H.264, or Theora
• Audio: AAC, MP3, or Vorbis

[Note]: You do not need to install HandBrake separately in order to use DropFolders. However, I recommend that you do anyway because HandBrake itself is a great video conversion tool and you may not always need the features DropFolders provides.

DropFolders

href="http://ctl.du.edu/staff/josephlabrecque/DropFolders/">DropFolders allows you to automate some of HandBrake’s features. Simply put, you can use DropFolders to watch a folder, convert the files within, and output the new files to a different folder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/3-dropfolders-main.png" alt="convert video freeware" width="506" height="508" />

For those of you who are familiar with HandBrake, you will know that you can tweak various settings with the href="https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide">CLIGuide. DropFolders allows for this too. To better specify how you would like your video files to be converted, you have to input various HandBrake arguments.

For example, in order to make a video file compatible on the iPhone or iTouch, you just need to copy and paste the href="https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/BuiltInPresets#iphone">iPhone presets into the HandBrake arguments box on DropFolders.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/4-dropfolders-arguments.png" alt="convert video files" width="506" height="284" />

Once a compatible file is placed into your defined watch folder, DropFolders will automatically start the conversion process and your presets will be saved for later selection. In this example, the newly created file would be placed in your chosen destination folder, ready to be copied over to your iPhone/iTouch.

As stated above, you can find all of the necessary presets for HandBrake on their href="https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide">CLIGuide page. DropFolders handles all of the file input and output commands, so the only presets you’ll need are the encoding parameters, which you can copy and paste over.

If you would like to see DropFolders in action, check out this video walkthrough by Joseph Labrecque, creator of the program:

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="326" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12337742&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="326" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12337742&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Conclusion

If you play around with the various settings I’m sure there are plenty of creative ways to use this application. With DropFolders monitoring your specified media folders and convert video files automatically, you can efficiently create the content you’re looking for without having to open and convert files individually using commercial software.

What do you think of DropFolders? Do you like its integration with Handbrake? Leave your thoughts, ideas, and comments below! />
/>Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to target="_blank" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-share-share-spread-word/">share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. />
/>

 

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Handbrake: handbrake.fr Follow Us On Twitter: www.twitter.com Join Our Facebook group: www.facebook.com Subscribe, Rate, and Comment

Handbrake, at handbrake.fr, is a free, multi-platform application that allows you to save movies on DVD to your computer. In fact, it’s really very simple to do. First insert your dvd, then launch handbrake, and your pretty much done. Change any settings you want, press start, and handbrake takes care of the rest bringing your dvd collection to your computer. For exclusive content follow me on twitter at http and check out my blog at michaelsherlock.com

A short little video showing you how to use handbrake – a program used to copy dvds onto your computer or external hard drive. I do not know if this is legal or not. So I will NOT take responsibility of your actions. I mistakingly said it was a mac only application. However, it can be used on mac*, windows and linux as well. Please comment, rate and subscribe * Requires Mac Osx leopard 10.5 or higher Handbrake: handbrake.fr PS: Sorry About the bad quality. The widescreen doesn’t work very well yet for me. Format Guide ipod, ipod Touch, iphone, PSP : MP4 PC: Normal, AVI Mac: MOV, MP4 (FLV, AVI when using VLC) PS3: MP4, MPG, AVI, H.246, DIVX, WMV Apple TV: H.246

Frustrated with itunes/ipod not playing your AVI video files? While some software will “fool” itunes into playing your avi’s, that won’t help you get them on your ipod. Here is a good solution. Download Handbrake Here: tinyurl.com (Make sure to chose the GUI Windows Version) More On Resolution: The ipod will import up to a 640×480 resolution. Its native resolution is 480×320. So you can leave the width at 480 if you only ever plan on playing the movie on your ipod. I sometimes play them on my TV, so I bump it up to 560. The reason I chose 560 is, a lot of the time your source will be a lower resolution than 640, such as the file I am converting. If I was to upconvert this to 640 I would get artifacts in the picture. By downconverting slightly I am assured a great picture and usually a smaller file size. Rate, Comment & Subscribe! Thank You As Always & Good Luck! Twitter: www.twitter.com Website: www.eba420.com While visiting my site, show me some love by clicking on my advertisers so I can pay my bills and continue making videos for you Get Your Invisible Shield: www.eba420.com Be My Friend! www.myspace.com/eba420youtube