11-11-2010, 03:33 AM

I have A LOT of video files on my mac and I have recently purchased a program for my iPad called AirVideo which allows me to stream these files to my iPad whereever I am. While it can convert the files to MP4 (its best format) this does not give me the instant fix I want from the program.

I was wondering if there was a way I could set my mac up to go through and convert all my video files to MP4 without me having to do each one at a time? and also if I will loose any quality by doing this.

11-11-2010, 05:48 AM

MP4, nice as it is, is a compressed format (like almost all other formats). So yes, you will LOSE some quality doing any sort of conversion that uses a lossy format.

There are a variety of video-conversion programs out there that can do batch. I use VisualHub, but sadly it's discontinued. You might try Handbrake depending on what format the files are in now.

11-11-2010, 06:52 AM

Yes, as Chas hinted there, Handbrake, but can you let us know what the original format is please.

11-11-2010, 09:27 AM

Go to the Handbrake forum...

HandBrake • Index page

There are many posts regarding making videos very small in size, and conversely, making them very large with excellent quality. The parameters for conversion within Handbrake are all changeable by the user, or you can use the built in presets. After you tinker around and find a combination that works well for your mission, you can save that as a new profile and use it each subsequent time without manually setting each parameter. The forum posts have many suggestions for adapting the setting to meet whatever your playback needs happen to be.
To your original question, Handbrake allows you to select files to convert and the target directory to send them to. Along the top if it's GUI there is an option to "Add to queue" as well as "Start". Simply go through and select each item to convert and name it whatever you want, and then hit "Add to queue". I've run a queue of 50 or 60 overnight on my Mini before with no issues. After adding them all to the queue just hit "Start" and they will convert one after the other until complete. If you are running 10.6 remember to install VLC Player 64-Bit as well as the 64-Bit version of Handbrake - it seems to run noticeably faster than the 32-Bit versions. VLC Player is required to be installed and opened at least once before running Handbrake. 64-Bit Handbrake requires 64-Bit VLC to run and 32-Bit Handbrake requires 32-Bit VLC to run.

Good luck!

11-11-2010, 10:57 AM

Why aren't you just using the live streaming option in AirVideo instead of converting each file before watching?