Format Shifting: A Thought Or two …

Hmmm …

He says, thoughtfully …

You know, I’ve GOT to admit video is a bit of a git, isn’t it?

At least, in this modern age of multimedia devices capable of playing all SORTS of things, video’s a bit of a git … !

Honestly, there’s times — just times, mind — when I really do wish I was back in the good old days of VHS.

I do.

Video weren’t quite so all-over-the-place …

»»•««

Hmmm …

OK, you’re probably wondering what the HELL I’m going on about, aren’t you … ?

But to be frank … ?

I’ve been happily nattering to both Kevin D and Grub, over the past few weeks an, inevitably, we’ve all talked — at some point — about the various changes in video technology and the media that films and TV series are on.

Let’s face it, over the course of our life times, we’ve seen the introduction of technology undreamt of at when we were born.

I mean, being able to record something, so that we could watch it later? First on VHS — or Betamax — then on DVD, BluRay/HD-DVD, a set-top boxe with a built in hard drive or DVD recorder.

Or TV set that lets you record and playback from a USB memory stick or external hard drive …

Options, decisions and format wars, eh? And that’s BEFORE we start getting into things like IPTV and Internet TV, and renting from iTunes, NetFlix and YouTube!

At any rate … ?

At any rate, with ONE thing and another, I think I can SAFELY say that video is …

Bloody tricky, given the amount of stuff that you, me, Grub and Kevin D are watching them on.

»»•««

Lets face it, VHS changed the shape of television, didn’t it … ?

It — in part — contributed to the situation we’re now in: where we don’t just record a film or TV show to watch later.

We can get it ALL sorts of ways, if that doesn’t sound ambiguous.

Those of us blessed with the money to afford a more recent model of TV may well have one that’s capable of hooking up to the net, and to streaming services like Netflix, LoveFilm and YouTube.

Those of us with an older television that can’t access the ’Net: or who own something like an AppleTV … ?

Will have trouble with that option.

On the other hand … ?

On the hand, you — like me — have probably made use of something HandBrake, or one of it’s Blu-ray ripping cousins, to back up your DVD collections — or, heaven forbid, got a film from somewhere like Demonoid or Pirate Bay — and several different devices you’d like to watch those video files on.

Now, I’ve got to confess, I don’t have an iPod, any more: and when I did, it wasn’t one of the models capable of playing video files.

Mind you, if I did?

I’d have to make sure any video files I wanted to play on them were in .mov or .mp4 format, with the audio and video components encoded with the AAC and MP4 codecs: pretty much anything that iTunes can open.

Which is quite a lot, I’ve noticed, but there’s exceptions.

Mostly in the shape of anything that comes in the .avi file format, with whatever codecs happen to have been used in making the file: a container format that — using MP3 as the audio codec and DivX 5.0 as the video one — is the one demanded by my DVD player.

Hmmm …

I’m right, aren’t I … ? I’ve just confused the LIFE out of you, haven’t … ?

Explaining what I’m on about would probable help, wouldn’t it … ?

To use an old bit of technology as a metaphor, my Mac, and most iPod’s, are today’s equivalent of a VHS video cassette recorder. My DVD player, on the other hand, as well as being a DVD player and recorder, has a USB port on it, that can ‘read’ USB flash memory sticks — and exterior hard-drives — with video files on them.

But to follow the metaphor through, it can only read files that are .avi: the digital equivalent of Betamax, if you will.

Which isn’t the most accurate metaphor, but it’s the nearest I could think of … !

Actually … ?

That’s a handy way of explaining something else, while I’m at it.

You’ve probably noticed me mentioning codecs and containers files, there, haven’t you … ?

Basically … ?

Basically, any given video file you’ve got on your computer is a lot like the already mentioned different types of video cassette.

Well, then, practically all of the video files I have will come in one of the container files I’ve already mentioned: .mov, .m4v and .avi, as well as .VOB*. They’re are also known — for obvious reasons — as wrapper files.

And they’re a bit like the digital equivalent of the video cassette BOX: the plastic thing that holds the tape. Metaphorically, and on each type of wrapper file/video-cassette-format: the box is length⊗breadth⊗width, the reels are so far apart, the tape that the film’s on is so wide, what have you.

CODECS, on the other hand … ?

Codecs are a bit different.

Codecsº — to carry one the video cassette metaphor — are a bit like the digital versions of the contents of the tape.

The video and audio tracks physically recorded onto the emulsion of the tape, itself.

And there’s tons of different ones.

Lordy, aren’t there ever … !

But boiling it down to as simple as I possibly can … ?

It doesn’t necessarily matter what the video and/or audio codecs are, in a given video file: if your computer can’t play them … ? Well, my normal suggestion would be to buy one that can°.

Or to make sure sure that you’ve got all of the relevant plug-ins and extensions that let your particular operating system play a particular video.

Or type of video codec, in this case!

There’s OTHER options, too …

Oh, my WORD, yes …

But you sort of take my point, don’t you? That, when it comes down to video files, you are going to HAVE to face doing something that is a lot easier — in some ways — than it was many years ago.

I’m talking about video conversion.

NOW you’re worried, aren’t you … ?

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Saying that, I’m not actually talking something as arcane as the transferring home movies on VHS to DVD‡. If that’s something you need to do you’ve probably either taken the tapes to the nearest specialist to where you live to do that. (There’s an old fashioned camera shop near me that provides the service.)

Besides: there’s actually a couple of arguments AGAINST doing that. For starters, with commercial video cassettes, it’s probably easier — and not an arrestable offence — to replace VHS versions with the DVD/Blu Ray version. And as a second point, these days, if you’ve home made stuff on video cassette that you’d like to preserve, you’ve probably already done it already: either by hooking up a VCR to a DVD recorder or getting hold of some of the various bits of video capture packages on the market.

Actually, what I’m talking about … ?

Is the simple ability to change one form of video file to another.

Although, obviously, the methods I use aren’t necessarily going to be useable by everyone.

The first option … ?

Is relatively simple for those of us using QuickTime X on Mac OS X 10•6•x or above, or QuickTime Pro on the relevant versions of Mac OS X or Windows: I personally use QuickTime X, as that’s the version that ships with my version of OS X, so can’t swear that this will work on QuickTime Pro.

But with QuickTime X, all I need — indeed, can do — is save a given type of file as a .mov, along with some very basic trimming.

Saying that … ? I also have access to iMovie: the older version I use — iMovie ’08 — does allow for a lot more control over trimming of clips, and variation in output formats than QuickTime X.

It DOESN’T do everything: at least, as far as I can tell. But I’ve not explored as much of it as one could. After all, I only really use it to add sound to the Teasers, remember.

However, for straight conversion … ?

There’s another piece of software I go for.

For straight conversion I tend to find the powerful vlc player surprisingly useful. Usually I tend to use it for its ability to do screen grabs of whatever TV shows or films I happen to be watching or writing about.

However, one of it’s other handy features — and going through the documentation, there’s a lot more than I suspected, or usually need^ — is the ability to turn a given video file into something else. Hitting Shift(⇧), CMD (⌘) and W† — or File>Steaming/Exporting Wizard — will take you to vlc’s streaming wizard: there’ll be a Windows equivalent, as well, by the way, which I’m guessing will be CTRL (^), Shift(⇧) and W.

Once there, all you need to do is pick the file you wish to convert: either from a stream, or a pre-existing movie in your collection.

In the next two steps you pick the codecs you need, and the file format.

And wait for vlc to do its thing.

»»•««

There’s another option, as well.

You see, I tend have a bad habit of taping stuff that’s on television.

And, like a lot of people, tend to keep it, until I’ve either watched it.

Or I can replace the recorded version with a legitimate copy: film, series, what-have-you.

So for when I want to keep hold of a film — for example, and subject to what I’ve just said about replacing it with a legitimate version — that I’ve taped from a TV broadcast, I tend to prefer using another cross-platform application, MPEG Streamclip™, from Squared5.

Now, I’ll HAPPILY admit that I love adverts.

Really.

But I’d rather not have to fast-forward through them, when I’m watching something.

And I’ll happily admit to finding MPEG Streamclip very handy, in that regard.

Unlike QuickTime X, MPEG Streamclip can edit out bits from anywhere in a given video. And, while it’s not especially fast when saving the results, it is — unlike Quicktime — capable of both resizing and re-encoding a given video file: VERY important, if you have to change something, to play the file on a specific machine.

»»•««

Now …

That leaves us with a few of questions, doesn’t it … ?

Probably quite a few, now I think of it.

But the main ones … ?

Well, obviously, from where I’m sitting, the main one is, has that lot been helpful, or not … ?

I always tend to worry about these things, and frankly … ? I’d appreciate some feedback, here: either about these apps, or ones you use, yourself.

The other main one … ?

Is why convert video … ?

God, there’s TONS of reasons.

Frankly … ?

The main ones are ones I think I highlighted, at the start of this post: various different manufacturers have made their various bits of kit capable of only playing certain forms of file format, for whatever reason.

I can’t complain, there, I think.

I think we, as consumers of these things, have a choice: in how we choose to view a given form of entertainment. What’s more, in this digital age, we’re also becoming (minor) video producers ourselves: home made video heroes in the traditions of the “I Can Do That” ethos of the Punk years.

We’re the Digital Age’s equivalent of car drivers.

We owe ourselves, this: how to use our equipment.

If nothing else … ?

We have HAVE to know whether we’re using the digital video equivalent of petrol or diesel.

And where to stick the dipstick …

* Which — just so you know — is the file format used on DVDs: again, it’s a container file.

º Much like the word ‘modem’ª, the word ‘codec’ is a portmanteau: a contraction in other words. In this case, it’s a contraction of ‘encoder/decoder’.

ª Which is a contraction of ‘modulator/demodulator’.

° OK, OK, you caught me …

^ Quite a LOT, actually! VLC — the client version you and I use — plays a HUGE rang of different video and audio files, has plug-in’s allowing it to interact with both Firefox and Chromium and seemingly is capable of broadcast a given video file — or CD/DVD — across to other machines on your network. I’ve a funny feeling it may well sing, dance and clean the sink as needed.

† I really couldn’t swear to what the equivalent combination of keys is, under the version of Windows you use: however, many — but not all — will substitute ctrl for the command key.

‡ Actually, that’s easy enough to do, if you have an old video cassette player that you can hook up to a DVD recorder: it’s just a matter of time, mostly.

™ I’ve outline a few helpful hint about VLC, MPEG Streamclip and QuickTime X, here.