DigMo! » Hardware

HD Comes to EyeTV

DigMo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:23:58 +0000

If you have been following DigMo! for even a few months you will know how much we love watching, recording and editing TV on our Macs. So far we have been restricted to the generic list of Freeview channels and although they are great there isn’t an HD offering.

The new Elgato EyeTV Sat with CI Slot

Well that is about the change with the launch of Elgato EyeTV Sat, a new satellite TV tuner that delivers the stunning clarity of HDTV to the high resolution display of the Mac. EyeTV Sat connects the home satellite dish directly to the Mac via USB 2.0, and receives DVB-S and DVB-S2 transmissions.

Although not officially endorsed by FreeStat the full range of channels will able accessible (see here for a full list) including BBC HD. Direct HD TV recording via EyeTV is an exciting development both for home and educational use.

Powered by Elgato’s award-winning EyeTV 3 software, EyeTV Sat enables users to watch, record, edit and enjoy satellite HDTV on a Mac. For switchers, it also offers a complete Windows solution in the form of TerraTec Home Cinema software. EyeTV Sat has a built-in CI slot to enable Pay TV programming with an appropriate subscription module.

Superb quality recordings
EyeTV Sat has one quality setting, Lossless. The DVB stream is recorded unaltered to deliver the full quality MPEG-2/H.264 file as encoded by the broadcaster, both in HD and standard definition. EyeTV Sat supports multilingual programming, Teletext and Dolby® Digital sound.

Satellite Pay TV
EyeTV Sat has an integrated CI slot for satellite Pay TV which can be used with a compatible combination of conditional access module (CAM) and Pay TV subscription smartcard (not included). Elgato recommends that users check with their Pay TV provider to verify support of third-party standard CI receivers. Some providers, such as BSkyB in the UK, allow their smartcards to be used with proprietary set top boxes only.

Powered by EyeTV 3 Software for the Mac
EyeTV Sat comes complete with EyeTV 3 software for which we have produced a number of tutorials and help How to remove Ad breaks with EyeTV and How to use Smart Guides to name but two.

EyeTV 3

Watch, pause, and rewind live television at a desk or from the comfort of the couch. Search the Program Guide and create Smart Guides to subscribe to a TV series and topics of interest. Organize channels, edit unwanted content from recordings and create Smart Playlists to keep them organized. Put recorded TV shows and movies into iTunes to sync with an iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV. Share EyeTV recordings over a local network, or access them via Wi-Fi on an iPod®, iPhone™ and selected SmartPhones.

Compatible with Windows
EyeTV Sat comes with TerraTec Home Cinema software and drivers for Windows PC compatibility, and many of the same features offered by Elgato’s EyeTV 3 software are supported.

Pricing and Availability
EyeTV Sat is now shipping and can be purchased at the Elgato Online Store for £179.95. It will be available at Apple retail stores and other local Mac resellers shortly.

Frankly we really can’t wait!

Expect a full review on site in the next few weeks.
To be alerted when the review is live why not follow us on Twitter or subscribe via RSS.

Flip Ultra HD Released

DigMo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:58:53 +0000

The new Flip Ultra HD camera was released in the UK today. We reviewed the Mino HD that offered 4GB of storage a few months ago and loved it. The Flip Ultra HD offers a massive 8GB of storage and is actually cheaper than the Mino !

Flip video cameras offer a zero learning curve. The device features a power button, TV out, a flip out USB connector, a record button and 2-3 small control buttons used (mostly) for playback. Unlike the the Mino the Ultra reportedly offers an HDMI output for direct connection to a TV.

The device is simple, there is literally nothing to setup or get to know, you hold out the camera and press the red record button to video, easy !

The device offers crystal-clear 720p high-definition video capture, alongside the standard VGA model. Key advances for both the Ultra and UltraHD include a doubling of the internal memory capacity, allowing users to capture up to two hours of footage on the camera without the need for costly additional SD cards. The Flip Ultra’s viewing screen has also been significantly expanded to two-inches to offer superior playback.

A comparison between a Panasonic HD camcorder and Flip Mino HD is shown above. As with the original Ultra, the cameras provide simple, one-touch recording and the signature flip-out USB arm connects directly to any computer.

FlipShare™, the advanced on-board software, comes as standard and loads automatically when you plug the camcorder into the computer. Fully compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems – the software leads you seamlessly through the process of editing, organising, sharing and capturing photo stills from your videos.

Given the ease of use and high quality video capture these cameras are perfect for any classroom.

Links:
Click here for more information

Elgato : Video Capture

DigMo — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:57:52 +0000

Elgato have pretty covered most of our video needs with TV encoders (and EyeTV) for our TV capturing and editing needs. The Turbo.264 HD allows us to encode footage directly from AVCHD camcorders and virtually any other video format. Now the company tackles our analogue video needs in the form of “Video Capture”

Video Capture package is a USB device with Composite / RCA and S-Video inputs,a SCART adaptor for connecting to a range of devices and a CD containing the really easy to use Video Capture software. One of the biggest selling points is the device captures directly to the H.264 / MPEG-4 format that is iTunes and iPod friendly.

The device arrived in perfect time as I have a video produced in 1986 on VHS that I needed for a presentation at the end of this week. Traditionally we opted for using a Video to DVD recorder (capturing in real time) we then had to handbrake the DVD for editing in Final Cut or iMovie. This device offers a direct to edit workflow.

I decided the best way to test the device was to connect it to the various analogue devices I could easily get my hands on and import a section of video from each. The list includes a video recorder, Sky+ set top box and a Xbox 360 console.

The video (above) shows 30 seconds of output from these various sources that was imported into iMovie for adding titles. Note the video hasn’t been adjusted or enhanced in anyway.

Over the years I have found capturing from analogue devices to be particularly problematic. Low video quality, incorrect dimensions and frequent audio issues have dogged the experience so much I have sat with VHS tapes on my to-do list for a number of years.

The Video Capture software features a very simple workflow that steps through a number of stages before final capture. These stages check both the video and audio settings to ensure the best possible recording is achieved.

Once you have installed the software you can connect the Video Capture hardware directly via a free USB port. Obviously such a system is going to be best suited for Macbook and Macbook Pro users who can move their computers close to the likes of Sky+ boxes etc. Elgato have also included an RCA extension cable for those hard to reach devices.

The first stage is to select the video input, i.e. S-Video or RCA and the video size (4:3 or 16:4).

The next stage is to check the audio is coming through to the computer and then it is off to the large red record button. The software allows you to either man the recording and click stop when it is complete or alternatively you can set the duration of the recording and let the Elgato Video Capture system do the rest.

For testing purposes I monitored the recording directly but the ability to capture for set time periods is particularly useful when capturing old VHS tapes etc.

Once the recording is completed you can trim the ends of the video (if necessary) before it is saved into your My Movies folder. Finally you have the option of watching your recording in Quicktime (or iTunes) or further edit with iMovie. If you are happy with the recording and want to share it with the world direct export to YouTube is also just a click away.

I think looking at the show reel of captures (above) it is easily to see the value in the Elgato Video Capture system. To be honest I am especially happy with the VHS recording as much of the noise visible on the TV screen has been ignored in the recording making the imported footage of a higher visual standard than the original. The baby featured in the video is now considerably older and excited about seeing the clips.

The Sky recording looks as good as the TV but the recording from the console looks a little darker than the reality. I am sure the brightness could be tweaked a little but I think the quality is as good as game footage I have seen featured in TV programmes etc.

One slight negative was I found I had to play the game through the laptop screen as my TV didn’t offer any form or video out from an HDMI device. Again this is a very small negative and I sure there is a better way to connect the device to the Xbox to overcome these issues.

I love this device as it serves a genuine need I face on a regular basis. TV recorded on Sky+ and old videos on VHS are now easily transfered to a digital format using the Elgato device. In reality this little USB device will record virtually anything with an RCA or S-Video output.

The Elgato Video Capture package is a perfect combination of top quality video hardware coupled with really easy to use software. Analogue video brilliance !

DigMo! ★★★★★

The devices costs £89.75
Click here for more information (non-affiliate link).

Five Great Devices for Mac

DigMo — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:21:03 +0000

I still consider myself a bit of a switcher from PC to Mac. I have been using my trusty Mac for a over four years now and it seems to play a growing role in all areas of life.

I have decided to list my five essential Mac hardware add-ons that I use on a very regular basis in a range of both personal and work settings. These devices not only make life easier they work so well they are worthy of a dedicated blog post.

I should point out that (with the exception of the Elgato) all these devices will work equally well on Windows as they do on Mac. In the case of the Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session Apple’s Garageband is a perfect combination for recording your own songs or guitar lines. Check out our previous post entitled Guitar and Garageband.

1. Guitar Rig Session
If you play guitar you will love this device. Back in the 80s and 90s we struggled with four track tape recording, we advanced to minidisk but now thanks to Native Instruments and Apple’s Garageband we have it all nicely on a single Mac.

The Guitar Rig session not only offers the best Guitar to computer interface device we have used but it also ships with an XE version of the amazing Guitar Rig 3 software. Say goodbye to the string of expensive (and noisy) stomp boxes this application has it all.

From guitar effects, pre-defined guitar sounds and amp simulators you can be your favourite guitarist recording direct to Garageband in 2-3 clicks. The XLR input also allows you to venture into voice recording which is useful not only for music creation but also for podcast recording.

Read our full Guitar Rig Session review, and our Guitar Rig 3 Review. Also check out friend of DigMo!’s Steve Jone’s Guitar Rig set up with Air on YouTube.

2. Elgato TV Device
Turn your iMac into a TV allowing you to watch, pause and record live TV these devices combined with the brilliant EyeTV software are brilliant. We have covered the EyeTV software on a number of occasions (check out our full review, text tutorials, video tutorials here).

The system just works and the software is excellent. Record TV and sync it with your iPhone, iPod Touch or Apple TV. If you can’t afford the Elgato system then the Eqinux Tubestick offers an impressive alternative.

3. Apple TV
Our recent post entitled ‘Five reasons to own an Apple TV‘ was been one of the most successful posts ever on DigMo! The Apple TV offers the ability to sync Music, Movies, TV, and Photos directly from iTunes and iPhoto.

In addition the Apple TV is a networked device able to play video from YouTube, display photos from Flickr and MobileMe while at the same time play trailers from the Apple Trailers site. If that isn’t enough you can buy TV shows and rent/buy movies directly from iTunes (now in HD). Read our review of the Apple TV.

4. iPhone or iPod Touch
Combine a Mac with MobileMe and an iPhone or iPod touch for the best in communication and cloud computing. Sync with iCal, Address book and Safari, as well as take your music and movies on the road.

The iPhone and iPod Touch are just as powerful independently to the Mac with the brilliant iTunes Apps store. Apple have announced over one billion downloads from the store since it opened last July and the Apps keep getting better and better (see our top 5 here).

It seems silly to list such a powerful device as an add-on to a Mac but I feel the way it integrates with both iTunes and MobileMe enhances the Mac user experience greatly.

For example many of the personal finance applications for Mac offer a sync with the iPhone as does the great GTD application Things. Both examples offer direct sync with the Mac desktop apps directly over a LAN wifi network. Read more about our iPhone love here.

5. Drobo Storage Robot
Working with music creation, video or a large media folder can take its toll. Over the years I have worked with USB Hubs with two or three external USB drives attached. Primarily for work although I did have one USB device dedicated to iTunes.

It all worked really well but it is amazing how quickly you can out grow external drives especially now we are able to buy full movies from the iTunes store. The Drobo storage robot offers a scalable storage solution that at the same time protects your data.

The Drobo data storage robot is unique in that you can hot swap drives, replace small drives with larger without having to turn the machine off nor does it require any user intervention.

Unlike most Raid type storage systems the Drobo can cope with different sized drives thus you can upgrade your storage as you need and can afford larger drives. Read our 2 week review here and our 3 month experiences here.

On top of these five I also recommend a powered USB hub. It offers no other purpose but convenience for connecting a number of USB devices to a single Mac.

As I have already said most of these devices will also function with Windows machines, the list is really to outline the devices that are making my computing experience easier and more enjoyable. I love playing with them all.

The real fun begins when you see your name listed on the Apple TV music listings to find one of the songs you created with the Guitar Rig Session sitting ready for a listen.

What are your five essential hardware devices for your Mac ?

3 Months with Drobo

DigMo — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:11:12 +0000

At the beginning of January I decided to ditch the endless array of external hard drives and move to a central NAS type system for all my storage needs.

After weeks of deliberation and a bit of saving I jumped for the Data Robotics Drobo storage robot. The device could not be easier to use and offers scalable storage that I could expand when I needed (or could afford to).

Although not a NAS by default the additional droboshare device could be added later so instead of attaching it directly to my computer it could be connected to the router offering LAN access.

I posted an article entitled “Two weeks with Drobo” and thanks to a number of sites linking to it directly it has become one of the most popular posts of 2009 so far and thus appears in the top articles list on the sidebar. Even Data Robotics commented on the post !

In the article I had one key negative, no ethernet as default :

“The latest model offers firewire 800 and if you can afford the droboshare it creates the perfect home NAS and media server. Secure storage at the slight cost of a silent work environment is definitely a plus, if only it came with ethernet !”

Instead Drobo users had to purchase the droboshare device (£200). In my mind though the Droboshare lifts the device from a secure data dump to a fully blown storage server. Droboshare is not simple a network adaptor for Drobo but a full software managed device that opens the door to a range of Droboapps. (Visit the DroboApps site) including the firefly iTunes media server.

So if the Droboshare is so great why don’t I have one ? well the answer is simple, I couldn’t afford and extra £200. Empathise if you may but if you don’t already own a Drobo the good news is, it is now possible to order the Drobo Data Robot and get the Droboshare device as part of the price. Yes, you can now buy both devices for the £400 price tag. One Eagle eyed DigMo! spotted the pre-release info via Amazon, get it while you can.

My only negative about the Drobo now is - I wish I had of waited 3 months! am I sore about it ? Yes I most certainly am. Naturally I welcome the step by Data Robotics, as you can see from the original post my only negative was it didn’t come with ethernet capabilities.

In many ways I should be happy that my hopes had come true in this absolutely brilliant package but the reality is I will buy a Droboshare and thus my setup will have cost a massive £600 whereas three months on it only costs £400.

A £200 loss in two months is a particularly bleak thought, combining the two products in a deal like this reduces the value of my current Drobo but at the same times leaves me in the situation where I still have to shell out an additional £200 to get the Droboshare.

Ignore my personal situation, gain from this fantastic deal. I have no hesitation in recommending the Drobo and now it comes with the Droboshare it is perfect for the home or small office LAN !!!

Get it now.

Flip Video Mino HD Review

DigMo — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:01:08 +0000

This year we invested in a number of Flip Ultra Video cameras to be used in the classroom environment. These reasonably low cost video cameras have revolutionised how we work with video in education.

A couple of years ago we were involved with a large scale video project that involved training teachers on how to use a camcorder (tape), how to import footage, how to edit footage and how to export it to a portable format that would work on the networked computers.

The training was a challenge, the process was a hassle and the result was very few video resources were actually production post project. The process was just too much of a hassle for teachers to include it in their everyday teaching…… welcome Flip Video. The Flip Ultras are brilliant but after a few minutes of playing with the Mino HD it was a must buy !

The flip Video devices make working with video as easy as working with still images. Point, shoot, import and share. The workflow is near instant and since purchase the 3 Flip Ultra cameras have been in near constant use with video resources being produced of science experiments and most recently Technology projects. The benefits of the flip over the traditional camcorder not only include ease of use but also reduced charge time and most importantly reduced cost !

This week sees the release of the Flip Video Mini HD to the UK market and we were lucky enough to get our hands on a unit for review. Completely irrelevant to the function of the camera the box is also an impressive package.

The box ‘flips’ open to reveal a slightly smaller and glossier camera than the Flip Ultra version. The review unit is a black 4GB version that offers a full sixty minutes of High Definition video (720p) and two hours of battery life per charge.

The first thing we love about the camera is this version features a rechargeable battery that charges while connected to the USB2 port on your computer. The battery offers about 2 hours of HD recording and we found it took just under 3 hours to charge from zero to full power.

The arrival of our Mino HD coincided with the arrival of a new family pet so we decided to put the camera through its paces chasing the new puppy up and down the garden.

Like the Flip Ultra there is zero learning with the Mino HD. The device features a power button, TV out, a flip out USB connector, a record button and 2-3 small control buttons used (mostly) for playback. It would have been nice (given the device is HD) it if offered an HDMI output for direct connection to a TV. The device is simple, there is literally nothing to setup or get to know, you hold out the camera and press the red record button to video, easy !

After recording a few video clips it was time to connect the Mino HD to the computer, in this case an Apple iMac computer running Leopard. On connection the device appears as an external drive.

The camera records directly as .mp4 so you can pull the video direct from the video folder on the external drive or alternatively Double clicking the ‘flip icon’ loads the Flip Video software. Having the software stored on the camera itself means you can connect the camera to any computer and be able to get the most from the camera within a few minutes.

The software doesn’t just offer the ability to move video from the camera to your computer it also offers a host of great features including being able to trim footage, email video and upload it to a range of video sharing sites (including YouTube).

Double clicking on the video file not only plays the footage but offers the ability to easily edit and trim the areas you want to exclude and save revisions of the video.

Once you are happy with your footage you can upload it to MySpace or YouTube without even leaving the software.

Although the software that ships with the Mino HD is great you are not forced in to using it. We tested the device on another Mac (without installing any drivers or additional software).

The Mino HD worked perfectly with the Elgato Turbo.264 software which treated the device as an AVCHD camera. The Mino HD and Turbo.264 HD are a perfect combination for accelerated processing to YouTube HD.

The device also works as standard with iMovie 09, better still the latest update to iMovie means you can now export your footage as true HD (see below).

It probably isn’t very fair to compare the Mino HD to a high end Panasonic HD camera costing over 3 times the price of the 4GB Mino HD but we did it anyway. Lets face it if the Mino HD can compete at all with the Panasonic camera (given the price difference) it is a real winner. The footage below is in HD format :

Watch only the Mino HD Clip on Vimeo.(HD)
Watch the above video on YouTube HD.
Note you have to click the HD button on the video to view it in High Definition.

The guitar (me) was added using iMovie ! As you can see from the sample HD video produced in iMovie 09 the Mino HD really does come out favourably against the Panasonic at 4 times the price. Yes, the Panasonic offers a stack more features etc but for recording simple video pieces it would be hard to fault the Mino HD.

I think in most classroom and domestic situations the Flip Video Mino HD is the perfect solution compared to using camcorders. I think the only feature the camcorder offers over the Mino is the ability to lens zoom whereas the Mino only offers digital zoom.

The Flip Video Mino HD offers excellent value for money. Although we demoed the 4GB version at around £160 a 2GB version (VGA / Non HD) at around £100 is also available. I definitely think if you can afford the 4GB, 60 minute (and HD) version it is definitely worth the extra !

The only performance negative I can come up with (and I had to go hunting) would be the sound quality. Given how small the device is picking up audio from distant sources can be tricky and is definitely not as good as a standard camcorder.

That said most uses will be recording people in close proximity and in this situation the Mino HD works very well. A couple of slight hardware negatives might be that there doesn’t appear to be a way for the user to replace the rechargeable battery or expand the internal flash storage.

These negatives really are being a bit picky, although if the device offered the ability to use SD cards it would definitely earn a 5/5 rating. That said, High Definition footage from such a small portable device is stunning especially when you consider the retail price !

From an education point of view teachers are now able to put HD video capture into the hands of their students. The Flip PR company might not like the next sentence but I allowed both a 6 and 9 year old to use the camera. Both were able to use the device with ease allowing them to focus on creativity rather than technicality. These devices are perfect for the classroom !

It probably won’t be too long before High Definition is the standard and Flip Video have released a device that offers HD to the masses removing painful capture, importing and editing. With the Mino HD you literally point, shoot and share in a matter of minutes.

The Mino HD takes the pain out of video, no more lugging around large camcorders, the device is about the size of a mobile phone and fits into any pocket easily. (see a photo showing size). I suspect we will be building up a bank of Mino HD cameras over the next academic year and personally I will definitely be buying one for home use.

DigMo! Rating : ★★★★

Links:
FlipVideo
Buy from Amazon

Turbo.264 HD Review

DigMo — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:12:35 +0000

High Definition video has pretty much reached the domestic market. The arrival of AVCHD has seen the firewire ports flounder on some Apple computers and SD card storage capacities boom with 16GB being the norm.

Also this year both Vimeo and YouTube rolled out their High Definition services and the affordability of HD cameras is meaning SD is becoming seconds class to its High Definition rival.

We recently reviewed the brilliant Panasonic HDC-SD100 (Review Link) offering at the higher end of the domestic market but HD doesn’t have to be expensive with a FlipVideo HD camera expected in the UK next month at just over £100.

High Definition video puts higher demand on our hardware and brings with it a different way to import and manage footage. Regular DigMo! readers will already know we love the standard Elgato Turbo.264 (Review Link) USB hardware encoder and we are excited to get our hands on the newly upgraded Elgato Turbo.264 HD.

If you have the Turbo.264 you will be pretty familiar with the software that comes with it. On the surface little has changed but behind the scenes the software offers a mass of hidden new and upgraded features. If you want to see photos of the device and packaging head over to the DigMo! Flickr account otherwise read on as we put the hardware through its paces.

I will start by looking at the software thats ships with the device and then test the performance of the hardware towards the end of the article..

Elgato Turbo.264 HD Software:

The main software interface hasn’t changed with the HD release. The dial on the top right of the software displays red on startup and turns to black (with the max dial) with the Turbo.264 is connected to a USB port on your Mac.

To convert a video, simply drag it into the ‘Drag video files here.’, select the format you want the video to use (see later) and click the start button.

If you connect an AVCHD camcorder to your Mac an additional button appears on the main window entitled ‘Add Camcorder’ (see the screenshot above). This is the point when updated software really offers a massive advantage. Importing AVCHD footage using iMovie and Final Cut although faster than traditional firewire video importing still takes a fair bit of time. The Turbo.264 software quickly lists and indexes the AVCHD footage with a first frame thumbnail :

As you will see in the screenshot above you have the option of either importing (and converting) the footage as a single movie or, if you pull the slider to the left as individual movies. In this example I have 33 clips on my SD card but this will obviously change as the amount of video on the card changes.

The ability to import multiple clips is very useful if you need to quickly turn around a video and only need a section of the footage recorded or alternatively, if you are like me and forget to delete previously imported footage from the camera before starting the next shoot.

Double click on a video clip to watch a preview,

Like Elgato’s EyeTv software the Turbo.264 software allows you to trim and edit footage before it is imported. Click the middle button to display in and out tabs on the video line. (Check out our tutorial on how this works in the EyeTV application).

In the reality of most domestic setups this level of editing is all most users need to remove ‘dud’ footage from clips. It is easy to quickly trim a video to the essential clip and click done to go back to the export options. In this case I have opted for exporting the 30 second clip at 1080p. This took around 1 min.

In this case I exported at 1080p but the software offers a great range of presets and also hosts the ability to customise these to your own particular requirements. The user has full control over the video and audio and there are even options for Dolby sound.

As well as local file formats the software also offers support for both the YouTube and YouTube HD video sharing services. I’d love to see support on application for the upcoming sharing site Vimeo but no doubt as more of use the service these will come in time.

Performance

Anyone who is thinking of buying the Elgato Turbo.264 HD is going to be primarily interested in performance. The great plus of this hardware is that it offers acceleration to not only the application that it ships with but other applications such as iMovie, Final Cut and Elgato’s own EyeTV software.

The Test:
I opted to export a 3 minute and 28 second clip from a TV programme I recorded on EyeTV recently. The first stage of the test was to export the clip in AppleTV format without the Turbo.264HD connected. I am using a standard 2.8GHZ 24″iMac.

The final time for export to AppleTV : 3 mins and 8 seconds. I then connected the Turbo.264 and re-ran the export. I felt if the Turbo.264 HD was able to convert the video in under 2 minutes it was a definite winner, the results were spectacular :

The Turbo.264 converted the same clip in well under my predicted two minutes and actually converted it in less of a third the time : 1 minute in total. I repeated both conversions twice with similar results.

I think this is particularly impressive. As most of my daily conversion isn’t actually HD and involves the EyeTV software the Turbo.264 accelerator offers a massive advantage to this particular work flow.

Conclusion

I really can’t be more positive about this device. Computing has become more and more media centric and the ability to quickly edit and convert video is now almost essential. If you own a TV device with the EyeTv 3 software then this device is verging on essential.

If you convert on a regular basis whether for video podcasts, family video or even professionally I would highly recommend the hardware acceleration this device offers. The fact I was able to export the same click in less than one third the time with the Turbo.264 makes it a complete no brainer for my set up. The only negative is that the increased resolution of HD seems to have brought with it an increase in price. The Turbo.264 costs £139.95 but it offers considerable advantage especially if you are an AVCHD camcorder owner ! Check out our easy to follow video tutorial on how to use the Turbo.264 HD with an AVCHD camcorder, click here.

DigMo! Rating : ★★★★★

Turbo 264 HD 1080p Video Encoder/Accelerator

Links: Elgato.com

Turbo.264 HD Announced

DigMo — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:29:34 +0000

When Elgato released the Turbo.264 we were instantly big fans. Firstly due to the speed boost in converting EyeTV programmes to TV format but also the fact the software allowed us to quickly convert video and upload it directly to YouTube. The Turbo.264 helped with my iMovie and Final Cut work sitting quietly on my USB Hub making video conversion and export that bit faster. (Check out our full review here).

Well, sadly relationships end and it looks as if my love of the Turbo.264 is fading as I eye up Elgato’s latest video device the Turbo.264 HD

The Turbo.264 HD offers all the same function as the standard device but with a few notable additions. You can now also easily convert HD camcorder clips (and other video files) to a format that can be played on an iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV, and shared on the web.

One notable feature is the ability to preview, scale, trim, and combine multiple video clips, handles batch processing, and can convert and upload video directly to YouTube.

The Turbo.264 HD hardware dramatically accelerates video encoding, and can be used to speed up the export/sharing function of Mac applications such as iMovie, QuickTimePro, Final Cut Pro, and EyeTV.

Having just purchased the Panasonic HDC-SD100 HD camera (full review here) the fact the Turbo.264 HD can not only handle AVCHD but read it directly from the camera is very exciting. If you have worked with HD footage from a camcorder you will know it can be tricky to export the edited footage in an Apple TV friendly HD format.

The Turbo.264 HD appears to be able to convert and place the video into iTunes ready for AppleTV sync. I can’t wait to try this feature out as I found iMovie 09 was altering the dimensions of my footage on export.

On reading the list of new software functions I can’t help but think Elgato are looking to address the demise of the brilliant VisualHub by offering a brilliant video conversion application with the added boost of hardware acceleration.

Personally I can’t wait to get playing with the Turbo.264 HD, expect a full review in the very near future. System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later, Intel Core processor, 512MB RAM, built-in USB 2.0 port and QuickTime 7.6 or above.

Links:
Elgato.com

Panasonic HDC-SD100 Review

DigMo — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:04:55 +0000

Having owned my faithful Sony Camcorder for a fair few years the hassle of transferring footage from dv tape was meaning I as filming more and more with my basic (point and shoot) still camera. The quality isn’t great but the convenience in which I can move video clips from the camera to iMovie to YouTube / Vimeo made tapes a rather unattractive proposition.

It was time to make the jump to HD. At the current cost of home HD cameras this wasn’t so much a jump but an investment so getting the right camera was essential. Professionally I have been using the Panasonic HDC-SD9, this camera won camcorder of the year in 2009 and was actually the unit I had hoped to buy but to my advantage the good just got better in the form of the HDC-SD100.

One of the biggest issues I faced was the jump to recording in AVCHD directly to SD Card. I went for the SD option as not only is it cheaper, recording to SD card rather than hard disc drive offers unlimited expandability. Given that most devices are now moving fro CF to SD cards it means storage can be shared with other cameras and phones.

This very short clip offers a very small glimpse at the colour quality offered by this camera. To be honest it hardly gives the camera justice scaled down to 450 pixels wide!

I will leave HD mode on for a few months and revert to SD video after that.

The current cost of a 16GB card is £25 (including reader) offering around two hours recording at the highest possible setting. The removal of a mechanical tape system also results in a big jump in battery life to over two hours per charge.

Importing AVCHD isn’t perhaps as instant as importing video from a still camera but it still beats the traditional tape route by a long shot. Working with iMovie was a breeze the included 30 second clip does the best I can to demo how good the picture quality is over the internet. Working with Final Cut was also very easy, although make sure you have version 4.1. Another tip if you have the HDC-SD9 if you find your clips are not importing click the little gear icon at the top of the capture window, go to preferences and change the audio from matrix to standard stereo.

Highlights

Full High Defintion Camcorder
Records direct to SD Card
1920×1080p (25P)
New 3MOS Sensor System
Advanced OIS to correct 95% Handshake
2 Lux Low Light Performance
New iA System including Face Detection for up to 15 Faces
Full Manual control using Manual ring including Zoom
On screen assist for Zebra Pattern, Brightness Level and Histogram
Headphone Input and Microphone Input

Camcorders and Batteries

This gripe has little to do with the Panasonic camera but more a personal gripe with digital camcorder. My biggest annoyance with every camcorder I have ever owned is the way they handle battery charging. I always assume that if a device is connected to the mains with the battery connected it is charging !! but this is only the case if the camera is powered off. I am sure there is a good reason for the way things work but I still find it annoying.

The Panasonic camera comes with a charging unit separate to the camera. Most the cameras I have owned charged via the camera so this is a much tidier option. To connect the camera to the computer (or any TV) the unit must be connected to the mains. This is primarily down to the fact the ports are behind the battery but is also means you don’t accidently run your battery down playing back footage.

One thing to note is as soon as you connect the camera to the mains unit the battery stops charging. It would have been great if the battery charger was completely separate to the camera power but I assume this would have added to the cost.

Pros:

As well as the listed highlights (3MOS sensors, etc) This lightweight camera offers excellent image quality in normal or exterior light. The additional focus ring and view finder make 10 much more attractive that the still available 9. The battery life is brilliant at over two hours ! The unit features and external mic option and unlike the previous version now also comes with a viewfinder. The camera is ergonomic to hold and can easily slip in and out of a coat pocket. The automatic lens protector is brilliant !

Cons:

It is still at bit on the expensive side although justifiable given the amount of features they have packed into the camera. I did criticise the previous version (despite it winning camcorder of the year) for grainy video with indoor / low light. This camera is definitely better but there are still grainy areas with dark colours in low light situations. Check this terribly produced low light video showing off my new Twitter Mug on YouTube.

Note : The camera doesn’t come with an SD card which is not a big issue if you have a still camera but just don’t be caught out if you order the camera and are excited about playing with it when it arrives.

Conclusion:

If you are looking to make the leap to HD video I really don’t think you can do far wrong with this camera. To my personal horror I found that Amazon were the cheapest retailer at £549 but a few days ago they dropped the price further to £509 ! Get it while you can.

TubeStick Mini Review

DigMo — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:50:45 +0000

When it comes down to watching and recording TV on a computer Apple definitely have some of the best of systems available. Previously we have covered the great Elgato range of tuners that ship with their EyeTV application and and although they may appear to dominate the market they aren’t the only great TV solution available.

Equinux produce the tiny and brilliantly named ‘TubeStick Mini’ coupled with their “The Tube” software. The first advantage to many users is that TubeStick is compatible with both Mac and PC computers and has to be one of the cheapest TV adaptors around coming in at only £30 (including software).

The Tubestick mini is definitely ultra portable. The mini USB device comes with a small digital antenna and an adaptor to allow it to be easy connected to an external aerial system.

Setting the system up is completely painless. Insert the supplied CD and the installer application talks you through the very easy to follow process.

Once installation is complete you are met with the varied features of ‘The Tube’ software. The Tube offers a really great user interface and despite its simplicity offers a powerful set of features including my favourite, the ability to stream TV to friends via iChat using iChat theatre.

As the software supports a wide range of TV adaptors you are asked to select the device you want to use when the software loads. On first run the device searches the digital TV channels (based on the postcode you enter). This can take a few minutes to complete and longer if you opt for an exhaustive scan. Click here for a list of compatible devices.

Before watching any TV I decided to have a play in the preferences pane and discovered a surprisingly wide range of features. Just one of the great features is the ability to set TV reminders via iCal of upcoming (selected) programmes.

In addition the TubeToGo features are stunning. This service (secured via your own personal EquinuxId) allow you to remote scedule recordings via the EPG, access your recorded TV while on the move (as well as the ability to delete remote recordings) and publish your recordings to your online storage. Access can be via the web, iPod Touch and iPhone. It is even more surprising to find that such high end features are actually completely free of charge!

A second free service (again via your EqinuxID) is TubeTalk. With TubeTalk, you can join a chat about the current TV show and chat with other TV viewers. Discuss the ins and outs of your favorite shows and more. The Tube provides a chat room for every TV channel in your list. All you need is your equinux ID and you’re all set to chat.

All the standard TV software features are also included (and shouldn’t be ignored). The software obviously allows you to record, schedule recordings and Timeshift TV. Time shifting allows you to pause and rewind live TV and is great if you need to take a telephone call midway through a football match, or want to replay the action whenever you want. With Time Shift you don’t miss a second.

The main TV interface is brilliant as is the picture quality.

This screenshot was taken when using the supplied mini antenna which provided a pretty good picture on some channels but did become a little blocky on others. Connecting the system to an outside aerial did offer less disruption in the picture but not all channels were perfect although this could be down to the digital signal in my area.

The Tube’s EPG is via a free service and appeared to be accurate for each of the channels we tried out. It is very easy to scroll down the list of channels and make changes to what is being viewed. You can set a custom animation (in preference) that is played as the channel changes, such changes take 2-3 seconds). I think The Tube’s one screen feature wins over EyeTV that uses a second ‘controller’ window for recording and channel swapping.

The fact that the channels and controllers are in the one window makes managing viewing very easy. Recording programmes using the The Tube is simple and the software offers the user the option of adding meta to recordings on completion.

It is hard not to compare the TubeStick system to Elgato’s EyeTV but in doing so it essential to bear in mind the massive price differences. The TubeStick Mini at under £30 for both the tuner and software shouldn’t really be expected to match the advanced features of EyeTV such as the ability to edit recordings (remove ad breaks) or series record a programme.

The TubeToGo features are well beyond that expected of an application and device of this price range.

Any computer based TV system is only as good as the signal it receives. Unlike analogue TV bad signal quality in digital transmissions are basically unwatchable resulting in jumpy sound and blocky viewing and if it is an option I would definitely recommend you connect the device to an outside aerial.

This also ensures the best range of channels possible. If you are in an area with reasonable Digital TV signal the TubeStick Mini offers a great TV viewing and recording system at a price considerably less than we would ever expect to pay.

At £30 it is hard to fault this device, actually even at a higher price it would be hard to take issue ! Equinux are committed to software improvement and development so I suspect you will see The Tube getting better and better with each update. If you are looking to treat your Mac in the near future the TubeStick Mini makes a really great gift.

For more information and to buy the Tubestick Mini visit the Equinux Website.

SenseCam : Record life ?

DigMo — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:31:52 +0000

Microsoft Research are developing a new technology know as SenseCam. The Sense Cam is a wearable digital camera that is designed to take photographs passively, without user intervention, while it is being worn.

The unit was developed for the MyLifeBits Project and unlike a regular digital camera or a cameraphone, SenseCam does not have a viewfinder or a display that can be used to frame photos. Instead, it is fitted with a wide-angle (fish-eye) lens that maximizes its field-of-view.

This ensures that nearly everything in the wearer’s view is captured by the camera, which is important because a regular wearable camera would likely produce many uninteresting images.

SenseCam also contains a number of different electronic sensors. These include light-intensity and light-color sensors, a passive infrared (body heat) detector, a temperature sensor, and a multiple-axis accelerometer.

These sensors are monitored by the camera’s microprocessor, and certain changes in sensor readings can be used to automatically trigger a photograph to be taken.

For example, a significant change in light level, or the detection of body heat in front of the camera can cause the camera to take a picture. Alternatively, the user may elect to set SenseCam to operate on a timer, for example taking a picture every 30 seconds.

They have also experimented with the incorporation of audio level detection, audio recording and GPS location sensing into SenseCam although these do not feature in the current hardware.

Footage is stored on a standard SD storage card and although no price is available yet it looks as if it offers massive potential to education.

I can think of a fair number of applications in education of the SenseCam, I certainly want one !

No Related Post

Two Weeks with Drobo

DigMo — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:27:31 +0000

As some of you know a few weeks ago I splashed out on the Drobo storage robot. The robot seemed the logical upgrade to running four portable hard drives containing my iTunes library, documents and a mass of Moving Image Arts teaching materials and samples.

I think what attracted me to the drobo was the obvious scalability. You need two drives to get you going but the drobo can house 4 SATA hard drives and when all four fill up it is as simple as taking out the smallest drive and replacing it with a larger unit. Better still with drobo the drives don’t have to be the same make nor do they have to be the same storage size.

Security is also a massive factor. Drobo automatically protects your data, if one drive fails, remove it, add a new drive and drobo will rebuild with no loss of data. You can even carry on accessing the data during this rebuilt period. Theoretically drobo can also recover from two drive failures but we hope we won’t put that theory to the test.

The final selling point for me though was Cali Lewis’s review posted on the site where I bought the drobo. I didn’t realise at the time this was a promotional video from the drobo site but Cali’s enthusiasm for the device certainly clinched the sale. Friend of DigMo!, Automated Home also has a great video and review of the Drobo that are worth checking out before you make the purchase.

In use the drobo hasn’t disappointed, it does exactly what it describes and requires not only no actual setup but there is zero user intervention needed in keeping the system up and running. The only negative for me is the noise. At times it sounds like a small fridge beside me, gently buzzing fan motors. On the most part you don’t notice it until it stops, drobo will then sit in silence for a while until the fans kick in again.

I can’t quite figure out what triggers the fans, they start up even if the drive hasn’t been accessed. During the silent periods I can read and write data and hear the drives being accessed but when the fans are going you really can’t hear any drive activity at all.

When I turn the computer off the drobo goes into standby but the fans can still whirl for 10- 15 minutes. I am hoping this is normal. Don’t get me wrong though, it is not overly noisy. I think amplifies the noise the fact my iMac is (almost) completely silent, if the drobo was beside a typical pc tower I am not sure if you would notice it at all !

The drobo comes with a very handy utility application that shows you the state of play in a really user friendly and graphical form. The drobo even tells you “I am healthy” in the first person as you would expect from any robotic companion I guess.

The utility will also show you how your storage is being used.

I really don’t think I had much choice given the state of my storage than to upgrade to a more robust storage system such as the drobo. I’d probably like a bit of reassurance regarding the noise levels and activity.

The system is a pretty substantial investment and would be made perfect with the drobo share add on. Droboshare turns the drobo into a complete NAS system and already a number of drobo apps have been released such as the firefly iTunes Media Server.

The other benefit of droboshare (on top of being able to share the storage with other users on your network) would be the ability to move the storage robot away from your work area (if the noise is an issue). The big barrier for me though is the £175 price tag. I simply can not afford the investment given the cost of the drobo in the first place.

If you run a number of portable hard drives and have your data duplicated and backed up ‘all over the place’ then the drobo is a real opportunity to consolidate your storage requirements in a really attractive, secure, and easy to use system.

The latest model offers firewire 800 and if you can afford the droboshare it creates the perfect home NAS and media server. Secure storage at the slight cost of a silent work environment is definitely a plus, if only it came with ethernet ! We found the best price to be from Amazon (Affiliate).

I’d love to hear of other user experiences.

Guitar Rig Session Review

DigMo — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:57:19 +0000

Integrating the power of the Apple Mac into my guitar processing set up has always been a bit of an ambition. I have even addressed Guitar and Garageband in a previous post. Having eyed up the Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session for some time we managed to get our hands on one to put it through it’s paces. Low cost guitar to computer interfaces are becoming more and more popular and although this this is great news it brings with it the challenge of selecting the right device.

Devices such as the Boss GT10 come with direct USB out. The problem is such devices are expensive and although the GT10 is easier to use than some devices it can still be pretty challenging especially when compared to the Guitar Rig Software.

Installing the software :

Installing the software pack is completed in two stages. Insert the disc and double click on the installer. If you are a Mac user you will have to enter your password at a number of stages during the install process. Install Guitar Rig, then the Service Centre and then driver. Restart the computer.

When you restart remember to go back to the disc and install the Kore player and the drum sounds. The installer doesn’t automatically take up the install process when you reboot and these great applications could easily be missed.

Once installed connect the hardware i.e. USB into the back of the Guitar Rig 3 Session I/O. Although completely irrelevant to the actual function of the device the hardware is solid, well built and looks amazing. Connecting the USB activated the lights on the top of the device.

We have used a range of USB interface devices and this definitely is the best for quality of build, I’d say this aluminum device would survive even the hardest of tours or road tests.

The guitar connects via input two and make sure you set the push button to instrument, this will be confirmed on the top of the unit via a red light. If you play the guitar at this stage a green signal light should appear on the top of the unit.

Back to Guitar Rig 3
We opted for a totally clean install of the XE software so that any shadow of our own full Guitar Rig 3 software wouldn’t complicate things. We were initially concerned that the stripped down version of the Guitar Rig 3 software (XE) would be akin to a trial or demo version of Pro and leaving you wanting….. I am very happy to say this really isn’t the case.

The XE comes with an excellent range of patches including our own favourite signature sounds such as:

Pink Numb Lead
Always with Satch
Message in a Guitar Rig
2U is no name
Mark in Arms

There are a total of 28 signature sounds never mind the other banks or the sounds and patches you create yourself. If you don’t hear any guitar after selecting a patch check guitar rig has set to use the session I/0 as the sound device. Click on Guitar Rig 3 and preferences.

We won’t go into too much Guitar Rig detail as the software has all the power of the full Guitar Rig software with options like the built in tuner, metronome are all included as well as the following core effects and patches including an impressive range of distortion effects.

One question we have been emailed (with reference to our previous review) is regarding latency issues with the software. Personally having reviewed the full version with Kontroller and now the Session I/O XE system I haven’t noticed any latency issues at all while playing or even switching between patches. The system is definitely reliable enough to use in the studio and as many artists are now doing in a live senario !

Although we used an amp for our final output there is no reason why this couldn’t have been a studio speaker or even the computer speakers. Really the Guitar Rig session is everything you need in one box. The hardware interface between the guitar and the computer as well professional level software for recording directly to Logic, Garageband etc.

The package is ideal for home studio, pro level interfacing and like me the amateur guitarist at home wanting all the latest stomp boxes, all the latest amps and the ability to record easily. This devices offers them all and better, at a fraction of the price ! We love it and just don’t see how they could have made it any better !!! Our guide to recording guitar with garageband is equally as applicable to the Guitar Rig Session as it is the Boss GT10.

Links:
Buy Guitar Rig Products
Native Instruments

Cinemizer the Future of Personal Media?

DigMo — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:37:53 +0000

I can remember in the late 80s getting my first ever personal stereo. It was called a personal stereo as I couldn’t afford a ‘Walkman’ and had a panasonic alternative. I can remember it, red, chunky yet not too hard on batteries from what I remember.

The hours spent creating mix tapes on TDK D90 tapes bought from the now demised Woolworths were priceless. I can remember the introduction to ‘high speed dubbing’ and thought I was on the wave of a technology and music revolution.

Twenty years later and the kids who are the age I was back then now make playlists. The audio quality if well surpassed the very best of the 80s and literally 1000s of songs can be stored in a single iPod. The technology is now so good we produce video podcasts and video PowerPoint presentations for our students in Mp4 and the more media rich our learning resources become the less pupils want to look at PDF handouts or slideshows.

I often ask the question what is it going to be like when my kids are older and I think I might have just had my first glimpse of what life might be like in the form of, wait for it, “The Cinemizer” . The Cimemizer (by Carl Zeiss) combines high-resolution LCD screens with individual diopter focus adjustment (-3.5 to +3.5D). This means even if the user wears glasses the screen image can be focussed for crystal-clear viewing. The resulting image apparently is optically tuned to appear as virtual 45-inch (diagonal) screen, as viewed from six feet away(2 meters).

The stage to seeing people in planes with little white earbuds is personal video glasses. The standard Cinemizer incorporates on-ear headphones and a ‘plus’ model adds the ability to override the built in headphones and plug in third party models.

The Cinemizer is “Made for iPod” which means it is designed specifically to work with all iPods that have video. The Cinemizer also works with both the original and the 3G iPhone. Just when you thought you had heard it all, these glasses off a full 3D model. Both the original and plus versions of the Cinemizer feature a 3D mode that enables stereoscopic viewing of 3D content. Content that is produced in side-by-side 3D format can be displayed from any video source, then the views are split for left and right screens. The resulting experience is a rich and immersive 3D image.

You are probably thinking there are not that many 3D movies around but Carl Zeiss is actively lobbying Hollywood studios to offer consumer versions of the 3D movies they are creating.

The glasses currently cost £299 including VAT so they are certainly at the upper end of the market. That said what could a device such this mean for education, travel, in fact the way we view any moving image? They are certainly a long way from the Red and Blue paper glasses we are used to, but a very exciting technology we can’t wait to get our hands on.

More information can be found here. If you have a Cinemizer already we would love to hear your experiences.

Xbox 360 v PS3

DigMo — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:53:26 +0000

The age old debate continues as to which console reigns supreme. For the last two years we have been avid Xbox 360 fans. Gold Live members we had our first xbox for over a year and a half before upgrading to the new black elite version.

After 13 months of owning the Elite well a week of disk read errors resulted in the dreaded 3 red lights of doom. I phoned Xbox support and my well packaged console made its way to Germany for repair.

Just under 3 weeks later and just two days after the release of the latest Call of Duty the beloved Xbox returned. It took only 15 minutes to discover the machine wasn’t actually fixed properly and the disk read errors returned on every single game.

Gutted I phoned Xbox so simply said the console had to go back yet again. Fed up that we would be in’console’ able for nearly 6 weeks I decided the PS3 was the way to go.

After an hour or so worth of updates the PS3 was up and running and we were happy. The graphics looked better than the Xbox and the addition of Blue Ray was not to be under valued. This was a great buy. The range of games available is now just as creditable as the Microsoft offering. We loved it. We went instantly for Call of Duty World of War that played identically to the our brief stint on the 360.

A temporary Xbox replacement is now in place (we missed online play too much) and we were able to compare both systems side by side. I think if you play games online then despite the £40 price per year the Xbox definitely has the edge. There are a lot more Xbox live players and the systems seems better at matching player pings than on the PS3. We found getting in to games tricky and many of the games ended early or after one round due to bad connections or host issues.

But is one better than the other ? If you want online play then I think you need to stick with the 360. It comes with a 3 year warranty (perhaps for a reason) but it remains unmatched for community and online games.

It is actually quite hard to compare the systems. The xbox is perhaps better suited for the 20-40 year old gamer who wants to play online and the PS3 is perhaps better suited for family play. Games like Scene It on the Xbox don’t compete at all with the brilliant Buzz on the PS3.

If you have kids and want a blue ray video player for yourself then the PS3 is a great deal. A great family games console that offers the ability to download demos at no extra cost. The fact you can add a USB HDD of music, photos and video creates a brilliant mediacentre experience and the menu system on PS3 is very simple to use.

After a month we have definitely seen an age separation with the kids firmly loyal to the PS3 and the adults the Xbox. The bad news is only one can remain, it is the credit crunch and it is impossible to afford or justify a two console family….

The questions :

Do others think the graphics are better on PS3 ?

Does anyone find the PS3 online play reliable ?

Does the price really matter when the PS3 offers wireless and blue ray ?

As the main 360 player I can see me losing out to the slightly more family loved PS3….. but Xbox Live is streaks ahead of the online gaming offered by PS3.

The community is excellent and the ease of getting into games is unsurpassable. If you like playing online then the 360 is probably the only real choice at the moment.

Turbo.264 Review

DigMo — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:59:02 +0000

As you will probably already realise we are big fans of Elgato’s EyeTv software. Well today we took delivery of the new Turbo.264 product.
This USB hardware accelerator claims to speed up video conversion to the H.264 format.This review aims to take you from opening the package to final conversion. To test the device we are going to convert a nineteen minute television programme recorded using Eye TV. Note photos are clickable for larger versions. For a full set of photos click here.

The Turbo.264 pack includes the Turbo.264 device (obviously) a quick start guide, a USB extension – although it is only about 5-5 centimetres long and a CD containing the driver / conversion software.

The supplied software could not be easier to use simply drag the video file on to the interface and Turbo.264 will do the rest.

Turbo.264 supports batch conversions and even offers exports of unprotected DVD content (VOB files). Turbo.264 also accelerates exports from the most important Macintosh video applications such as iMovie, QuickTime Pro, , and EyeTV.

Turbo.264 Under Test

We firstly converted a 19 minute episode of a TV programme recorded using the EyeTV software. We are using a G5 dual core 2.0GHZ PowerPC with 3gig of ram as the test machine and expect that an intel machine will be quicker again. Users should note that you can tell that the Turbo.264 is connected by the ‘export’ graphic in EyeTv.

The first Image shows exporting from EyeTv without Turbo.264

Now with Turbo.264 connected we have a red speed line with a series of red dots under the progress bar.

Conversion Time

Purple : Standard iPod Export (no Turbo.264) Time : 30 minutes and 23 seconds.

Blue : Standard iPod Export (Turbo.264 connected) Time : 14 minutes and 15 seconds. This is under half the time of a normal export !

We then repeated the test on an Core Duo with 1gig of Ram. The test was to convert a 4 minute 10 second .mov file using Quicktime Pro.

Purple : Standard Export (no Turbo.264) Time : 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

Blue : Standard Export (Turbo.264 connected) Time : 0 minutes and 53 seconds. Again this is under half the time of a normal export !

Conclusion

When considering the Turbo.264 we had only two questions,
1. Can it do what it says ?
2. Is it worth the money ?
The answer is simply yes for both ! Okay technically it is probably not essential as your Mac already performs the tasks the Turbo.264 offers. Although if you own an iPod or Apple TV and are using it with DVD or video then any device that cuts the video conversion time this significantly surely is well worth considering.

If you watch TV on your Mac with the likes of EyeTv and would argue at $99 this device is a must ! As for ease of use Elgato could not make this device any simpler the hardest part was opening the box !!

Pricing & Availability

Turbo.264 is available immediately for US$99.95 in the Elgato Online Shop as well as through distribution. The package includes the USB 2.0 Hardware Encoder, the Turbo.264 software on CD-ROM, a user’s guide on CD-ROM, a quick start guide as well as a USB extension cable.

Note : Times in this review are not officially verified and as accurate as the author can achieve. These are guide times only.

EyeTV 250 Plus : Excellent!

DigMo — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:45:27 +0000

Our new EyeTV 250 Plus arrived this morning and we couldn’t wait to get it up and running. Two years ago I took the decision to give up on my Mediacenter PC and move to Apple not only for the ease of use of OS X but the decision was also greatly influenced by the EyeTV software, simply how easy it was to record and better edit recorded TV.

Two years on we have added an AppleTV to our EyeTV system and have created a media recording and management system second to none. With a few clicks Advertising breaks can be removed from programmes and clips can be exported in a range of different formats, AppleTV, iPod etc.

It was hard to know what Elgato were going to do to improve the product range then suddenly the 250 plus was announced. The EyeTV 250 Plus is the first TV device I have seen that comes with a dedicated power supply probably due to the built in hardware encoding. Although the device lights up when connected to USB2 it requires power to function (yes we see the obvious here ). The device offers both analogue and digital recording and in the case of analogue offers a range of encoding qualities.

Having EyeTV 2 already on my mac I thought it would be simply a matter of connecting the 250. My current installation didn’t recognise the device but 2 mins with the install disk and EyeTV had listed the 250 plus. It is recommended that you re-use the ‘EyeTv Setup Assistant’ to re-tune the device but this only takes 2-3 minutes.

Analogue & Game Mode

One of the major improvements over my Cinergy T2 device is the ability to import video from VHS and other analogue sources. The devices come with the appropriate cable to connect an S-Video or composite device. The 250 also allows for a gaming mode (analogue connection) this allows you to use your Mac as a screen for your games console.

Roxio Toast

I can remember my only frustration with EyeTV was the Roxio Toast icon along the menu bar. Toast is an essential additional application for quick output to DVD (that and a dvd recorder!). Elgato have kindly taken this additional cost out of the equation by including Roxio Toast 8 Basic. Toast 8 Basic CD/DVD recording software enables you to burn recorded DVB-T or standard cable television shows directly within EyeTV.

For both DVB-T (in most cases) and digitized analog television shows, the EyeTV recording format is DVD-compliant MPEG-2, which eliminates lengthy re-encoding. Users can simply click the Toast button in EyeTV after finishing their (optional) edits, then insert a DVD into the Mac’s disc drive.

I can think of a dozen applications for the 250plus. From the student dorm with Mac and games console to the family who are taking the digital TV step who have family VHS tapes to convert. At £139.99 and the trademark ease of EyeTv 2 & Roxio potential customers will have no regrets in this investment. If Elgato could add a “series link” system to their software then I think even Sky+ would have a run for its money !

Links :
Flickr Photos
Elgato.com

Turbo.264 Update with YouTube

DigMo — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:40:00 +0000

Elgato Systems has released Turbo.264 version 1.3, a free update for its award-winning video encoder in USB stick format. The update includes many new features for YouTube users as well as owners of Apple devices such as video-enabled iPods, the iPhone, and Apple TV.

Elgato Turbo.264 now enables YouTube users to convert video to a YouTube-friendly format and upload the encoded clips automatically. Navigating within Turbo.264-encoded movies is now easier for users of Apple devices thanks to Turbo.264’s support for DVD chapter markers.The new software also preserves Dolby Digital audio for playback on surround sound speakers connected to Apple TV. Furthermore, this update to Turbo.264 version 1.3 supports QuickTime Broadcaster.

YouTube Upload
Turbo.264 1.3 makes it even easier to upload video to YouTube, with good quality and short upload times. To create a YouTube-friendly file and upload it to YouTube, users simply choose the new YouTube preset, add metadata, and enter their account data.

DVD Chapter Markers
Viewers can use chapter markers to navigate to specific scenes within a DVD movie.When encoding unencrypted DVD content, Turbo.264 version 1.3 merges these markers into chapter markers that are readable by video-enabled iPods, the iPhone and Apple TV.   Dolby Digital Passthrough for Apple TV Exports DVD content as well as digital TV recordings often contain Dolby Digital audio tracks. When exporting to Apple TV format, Turbo.264 will pass through the digital audio to the resulting file, thus enabling a multichannel audio experience on an Apple TV with surround sound speakers.

QuickTime Broadcaster Support
Turbo.264 adds support for compressing live streaming video into H.264 using QuickTime Broadcaster. CPU load will be significantly lower than with software compression, and the quality of the stream is always 100%. No frames are dropped.   In addition, the software update offers numerous improvements and bug fixes. Compatibility with iMovie projects, Freebox recordings and WMV media has been improved, as well as general stability.

About Elgato Turbo.264
Turbo.264 is the easiest and fastest way to convert videos to superior quality H.264 (MP4) files for iTunes, and is perfect for anyone who wants to put their own video content on an iPod®, iPhone™, Apple TV™ or Sony PSP®. Because Turbo.264 is a hardware encoder, it frees up the processor for other tasks while video encoding is in progress.

Think of it as a “co-processor” for your Mac—a real benefit for anyone who likes to keep several applications open while converting videos, especially on older Macs.  Turbo.264 comes with its own video converter software. The application converts the files, drops them into iTunes, and automatically syncs with an iPod, iPhone, or other device connected to iTunes.  Turbo.264 also supports the export command of most popular Macintosh video applications, such as iMovie®, QuickTime Pro®, Final Cut Pro® and EyeTV®.

Turbo.264 works in conjunction with these applications to dramatically accelerate the video encoding process, and is highly recommended for use with EyeTV’s Wi-Fi Access feature.  Price and Availability Elgato Turbo.264 is available for 99.95 Euros or US Dollars or £69.95, in the Elgato Online Store, the Apple Store and in retail outlets. The box includes a USB 2.0 hardware encoder, Elgato Turbo.264 software, a user guide on CD-Rom, a Quick Start Guide and a USB extension cable.

More : www.elgato.com

Apple TV 2 Guided Tour

DigMo — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:05:46 +0000

Apple have updated the AppleTV site to include a new guided tour to the new movie rental service. Apple announced the update AppleTV at last week’s Macworld promising the software within two weeks. It looks as if things are getting ready. Want to rent a movie? Just grab the remote.

With Apple TV, you don’t need a computer to rent digital movies — you rent them directly from your TV. The completely redesigned Apple TV interface makes it easy to browse, rent, and watch movies from every major Hollywood studio. Best of all, you get instant movie gratification. Without losing your spot on the sofa.

Browse.
Use the included Apple TV remote to browse rentals by Top Movies, Genres, and All HD. Or search for what you want to watch. Apple TV displays a movie poster for every rental, so something’s sure to catch your eye. When you find a movie you like, click it to view a detail screen with a plot summary and a list of cast and crew. You’ll also see a parade of similar movies you might enjoy under “Viewers Also Rented.”

Movie rentals on Apple TV are $2.99 for library titles, $3.99 for new releases, and only a dollar more for stunning HD titles with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Choose the format you want to rent and click. Your movie starts downloading instantly, and, if you choose a standard-definition movie, you can start watching it in seconds.

Watch.

Rent a movie directly from Apple TV and you have 30 days to start watching. Once you hit Play, you have 24 hours to finish it — or to watch it as many times as you want. Movie rentals disappear when they expire, so they won’t take up storage space. From the Rented Movies menu, you can see when your movies are about to expire. What the movie demo video.

Links:
Apple TV Site
Apple TV UK

Pink Apple ?

DigMo — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:42:36 +0000

Apple have announced that it is adding a gorgeous new pink iPod nano to the lineup of the world’s most popular music player.

The much-requested pink iPod nano is available immediately in an 8GB model for £129. iPod nano features a two-inch display which lets users watch the brand new iTunes® Movie Rentals, or TV shows and music videos purchased from the iTunes Store.

iPod nano delivers up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video playback on a single charge and is encased in a beautiful all-metal design made with anodised aluminum and polished stainless steel, which is also available in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.

“Customers are going to love the gorgeous new pink iPod nano,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “The pink iPod nano is perfect for people who want a great new colour this spring, or who are searching for a special Valentine’s Day gift.”

iPod nano features an enhanced user interface that shows off album artwork and photos like never before and includes Cover Flow®, so you can scroll through your entire music collection by album cover artwork using the Click Wheel. Customers can also buy music, video and games for their iPod nano from the iTunes Store or check out the latest iTunes Movie Rentals.

Pricing & Availability
The new pink 8GB iPod nano is available worldwide immediately for a suggested retail price of £129 and joins the other 8GB models available in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition. The 4GB iPod nano in silver is available for a suggested retail price of £99. Both the 4GB and 8GB iPod nano for Windows or Mac® are available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com/ukstore), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers. All iPod nano models include earbud headphones, a USB to 30-pin cable and a Universal Dock Connector.

iPod nano requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS® X v10.4.9 or later and iTunes 7.6; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 7.6. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended, fees may apply. The iTunes Store is not available in all countries. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only. More Information Here.

Apple NAS Solutions

DigMo — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:26:10 +0000

Generally we seek to provide solutions and tutorials for the general issues facing the creative Mac User… Well this post is slightly different ! We are trying to establish a work NAS solution for video / itunes that will work with OSX Leopard. Over the last year we have tried a range of different devices, from the HP Media Vault system to a USB drive attached to our router, none have really provided us with the solution we desire.

We are asking DigMo! readers to comment on what they think is the best NAS system available that integrates with OSX Leopard. We are wanting the ability to mount the drive on a number of Macs and ideally use the drive as an iTunes library as well.

All comments greatly appreciated :

Raving about the Revo

DigMo — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:43:27 +0000

Having invested £270 in an Apple iPhone the next step is to ensure it last all eighteen months of the O2 contract. Having passed on the monthly insurance (at just over seven pounds per month) I believe and hope a good house insurance policy and the quality case is a much wiser route to iPhone heaven.In the weeks up the iPhone launch I have been researching cases for the phone, as you can imagine there are quite a range available from leather to aluminium.

Not being able to decide on what is best case for my own needs I ended up procuring a couple of options to investigate which was best.

Having been an iPod and Pocket PC user for many years I have always struggled with protective cases verses functionality. Buying the sleekest small phone on the market and putting it in to a bulky case seemed to defy all logic. Anyone who has used an ipod case in the past will know the frustration of trying to use a docking station, taking the ipod out of most cases can be work at the best of times.

Over the last few days I have been using the iSkin Revo case, replacing the slip cased I had used the two days before.

The slip case was cheap but not only was it bulky and left one end of the iphone protruding out the top it also left marks on the screen as it slid in and out of the case. I really don’t think the phone would have come to much damage but I wasn’t willing to take the chance.

The iSkin Revo is a well designed and manufactured case offering the ease of use of a soft case but with the added protection of a hard visor.

The “Visor” Created with a durable polycarbonate, specially coated with an optical clear-coat, helps to keep the iPhone’s ever so important screen safe from impacting objects. The ViSOR easily snaps to the front to cover and protect the iPhone’s screen — and can be snapped just as easily to the rear, blending seamlessly.

My previous experience of silicon type cases isn’t that good. I found getting the iPod in and out of the case tricky and lining up the ports etc was an equal challenge. The Revo is different ! placing the iPhone in and out of the case is virtually effortless with all port, button and camera holes lining up perfectly each time. The material itself has also been carefully designed, there is a velvet feel to the plastic that makes it very easy to grip.

I think iSkin have gone to every length to ensure this case can’t be dropped and they have pretty much succeeded.The Revo comes with an additional accessory, (which I admit I didn’t venture to use). The case includes a touch-compatible privacy film that helps to keep prying eyes from personal information. When viewed directly, the privacy film gives you a clear view of your display. Angled views appear tinted, near complete black, to create an effective privacy barrier. The revo’s privacy film easily adheres to the iPhone’s screen without the use of adhesives. It allows your fingers to slide freely, offering full touch sensitivity and screen protection.

In conclusion

The Revo case is excellent ! it is clear a large amount of time and effort has been invested in designing a functional case for the iphone. The case adds very little to the bulk of the phone and is reasonably attractive (having said that I am going to be ordering a different colour this week as I am not so keen on the Yellow:) ) The Visor is a great fit and offers additional screen protection during transportation. The Revo’s best feature has to be the level of protection offered from a case that is so easy to take on and off the iPhone.

Lets face it the iPhone comes with a great desk stand and the last thing I want is a case that stops me from using it ! The Revo slips on and off the phone with ease.If you have an iphone and you are serious about it lasting the eighteen month contract then this case is an essential purchase !

This is definitely our “Choice” iPhone case.Click here for more information.

Apple TV Review : Love

DigMo — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:59:14 +0000

Two months ago we purchased the latest AppleTV offering : 160GB of storage and the new Youtube feature (activated at the end of June). When Apple initially mentioned AppleTV back in January I have to say we had our doubts that such a device had any real purpose, well happily I can say I was wrong.For anyone unfamiliar with the concept of AppleTV the device can sync and stream media from your iTunes library to your living room the model we purchased has 160GB of storage and a 40GB version is also available.

As a UK iTunes users we rely on Elgato’s EyeTv for TV recording and manually converting our DVD library as the main source of media for our AppleTV. This said AppleTV still has a lot to offer the UK customer ! Currently we have a range of movies, our photos, 3000 songs and music video purchased from iTunes and the quality if excellent.

If you are facing the conversion challenge for your growing DVD collection then the Elgato Turbo.264 is a useful tool to speed the process up. We aim for each movie to be around the 2gig mark in terms of space and adding the media to the AppleTV is reasonably quick process once converted. We recently upgraded our wifi to an N router and we can definitely see the benefit once we purchased the N upgrade for our iMac (£1.25). Having experienced both N and G I can say the upgrade is not essential and the G transfer was perfectly adequate.

One really nice feature is the ability to subscribe to video podcasts and have them update automatically on the AppleTV. I am hoping when the ability to purchase TV shows comes to the UK we will be able to subscribe in much the same way.

The YouTube feature is also excellent. This feature has a parental control feature where a 4 digit pin number can stop kids gaining access to Youtube. We have also had a fair few hours entertainment looking at some of the kid suitable content on there. The AppleTV system is intuitive and we have found a 4 year old can work their way around the system effortlessly.

On the topic of parental control it would be great if the user could mark media files as child safe. I recently recorded ‘Rambo’ on EyeTV and although I would like it on my AppleTV I don’t really want everyone in the house having access to the movie. A simple tickbox in the info would be enough to protect the file but perhaps this will come in time.

The AppleTV brings iTunes to the living room in a small yet slick way. The ability to view your Aperture or iPhoto library as you listen to your latest music is great. Yes there are other products on the market that offer similar but for ease of use I can not fault the Apple device. The device is not only simple to use but very easy to set up!

I have read on some blogs that the AppleTV is a flop and will fail but I can’t see that point of view. Personally I think a great product has simply been over shadowed by the subsequent release of the iPhone. I really can not recommend this product enough, if I could afford it I would purchase another AppleTV for another part the house.

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Apple TV : The tour

DigMo — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:09:31 +0000

Apple have started shipping their Apple TV device. Once known as iTV, Apple TV was officially unveiled at Macworld 2007. With its built-in hard drive and 802.11n wireless streaming, this little white box finally brings together iTunes and the TV.

The unit costs just under £200 and unfortunately for many UK homes does not work with the traditional CRT screens.

A tour of features :

Personally we don’t see what the hype is all about. In our opinion a video ipod and composite cable adds external video capabilities to a great personal player. Perhaps as more UK homes move to HD televisions and Apple actually offer the UK Movies and TV via iTunes our opinion might change but for now we are sticking with ipod.

The AppleTV  start screen.

Reviews
Apple TV review on Yahoo Tech
Home Theatre Blog
ZDnet

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