Some time ago I wrote about encoding video files to suit both the AppleTV and Sony’s Playstation 3. It was a bit of a painful task back then, but now, it’s pretty simple.
First, install Handbrake (if you haven’t already)
Open your video file or DVD, open the presets in Handbrake, and choose “Regular -> High Profile”.
This preset will encode an MP4 to suit both the AppleTV and the PS3. Note that you will need to ensure you set the exported file name to .MP4 (will possibly be .m4v by default)
No other changes are required to the settings! The exported file will suit playback on AppleTV and on PS3.
One thing I noticed is, that when playing back using XMBC on the AppleTV, I can get the Dolby Digital audio track to work. But I cannot get the PS3 to find the same audio track, therefore playback on PS3 is stereo only. (does someone have some tips for getting this working on PS3?)
I recently bought a Sony PlayTV. It’s a device that plugs in to your Playstation 3 and allows you to record television to your PS3. You can then export the clips to the cross media bar, and transfer them to your computer. The files are mpeg2 (m2ts) and play fine on the PS3, but what about the AppleTV? Or importing them to iTunes? Enter MPEG Streamclip.
MPEG Streamclip is a free app that converts several types of video files into different formats.
I wanted to be able to play my files on both the PS3 and the AppleTV, so I created a preset that looks something like this (exporting to MPEG4)
My file is roughly half the size of the original source, looks good, and plays on multiple platforms. win!
So AppleTV 2.4 is out and ready to rock. Control your ATV with your iPhone or iPod Touch using the Remote 1.3 app. This thing is cool, finger gestures and all! I’ll have more information up soon. Need to update my ATV first!
I’ve got an Apple TV, and a couple of PS3’s which I stream content to. I’d like to rip some of my DVD’s so I don’t have to get them out of storage to play them. Thing is, I want to rip them for ATV and PS3 playback… handbrake is the answer, however there is no preset for this.
Check out this guide for an easy fix using handbrake!!
Apple have released 2.3.1 for the AppleTV, no news yet on what it actually does, we’ll find out soon! I’m really far behind on my updates, just don’t want to touch my hacked ATV!
