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neo179neo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 29, 2010
102
0
Nottingham, UK
Hey...

Does anybody use iFicks at all? I convert/download lots of 1080p films 99% of the time in .MKV, i watch everything downstairs on my mac mini which has 5.1 setup, using plex to watch everything and a jailbroken tv to watch upstairs but sometimes with hicccups...

With me now having the "new" iPad and wanting the apple tv 3 i wanted a better fix...

Instead of using handbrake, does anybody use iFlicks to do their converting? Ive got the trial and it seems ok, didnt know if anyone uses this and their thoughts on it?

I just used the 1080p preset, which i assume just converts mkv to m4v???
 

hafr

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2011
2,743
9
Hey...

Does anybody use iFicks at all? I convert/download lots of 1080p films 99% of the time in .MKV, i watch everything downstairs on my mac mini which has 5.1 setup, using plex to watch everything and a jailbroken tv to watch upstairs but sometimes with hicccups...

With me now having the "new" iPad and wanting the apple tv 3 i wanted a better fix...

Instead of using handbrake, does anybody use iFlicks to do their converting? Ive got the trial and it seems ok, didnt know if anyone uses this and their thoughts on it?

I just used the 1080p preset, which i assume just converts mkv to m4v???

I use it and I'm very happy with it. Most, if not all of your questions about how it works should be answered in detail on their webpage.
 

hagar

macrumors 68000
Jan 19, 2008
1,942
4,768
I have it but stopped using it because it crashes a lot. I now use VideoDrive which supports multiple converters: by default I convert all my videos files for my AppleTV with the Turbo.264 HD setting, except for MKV files with are handled by HandBrake.

VideoDrive is like an easier interface for HandBrake but with far more features (downloading of artwork and metadata) and completely automatic setup using hot folders.

The great thing is that it can also put videos in Tunes without converting first. So you could organize all your video files in iTunes without conversions and then later on convert those that you want to copy on your iPhone/iPad.
 

hafr

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2011
2,743
9
I have it but stopped using it because it crashes a lot. I now use VideoDrive which supports multiple converters: by default I convert all my videos files for my AppleTV with the Turbo.264 HD setting, except for MKV files with are handled by HandBrake.

VideoDrive is like an easier interface for HandBrake but with far more features (downloading of artwork and metadata) and completely automatic setup using hot folders.

The great thing is that it can also put videos in Tunes without converting first. So you could organize all your video files in iTunes without conversions and then later on convert those that you want to copy on your iPhone/iPad.

Not saying you're wrong, just want to throw it in there that iFlicks has never crashed for me. But VideoDrive sounds interesting :)
 

WhatAmI

macrumors 6502a
Sep 2, 2009
923
10
I've converted some 200 full-length MKVs with iFlicks and have yet to find something as intuitive, stable and easy to use as iFlicks. If you're in to tuning your conversions to death this is not for you, if you want something that works yr money is well-spent!:)
 

GarrettL1979

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2012
330
0
Is there any difference in quality between using this or the standard High Profile handbrake preset?
 

bohbot16

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2009
674
10
I use iFlicks on the "iTunes Compatible" setting and it does the following to any MKVs I have:
- Generates a stereo AAC track from the AC3 track in the MKV
- Re-muxes the H.264 video from the MKV, AC3 from the MKV, and new AAC track into an MP4 containers, with the track ordering that iTunes wants.
- Downloads metadata and tags the .m4v
- Adds the new file to iTunes

I don't use it for transcoding, so I can't comment on those features.
 

mic j

macrumors 68030
Mar 15, 2012
2,663
156
I use iFlicks on the "iTunes Compatible" setting and it does the following to any MKVs I have:
- Generates a stereo AAC track from the AC3 track in the MKV
- Re-muxes the H.264 video from the MKV, AC3 from the MKV, and new AAC track into an MP4 containers, with the track ordering that iTunes wants.
- Downloads metadata and tags the .m4v
- Adds the new file to iTunes

I don't use it for transcoding, so I can't comment on those features.

So all of your mkv's are already use the h.264 codec? Are they blu rays? So far, the only time I have run into h.264 being used natively are in blu rays. All of my dvd's are mpeg2.
 

bohbot16

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2009
674
10
I've found that the "scene" trend is to use h.264 in an mkv for any HD video.
 

WesCole

macrumors 6502a
Jul 1, 2010
756
14
Texas
I still use handbrake to convert, but iFlicks is great to add metadata to your movies and TV shows. That is the main reason I bought it, anyway.
 

GarrettL1979

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2012
330
0
Wirelessly posted

WesCole said:
I still use handbrake to convert, but iFlicks is great to add metadata to your movies and TV shows. That is the main reason I bought it, anyway.

I just started messing around with it today-- how do you get it to only add meta data without it trying to encode an m4v already converted using hb?

Basically, I'd like to use iFlicks just for its meta data adding function
 

bohbot16

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2009
674
10
Wirelessly posted



I just started messing around with it today-- how do you get it to only add meta data without it trying to encode an m4v already converted using hb?

Basically, I'd like to use iFlicks just for its meta data adding function

Use the "iTunes Compatible" preset.
 

nidayaqoob1230

macrumors newbie
Apr 5, 2012
3
0
I just downloaded the free trial of iflicks and I want to add a movie. How do you import the movie from the cd drive to the application?
 

hafr

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2011
2,743
9
I just downloaded the free trial of iflicks and I want to add a movie. How do you import the movie from the cd drive to the application?

You can't use it to rip a DVD movie. For that, you would need to first rip the DVD with a program like RipIt, then you will have to use a program that can convert DVD rips, such as HandBrake.
 

xplnusa

macrumors regular
Nov 17, 2009
154
6
Idaho
I've been using handbrake to convert, and other than it being kind of slow it does an excellent job, however it would be great to have something that will grab all of the metadata for me!
 

iHailCarlo

macrumors 6502
Aug 10, 2012
281
1
I love iFlicks, it works great at converting and giving my movie and TV series their metadata and then moves them to iTunes for me.
 

xplnusa

macrumors regular
Nov 17, 2009
154
6
Idaho
I downloaded the free trial. I'm 99% sure I'll be purchasing this from the Mac App Store... Its AWESOME!!! I'm still using Handbrake for converting from .mkv to .m4v universal it seems that way I get a really good conversion and it looks great on the TV through my ATV 2.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
I downloaded the free trial. I'm 99% sure I'll be purchasing this from the Mac App Store... Its AWESOME!!! I'm still using Handbrake for converting from .mkv to .m4v universal it seems that way I get a really good conversion and it looks great on the TV through my ATV 2.

...just don't forget that there are sometimes much faster alternatives (Subler being the most important but MP4Tools is also great), some even for free...

----------

I've been using handbrake to convert, and other than it being kind of slow it does an excellent job, however it would be great to have something that will grab all of the metadata for me!

You can also use the free and at least 3-4 times faster Subler to automatically fetch the metadata.
 

DAMAC3

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2009
152
14
Noblesville, IN
I'm very pleased with iFlicks. I'm running it on the newest Mini with the i7 Cpu. I just about only use it on iTunes Compatible mode. I have converted several hundred movies ranging from full Blu-ray rips (using Make MKV) to 1GB AVI movie files. I've also converted several full series of TV shows, some MKV HD files and some SD AVI files.

I've only had iFlicks crash a couple times, and that was only when I was loading up the cue with like 100 HD movies at a time. I really, really like the app. It is simple to use and reliable. I can't see any difference in picture quality, which should be the case considering mostly I am just changing the file type and adding Metadata.

I have had some AVI files that wouldn't play properly unless I did some transcoding (changing the preset to Apple TV3 & New iPad). They looked just as good as before. I prefer iFlicks to Subler & Handbrake for the purpose of converting files for iTunes. It is so much easier. Subler won't accept some AVI files for some reason.

Lastly, I know many have said that iFlicks is much slower than Subler & Handbrake, but I don't transcode the video very often. iFlicks is actually pretty fast at converting to m4v and adding Metadata.
 

stiwi

macrumors 6502
Nov 13, 2010
279
50
Dubai
I have been trying both iFlicks and iVI and finally decided to donate to Subler and MP4Tools.

iVI has nice set of customization features, you can add subtitles, can't precise audio much (they promised to add AC3 640Kbps downstream in next update) and sometimes it feels buggy (e.g. if you enable pass through but have set max 4.5 Mbps, app was supposed to warn you - according to their FAQ - and stick to the settings while it is passing through even 20Mbps tracks with no warnings).

iFlicks on the other hand has almost none customizing features, you can't add tracks, can't add subtitles, can't have influence on the video's high profile (nightlies HB allows this). So it is either all or nothing and after iFlicks you still have to use Subler to add / remove tracks / subs.
 

DAMAC3

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2009
152
14
Noblesville, IN
I have been trying both iFlicks and iVI and finally decided to donate to Subler and MP4Tools.

iVI has nice set of customization features, you can add subtitles, can't precise audio much (they promised to add AC3 640Kbps downstream in next update) and sometimes it feels buggy (e.g. if you enable pass through but have set max 4.5 Mbps, app was supposed to warn you - according to their FAQ - and stick to the settings while it is passing through even 20Mbps tracks with no warnings).

iFlicks on the other hand has almost none customizing features, you can't add tracks, can't add subtitles, can't have influence on the video's high profile (nightlies HB allows this). So it is either all or nothing and after iFlicks you still have to use Subler to add / remove tracks / subs.

I couldn't give a crap about any of that except for subtitles. Just about the only time that matters to me is in movies like Star Wars where I can't find a Rosetta Stone course for some of those alien languages. But I completely understand that some people want customizations that iFlicks can't offer.
 

MoodyM

macrumors 6502a
Aug 14, 2008
778
25
I love iflicks, bar 2 things: you can't remove unwanted tracks (foreign audio, etc) and you can't leave the 5.1 track as track 1/default, meaning if want to play any of the movies on my TV downstairs using my WDTV Live Hub (or Apple TV or whatever) I have to manually select audio track 2 to get proper surround sound.
 
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