I saw in the store that there is an eyetv for mac's. I was thinking about buying one, recording movies and tv shows, and then getting them on my apple tv. Has anyone tried this before? Is this practical? I just want to get a feel if I'm wasting my time by doing this.
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Eyetv For Mac Question
- Thread starter nortmansdad
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sandman42
macrumors 6502a
I have EyeTV and 
TV, and I use them together all the time. It's my Tivo. You can schedule recordings in EyeTV and select them to export to iTunes upon completion (at iPod, iPhone, or TV resolution), then iTunes will sync the recordings to TV, and when you check your TV later, there they are. I usually manually edit out the ads before I export to iTunes, but if you don't care about that it can be totally automated. They work very nicely together.
TV, and I use them together all the time. It's my Tivo. You can schedule recordings in EyeTV and select them to export to iTunes upon completion (at iPod, iPhone, or TV resolution), then iTunes will sync the recordings to TV, and when you check your TV later, there they are. I usually manually edit out the ads before I export to iTunes, but if you don't care about that it can be totally automated. They work very nicely together.I have a Terratec Cinergy (useful for playing Wii and my cable box on my Mac) which works with eyeTV great, I don't have an TV, but as the posters said above, eyeTV can export to iTunes automatically (or manually after removing adverts) and iTunes will sync the show with TV like anything else in iTunes.
TV, but as the posters said above, eyeTV can export to iTunes automatically (or manually after removing adverts) and iTunes will sync the show with TV like anything else in iTunes.
superleccy
macrumors 6502a
EyeTV and TV is a great combination. I love it.
One word of warning: it can take ages to convert from EyeTV's MPEG2 toTV's MPEG4 or whatever. Yes, as an earlier post points out, it can be fully automated and is very very easy... the process is just slow.
If you have a new Mac then the conversion should take place in real-time or quicker (once recording has finished). But when I had an iBook G4, conversion for a 40 minute show would take about 1 day!!! 😱
It's not EyeTV's fault. Converting from MPEG2 to MPEG4 is slow for any computer. It would be nice ifTV supported MPEG2 directly, but it doesn't.
But don't let that put you off. Really... it's wicked.
SL
TV is a great combination. I love it.One word of warning: it can take ages to convert from EyeTV's MPEG2 to
TV's MPEG4 or whatever. Yes, as an earlier post points out, it can be fully automated and is very very easy... the process is just slow.If you have a new Mac then the conversion should take place in real-time or quicker (once recording has finished). But when I had an iBook G4, conversion for a 40 minute show would take about 1 day!!! 😱
It's not EyeTV's fault. Converting from MPEG2 to MPEG4 is slow for any computer. It would be nice if
TV supported MPEG2 directly, but it doesn't.But don't let that put you off. Really... it's wicked.
SL
Im also thinking of going with AppleTV and then later eyeTV. One concern I have is if eyeTV will record in my account while my son is logged into his acct, all on the same iMac?
As with all video files, File Size == Total bitrate X Length, so there is no real answer.
superleccy
macrumors 6502a
Looking at my iTunes library now, I've got an 25min show that's 554MB, a 59min show that's 1.29GB and a 1hr59min show that's 2.64GB.
These were exported from EyeTV (some will have been using my Elgato Turbo.264, can't remember which) using the default settings forTV. All are widescreen.
If you want them smaller you can use one of several iPod export settings. The quality is lower but they take up less space and they also play nice with your iPod. 🙂
HTH
SL
These were exported from EyeTV (some will have been using my Elgato Turbo.264, can't remember which) using the default settings for
TV. All are widescreen.If you want them smaller you can use one of several iPod export settings. The quality is lower but they take up less space and they also play nice with your iPod. 🙂
HTH
SL
gcmexico
macrumors 6502a
I love it!!
I have Eyetv and AppleTV and like everyone says it's awesome...2 comments though
1) you can buy the Elgato Turbo USB stick, and it will speed up the conversion time for movies and shows, it cuts the time in half
2) also you can set it up wifi, I love this feature!! I teach so I can't watch the news till I get home, so I have Eyetv record the cable news at 12am, then it converts the file to wifi, I have a port opened on my IMAC, when I'm waiting for the bus, I connect my Iphone to someones wifi and boom I get to see the midday news while I wait
Eyetv rocks!!😀
(update)
someone did mention the Elgato turbo, I just noticed
I have Eyetv and AppleTV and like everyone says it's awesome...2 comments though
1) you can buy the Elgato Turbo USB stick, and it will speed up the conversion time for movies and shows, it cuts the time in half
2) also you can set it up wifi, I love this feature!! I teach so I can't watch the news till I get home, so I have Eyetv record the cable news at 12am, then it converts the file to wifi, I have a port opened on my IMAC, when I'm waiting for the bus, I connect my Iphone to someones wifi and boom I get to see the midday news while I wait
Eyetv rocks!!😀
(update)
someone did mention the Elgato turbo, I just noticed
superleccy
macrumors 6502a
Indeed... but the time saving is relative to how fast your Mac would have handled it in the first place. Eg, on my MBP (see sig), I don't actually get much of (or any) time saving. But it does free up my CPU for other tasks... which is nice.
SL
I checked out the Eyetv website and there are many Eyetv products. I have no idea which one should I purchase. I am in New Zealand and want to play my Wii on my iMac and be able to watch TV in my iMac...
So which one is good for my the Hybrid or Eyetv 2???
So which one is good for my the Hybrid or Eyetv 2???
This is what I use for watching freeview, my cable box and my Wii on my Mac. I know it's not an eyeTV product, but it works perfectly with eyeTV and I was able to get one a lot cheaper than any of the eyeTV products.
I export to the highest possible 'Ipod' settings which are H264, 640*480. That looks 'fine' on my 42" 1080p plasma... A but soft but OK and the file sizes are not huge. Mind you, I wish EyeTV used something more like VisualHub to convert...
I have been searching for a method of automating exactly this. I find EyeTV to be slightly cumbersome and slow to operate.
I have the EyeTV 2 software - is this automatic recording / converting / importing / syncing magic of which you speak available in EyeTV 2 or is it a feature of V3?
Thanks,
VL
I didn't realize that you can just select the recordings to automatically export to "Apple TV" and it would just cram it into your iTunes library by itself.
One thing that I don't like about the automatic import to iTunes is that it puts the videos in the default library location instead of letting you specify a location. Is there a way around this?
Hey guys can you guys give me some pointers and what not. I have a macbook 2.16 core 2 duo with 4gb ram. I was thinking of getting the eyetv thing. Just wanted to know which one could I get that would get the channels and some QAM channels as well. I've noticed that the tuners have changed since the last time I saw them. Also would the tuner work on my macbook??? Thanks so much guys.
I use the eyetv hybrid on the very same mbp you are using. No problems whatsoever from my end. very happy with it for the price.
Is yours a pro or just macbook? I have just the regular macbook. I think I'm going to jump the gun and get it if it can work on the macbook as I see a lot of people using it but they have the pros.
Ok just went ahead and ordered one from macsales.com. Much cheaper then amazon and even cheaper then from elgato themselves.