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pilot1226

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 18, 2010
601
15
USA
Hi,

I've had my iBook G4 since mid-2005. I've always wondered what the point of automator is. I've never used it, just curious as to any typical users would use this for?
 
You use it to do repetitive tasks. For example I used to use it to rename batches of files in incremental fashion before I found Name Mangler. I've also used it to fix up track names in iTunes and to sync files on my webspace via Transmit's Automator plugins.

It has a lot of shortcomings, but it's fairly easy to use and generally gets the job done. It can definitely save you a lot of time.
 
You use it to do repetitive tasks. For example I used to use it to rename batches of files in incremental fashion before I found Name Mangler. I've also used it to fix up track names in iTunes and to sync files on my webspace via Transmit's Automator plugins.

It has a lot of shortcomings, but it's fairly easy to use and generally gets the job done. It can definitely save you a lot of time.

You know, this is why I haven't taken the time to delve into Automator or AppleScript. With tools like Name Mangler and Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes , I find that most repetitive tasks that I've encountered can easily be accomplished with a free app or script that I don't have to spend time creating.
 
You know, this is why I haven't taken the time to delve into Automator or AppleScript. With tools like Name Mangler and Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes , I find that most repetitive tasks that I've encountered can easily be accomplished with a free app or script that I don't have to spend time creating.

Yeah. Basically the internet is awesome. I remember the dark ages when there was nothing even remotely useful on the internet as far as Mac utilities :-\
 
I've used it a few times for very simple tasks. Like once to rename all my photos in a folder and put them in a sequence... it was like 3,000 pictures and I wanted them named in date sequence, it worked wonderfully for that.

Recently I used it to create a folder where I can dump movies or any video files and have them converted to iphone format using quicktime. I just throw the video in there and automator does the rest. So its pretty handy sometimes.
 
I just used it for the first time.
I shoot HD footage on Express cards (SxS) and I made a samll "app" that I can just drag the folder onto and it copies it to 2 different locations AND gives them new names with td´the date and time in descending order.

I tried to have them converted to Quicktime as well, but the program I use for that has a pop up window asking a question every time it starts, so if the program already runs the workflow dosen´t work. Anyone would know a fix for this?
 
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