Hi all, as I explained before, I am a semi Mac virgin , so please be patinte as I am sure I will ask many blonde questions....Thanks in Advance!

What is a "VisualHub" is like a dvd player, picture viewer...do I need it???

It's a file converter, it will take a downloaded AVI, DIVX or well most formats

Hopefully this link here can help you find out more.... Clicky

First and foremost, thanks for the help!



OKies....I think got it..key words "I think"? ...wow, so much to read an learn....so let me get this straight, I first use Visualhub to do the encoding and then either burn DVD and or transfer "strange extensions" to on my ipod?

As we speak, toast is encoding, so I no longer need toast or VH first and then toast?

Sorry blonde here!!

You may not need it at all. It depends on what you download. If you download it in an iPod format and want to watch it on your iPod, then there's no need for VisualHub, but if you download in DVD or .avi format, etc., then you'll need to convert it. If you download an .avi (for example) and want to watch it on your computer or a DVD player that supports .avi, you can burn it to disc the way it is, but if you download an .avi and want to watch it on a DVD player that doesn't support it, you can use VH to convert it to a DVD format

In other words, it's like a Swiss Army knife, allowing you to change formats to whatever you want, if you need to. But, you might not need to.


Edit: There are a couple of things you should download and install if you like to watch video files on your Mac.
Perian: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/22923/perian
Flip4Mac: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/17787...4mac-wmv-player

With these 2 things installed, you'll be able to watch anything, in any format(?) on your computer. Then, if necessary, you can use VH to convert them to other formats for other devices.

Okies, let me recapitulate; links are pretty clear and thank you so much however still confused about VH...sorry! ok like I mention before so that I can burn a movie to a DVD my toast is encoding an axxo now, (not watching this one on the computer) ATM the encoding takes hours and the burn about 20 min ....will the VH program help make this process go faster?..I think that is what you are saying...just double checking....

Maybe. I use Toast to burn, but not to encode. I'd say, see how this one comes out, then try another aXXo rip about the same size with VH and see how they compare.

Personally, I spent about US$40 and bought a DVD player that can play .avi's. You don't have to encode them at all, just burn to a CD or DVD (you can fit 4-6 .avi's on a DVD). Download, burn and play.

Ok... I think I am doing something wrong and I am not sure what now I am even more confused....when I insert a disk to burn and Toast starts it "asks" if I want to burn to PAL or NTSC and it has a "warning" that if I chose PAL it will take longer, I actually tried PAL once and it took sometime, but the same with NTSC...anyway after that it starts "encoding" which takes foreeeveeer.... since I am new at Toast, Mac and Torrents I assumed that it was normal....but after your comment I am obviously doing something wrong....sorry, help!

thank you thank you thank you!

You're probably not doing anything wrong. It can take hours, and probably is normal, especially with a G4. Have you actually finished an encode/burn yet? I had a G4 until recently, and it took so long to encode from .avi to DVD (actually, VIDEO_TS) that I bought a new DVD player just so I wouldn't have to do it anymore.

Thanks again!, I was starting to feel even more software/Mac/puter stupid, than I already do...if that is possible! Well, will investigate the DVD players purchase and see if I can solve the time problem that way. Although since I live in Sweden they probably want at least 4 times the price that you quoted for one that can read avi format.. and no I am still waiting for the encoding to end so it can start burning and eve -ntua... lly ......watch it

once again THANKS!!!

The good thing about a player like this is, it doesn't matter whether the source is NTSC or PAL like it does with a regular DVD. Once it's converted to .avi by the ripper, it will play.

And I wanted to point you towards these 2 sites:

http://www.macupdate.com/
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/

Whenever any new software is released for Mac, it will show up here. You'll still need the serial#, but that's what MSJ is for.

Oh Fudge! back to stupid. .what is MSJ??

...thanks for the links, you are the best!

MacSerialJunkie, the site you joined yesterday.

Edit: Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. It's not ingrained in your mind like it is in mine, but it will be eventually!

Well, Well...I am ONLY human,(and blonde under the black hair) with all the amount of info I am trying to deal with ATM..I am surprise I remember my name...or do I???

"Ah, Interesting!"

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