How do I automatically resize a bunch of videos for youtube?

October 8, 2007 12:33 PM

Can you set up an apple script or use quicksilver or find a way to automate using iMovie to convert a bunch of .avi movie clips to a smaller size so they can be uploaded on YouTube.

I currently have a folder of video clips on my computer to upload to YouTube but they are too large. I have been loading them into iMovie one at a time (this can take a minute or two) and then reformatting them in the CD-ROM setting (which takes another couple of minutes), which gets them to the right size for uploading online.

Is there a way to automate this process? I feel like there must be, if I'm just doing the same 3 steps over and over again, but the last time I tried to do something with Apple Scripts I got helplessly lost and gave up.

Goggling wasn't so helpful, but if anyone know of another program that would make this really easy, I'd love so advice. I'll be around watching the thread if anyone has any questions or if this isn't clear. Thanks!

posted by davidstandaford to technology (9 comments total)

this will do it... VisualHub.

drag and drop a bunch of movies onto it, then pick which format you want to convert them all to, adjust settings and hit start... totally worth the $23.32 they charge.
posted by hummercash at 12:43 PM on October 8, 2007

oh, it seems like you were looking for an app that will upload directly to youtube... visualhub will only convert to other formats. sorry.
posted by hummercash at 12:46 PM on October 8, 2007

This might do it... if you can import video into it.

or if you have a windows machine you can upload from... Tubecast will do the trick.
posted by hummercash at 12:59 PM on October 8, 2007

hummercash: I can do the youtube upload myself, I just need a quick and easy way to convert them all.

I'm hoping there is a free way to do this.
posted by davidstandaford at 1:04 PM on October 8, 2007

any chance you have Quicktime Pro??? if so you can follow these instructions but instead of downloading everything in step1 just download and install this and you should be set...
posted by hummercash at 4:32 PM on October 8, 2007

ffmpeg is a pretty great all-purpose command-line video encoder/decoder. If you're okay with bash scripting, you could easily set up a script to do exactly what you want.

It does take a little experimenting to get the right output from ffmpeg. If you have any trouble, feel free to email me.
posted by icebourg at 5:37 PM on October 8, 2007

I use ffmpeg to convert video files all the time. Like icebourg said, it takes a while to get the hang of the settings, but you'll soon get a pretty good workflow going, and you can set up a queue so they'll keep converting in the background.
posted by robcorr at 5:40 PM on October 8, 2007

2nding Visual Hub
posted by now i'm piste at 12:19 AM on October 9, 2007

mpegstreamclip (Mac and Windows) has a batch feature that lets you load a list of videos and define a batch process (including resize). This would convert and resize a given list of material for you.
posted by emalyse at 5:14 AM on October 9, 2007