Elgato's Turbo.264 HD Software Edition Speeds Mac Transcoding

It's a real shame that Elgato's latest piece of software is Mac-only, but for those who rely on Apple's operating system to get their computing done, this one may just be worth a look. For anyone who has ever tried to edit a few clips together in iMovie and then export that into a smaller file format for uploading, you probably understand the frustration that comes with waiting for hours as it converts and transcodes. It's almost unavoidable.

Elgato, a few years ago, introduced a software/hardware solution called the Turbo.264 HD. While that worked great in speeding up the transcode process, it required that a USB dongle be plugged in during the process. That's obviously not always convenient, and if you forget your dongle, the software is worthless. Now, the Turbo.264 HD Software Edition has arrived to solve that problem, and possibly offer a solution to those who held off on spending $150 just to speed up their encodes/transcodes.

Turbo.264 HD SE is sort of like a "light" version of the original; it lacks the hardware acceleration present in the hardware dongle, but it still speeds up the process at least 2x-4x compared to using Apple's own system. The software integrates well with iMovie, and it includes pre-set conversion rates for putting files onto iPad, iPod, iPhone or any other portable media viewer. It's available as a trial to see if it works well for you, and at $49.95, it's far cheaper than the original. Also, the original Turbo.264 HD is now priced at just $99.95, making that one more affordable as well.

Turbo.264 HD Software Edition - The Easy Way to Convert Camcorder & Video Files for iPhone, iPad

San Francisco, CA - July 15, 2010 - Elgato, the makers of the award-winning EyeTV product line, today released a software edition of Turbo.264 HD, a versatile and easy-to-use video converter for the Mac. Turbo.264 HD gives users the ability to instantly edit HD camcorder clips without converting them first, and supports nearly any kind of video source format. It uses advanced encoding technology to convert any video file to a very high-quality iPhone- and iPad-compatible format. The interface is extremely easy-to-use and offers pre-installed output formats for iPad, iPhone, YouTube and many others. The software edition of Turbo.264 HD is available for download immediately in the Elgato Online Store at a price of $49.95 USD. A hardware-accelerated version of Turbo.264 HD is also available.

Get instant access to HD camcorder video
Sharing HD camcorder clips with friends on a Mac, iPad, or YouTube account is easier and faster with Turbo.264 HD. The software automatically detects USB camcorders and enables users to preview and edit video clips before importing them. Unlike other applications, Turbo.264 HD Software Edition does not require a lengthy conversion into an intermediate format.

Superior-quality video for iPad from nearly any format
Turbo.264 HD can handle nearly any kind of video file, including formats that are non-native on the Mac such as MKV or wmv. Turbo.264 automatically adds converted videos into iTunes to sync with connected Apple devices. Video collectors can add details before converting, such as a description and episode numbers, to keep their iTunes library organized.

Convert video to the universal H.264 format – fast
Using advanced encoding technology, Turbo.264 HD converts standard- and high-definition files faster than other H.264 video encoders. There is no compromise on quality since Turbo.264 HD follows Apple's specifications for H.264 videos and uses Elgato’s unique Progressive Scan method for video deinterlacing.

Hardware-accelerated version of Turbo.264 HD
Turbo.264 HD is available in a software edition, and a hardware-accelerated version is also available. The hardware-accelerated version of Turbo.264 HD boosts the speed of video conversion from two to four times, even on the fastest Mac. The hardware accelerator connects via USB to act as a “co-processor” and comes complete with the software.

Availability
Turbo.264 HD Software Edition is available for download at a price of $49.95 in the Elgato Online Store (www.elgato.com). A free trial is available here: http://downloads2.elgato.com/turbodownloads/demo/software/turbohd_demo.dmg. The Turbo.264 HD (with hardware accelerator) is available in the Elgato Online Store at a price of $99.95.
Tags:  Apple, OS X, Mac, Software, Elgato