February 11, 2008
Video App Lust: TubeTV, Lostify
I’m always thrilled when some developer launches an application that enables me to further my obsessive compulsiveness. I’m not a programmer myself, so it’s great when someone else does the hard work and I can concentrate on being anal retentive.
My most recent vehicles: TubeTV and Lostify.
TubeTV is a donationware Mac OS X application that enables YouTube content downloads for easy playback on Apple TV, iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone, and of course your computer.
Initially this might sound like a waste of time, but consider this: in their current incarnation, the Apple TV and iPhone/Touch YouTube libraries are limited. You don’t get full access to everything YouTube has to offer.
As for offline viewing? Forget about it.
Enter TubeTV. You can find videos you like in your browser of choice, copy-and-paste the link into TubeTV, or just use the application itself as a YouTube browser. To download, just click the big Download arrow in the top righthand corner, and let it work its magic.
Your video is automatically downloaded and converted to Quicktime movies. You can specify a conversion format (Apple TV, iPod, iPhone, or regular mobile phone), and even choose to automatically add downloaded videos to your iTunes library and set content tags upon completion.
That’s it. Done. Finito.
Just out of beta, TubeTV 1.0 is slick and easy. The main caveat is that video will be nowhere near high definition, because its source after all is the Flash video format utilized by YouTube.
But if you just want to keep and enjoy your favorite videos without needing network access or the accompanying load times, TubeTV is highly recommended.
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My other favorite video application of the moment is Lostify.
Created out of the developer’s desire to add/alter iTunes metadata tags for his Lost Season 1 video collection, Lostify is a donationware app that enables you to easily add or change meta tags for all your iTunes videos.
If you rip DVDs for later viewing through iTunes, Apple TV and what-have-you (not that I ever have, of course), you have undoubtedly found that the Description tag is locked. Metadata tagging is probably disabled in iTunes due to nagging performance issues, as iTunes is a somewhat bloated app by Apple’s standards.
So if you’re obsessive about your video collection (as I am), just fire up Lostify and let it do the hard work for you.
The interface is instantly familiar and comfortable for anyone already accustomed to iTunes. You can only tag one video at a time, but you can open multiples and queue them.
Congratulations. You can now add your own descriptions to the Description field. Or you can do as I do and grab the plot summary from IMDB.
Additionally, for videos like TV series episodes, you can even add tags for the original air date, network, and so-on.
Want to be able to search for particular actors, screenwriters, or directors? Click the Cast button at the bottom of the application and add entries for actor, director, screenwriter, co-director, and producer.
The application re-writes to original file, so it can be somewhat slow depending on file size. And you must make sure to choose the correct Destination options. If you want to be extra-safe, specify that it create a new tile and not delete the original once the rewrite is complete. You can always delete the duplicates later, and prevents you from losing any of your precious movies and TV episodes.
Even better, you can add Lostify to the iTunes Script menu, and/or drag video files to the Lostify icon to begin the process. Slick.
Kudos to the developer on this one, and thanks for helping me optimize my obsessiveness. I really should’ve been a librarian.
Back to my site, Retired Time Bomb.
Some other options…
TubeSock.. http://stinkbot.com/Tubesock/
It’s not donationware, but it works, except for the last time I used it tanked… hoping its a fluke.
There is also an app for iTunes tagging called Parsley is Atomically Delicious… which is of course a terrible name for an app.
http://www.them.ws/pad/
Looks Like Lostify might be a little better, but I thought all of that stuff was unlocked now? I may just be thinking of the video type fields.