Zisel's Blog

Rip holiday DVD movie to MP4 for Mac, iPad, iPhone

zisel — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:49:16 +0000

In preparation for my holiday vacation to California, I decided to rip a couple of DVD movies onto my iPad and iPhone for the flight. There are many DVD ripper tools that are capable of ripping DVD movie to iPad or iPhone compatible video formats. Some of them are good tools, but they make the process a bit complicated.

Finally I find an easy-to-use yet powerful DVD ripping program, iFunia DVD Ripper Pro for Mac that works great on my Mac. This software is a free trial application for Mac OS X that accomplishes this task quickly and easily. It even has some preset format options to set up for different resolutions automatically for iPad, iPhone, iPod, PSP, Apple TV, etc.

Step 1: Download, install & run iFunia DVD Ripper Pro for Mac
We’ll be using a very nice DVD Ripping tool for Mac OS called iFunia DVD Ripper Pro to rip DVD movies and convert DVDs to iPad for this holiday season. Head over here and download the free trial version. Next step is to install the program.

Step 2: Select the titles you’d like to convert
A movie DVD usually has several titles. The shorter titles on the DVD are usually the video backgrounds used in the DVD menu screens and DVD extras like movie trailers. Unless you are a graphic artist, you probably don’t want to convert these titles.

* Movie: If you are ripping a movie, the longest title is usually the main feature.
* TV Shows: If you are ripping a DVD containing TV shows, you should see a list of several titles all about the same length.

Step 3: Change the output settings to convert videos with best quality
iPad supports H.264 and MPEG-4 video only. I set the output video format to ‘iPad MPEG-4 Video (*.mp4)’, Video Codec as ‘H264′, Resolution as ’640*480′, Bitrate as ’1500′, Frame Rate as ’30′, Audio Codec as ‘aac’ by default. Remember that the output file size mostly depends on the Bitrate you set. Larger Bitrate, larger file size.

Step 4: Start converting DVD movies
Now you may click the big button “Start” to begin converting DVD movies onto your hard disk. The Convert progress bar shows you how much of the convert process is completed. The longer your movie and the larger its Bitrate, the longer the convert will take. The ripping time will depend on several variables including: the duration of the video file, the speed of your computer, what other activity your computer is currently doing, the codec you selected (H264 or MP4) and the bitrate you set.

Edit videos: crop, trim, add special effects or add watermark (Optional)
Wanna add a personalized watermark on the output video files? You may add a text watermark or an image logo using iFunia DVD Ripper Pro for Mac. Just select the titles/chapters you’d like to add watermark, then click the button ‘Edit’ to open video editing window. If you want to crop DVD movies or add some special effects, click the first two tabs.

Once the convert is complete, iFunia DVD Ripper Pro will place on your Mac a new version of your movie that will play on the iPod. Double-click the new file and play it to make sure it looks as you expect.

Tags:
DVD to iTunes , DVD to iPad , DVD to FLV, DVD to MOV, DVD to MKV, DVD to iPod, DVD to PSP, DVD to Apple TV, DVD to AVI, DVD to 3GP, DVD to WMV.

Great Christmas Gifts for iPad Lovers

zisel — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:07:19 +0000

The holiday selling season is about to kick off, and tech gadgets are going to be high on the wish list for a lot of us. No matter you’re making your own shopping list for Christmas or you’re shopping a present for your friends or lover who love iPad, we’ve got you covered. Here are 6 gift picks of the best iPad gifts for this Christmas.

Great Christmas Gifts for iPad Lovers Top 1- iPad Cases

If your friends already owns an iPad but nevertheless doesn’t have a bag for it, this item is the perfect Christmas present choice. iPad hand bags come in a large range of styles and designs, and they can include a number of special options.

Great Christmas Gifts for iPad Lovers Top 2 – iPad Keyboard Dock

The iPad Keyboard Dock has a rear 30-pin connector, which lets your friends connect to an electrical outlet using the USB Power Adapter. The dock can hold the iPad at the perfect angle to compose email and notes using keyboard. It is also perfect for watching videos or photo slideshows on the go.

Great Christmas Gifts For iPad Lovers Top 3 – iPad Kickstands

For the iPad user, a case that props the iPad up for easy viewing gives arms and shoulders a rest and makes watching movies or reading books a pleasure on long trips. There are some best stands for watching movies on iPad in comfort, including those from elago, Griffin, etc.

Great Christmas Gifts For iPad Lovers Top 4 – DVD to iPad Ripping software

For movie fans with big DVD libraries, these programs can help them convert DVDs into iPad-compatible video files. There are many programs such as Handbrake and iFunia DVD to iPad converter that do this, ranging from free to those that cost $20-$40. They vary in output quality, so try a free download or read reviews before buying.

Great Christmas Gifts for iPad Lovers Top 5 – iPad Car Kit

If the friends on your list spend most of their time in the car, consider an iPad car kit for them. These come in the form of cassette adapters, FM transmitters, and built-in jacks and pipe the iPad’s music through the car stereo. Some also include car charges, another nice touch.

Great Christmas Gifts for iPad Lovers Top 6 – iPad Speakers

If the iPad lover in your life delights in using it to tune in to music, maybe iPad speakers could be the ideal gift. There are several manufacturers who have currently developed speakers specifically for usage with the iPad, as well as those that can plug into the iPad in addition to a number of other devices.

How to Make a Christmas Flash Gallery on Mac

zisel — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:54:51 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when you hear all your favorite Christmas tunes everywhere you go — Christmas is here! And one of the best way to share the joy with others is to make a Christmas photo gallery with Christmas photos, music and send it as a gift to your family and friends, or just to remember this day. But how to create a Christmas photo gallery?

It’s easier than you think to make a flash photo gallery for Christmas. Here, I will show you how to make you very own Christmas flash photo gallery. It’s easy and interesting and the process needs no flash skills at all.

Here’s what you’ll need:
1. Digital Photos for web flash photo gallery
2. Some back ground music
3. iFunia Magic Show for Mac – Click to Download Free Trial

Step 1: Add photos to the Christmas Flash photo gallery
Add the Christmas photos you want by holding down mouse and dragging it to the panel. You can add up to 500 photos that you want to use, type in caption and arrange the photos here. iFunia Magic Show for Mac supports a wide range of file formats for images.

Step 2: Choose from a variety of Christmas Flash templates
Click on Template tab and choose the Christmas Flash template you like. All these Flash templates in the Christmas Flash photo gallery software are ready-for-use. Just choose one of the templates, do some simple settings, and proceed to publish your Christmas Flash photo gallery.

Step 3: Add the Christmas songs to the Flash photo gallery on Mac
If you want to add background music to your Christmas flash photo slideshow, just use the “Add music” built-in tool on the left side of the storyboard. You may check the option to control the background music looping or not.

Step 4: Preview and publish the Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow on Mac
Preview and if you are satisfied with your work, you can publish your flash photo gallery in swf, html or exe or screensaver formats, or you can mail the flash photo slideshow gallery to your friends directly as a gift.

Best Christmas Movies to Watch on Your iPad

zisel — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 07:37:13 +0000

How time flies, Christmas is round the corner again! And one of the best parts of Christmas is have the entire family sit down and enjoy a nice Christmas movie together with the iPad’s wide screen. But which movies are the best? To help you get that special feeling, we’ve pulled together a list of the best Christmas movies that you’d love to watch on your new iPad this holiday.

Part I. Top 5 best Christmas Movies
1. Love Actually
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Starring: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon and Liam Neeson
Release date: 14 November 2003

This is a good film with an affectionate theme. It follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England. With the scenes of success, joy, luck, sincerity and harmony, the movie is brimming with love that actually can be spread like a fire to all people whether they know each other or not. Watching the movie can also ignite the fire of love in your heart and have everything done smoothly with love around Christmas.

2. Home Alone
Genre: Comedy, Kids & Family
Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern
Release Date: 16 November 1990

The Christmas movie that made Macaulay Culkin a household name, It is a story about a little boy that accidentally gets left at home by himself on Christmas. With his family out of town, Culkin’s character, Kevin McCallister, plans to entertain himself, but soon finds that his house is the target of burglars and must take drastic measures to protect his house. This is a great comedy for the holiday season that the whole family will love.

3. It’s a wonderful life
Genre: Drama, Kids & Family, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore
Release Date: 7 January 1947

This movie is a true Christmas classic that the whole family will love. Since its release in 1942, this James Stewart and Donna Reed movie has come to be regarded as one of the best Christmas movies of all time. When it debuted in December 1946 it was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jimmy Stewart), and Best Director (Frank Capra). A touching story involving a man and his guardian angel that is great for people of all age, and a movie that truly gets better every time you see it.

4. A Christmas Story
Genre: Drama, Kids & Family, Comedy
Starring: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin
Release Date: 18 November 1983

One of the most watched Christmas movies of all time, A Christmas Story has become a staple for movie lovers during the holiday season. It is the story of a 9 year old boy, Ralphie Parker, who has just one wish for Christmas – a Red Ryder BB gun. There are some really funny parts to this movie involving Ralphie and the rest of his family as Christmas approaches. Will Ralphie get his dream present for Christmas? You will have to watch the movie to find out for yourself.

5. Elf
Genre: Comedy, Kids & Family
Starring: Will Ferrell, Edward Asner and Bob Newhart
Release date: 7 November 2003

Elf is a warm-hearted Christmas comedy that tells a story of a baby boy who was mistakenly brought to the North Pole in Santa Clause’s bag. He grew up in the elf world and had a wish to go back to his true family in New York. When he returned, he discovered the world was not as peaceful as he had imagined. The Christmas was losing its influence on the busy and lack of affection New Yorkers. He decided to help the world resume the sentimental path which the world was walking off.

Part II. The way to watch the best Christmas movies on iPad
To watch the best Christmas movies on your iPad, you need to rip the Christmas movies to iPad compatible video formats and then transfer the output video to iPad with the sync of iTunes. The simple instructions below will show you how to rip Christmas movie to iPad compatible video files on Mac OS X with iFunia DVD to iPad converter, helping you enjoy the best Christmas movies on the go with your iPad.

1. Run iFunia DVD to iPad Converter on your Mac and load the Christmas movie disc by click the “Add” button.
2. Choose the right preset for your iPad device in the Convert-to drop-down menu.
3. Hit Start to convert Christmas movies to iPad supported video format.
4. Connect iPad to computer, iTunes will detect them as a device. Select iPad device on the left panel of iTunes, drag and drop the converted MP4 video file into it. That’s done. Enjoy.

Tags:
DVD to iTunes, DVD to iPad, DVD to FLV, DVD to MOV, DVD to MKV, DVD to iPod, DVD to PSP, DVD to Apple TV.

How to convert popular video to iPad easily（Mac/Windows）

zisel — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:04:31 +0000

The iPad plays videos only a handful of video formats, none of which are overly common for standard sized videos (.mov, MPEG-4). Most torrents are AVI videos, and it would be easy to lose the HD quality of a Blue-Ray when converting to MP4 format or other accepted formats.

If you’ve downloaded YouTube videos, FLV is the format of choice—which can’t be played on iPad unless directly connected to YouTube. To convert videos into an acceptable iPad format, all which is needed for most cases is iFunia iPad Video Converter for Mac that helps you convert all popular video formats such as AVCHD M2TS/MTS, MOD, TOD, MPEG, AVI, MKV, FLV, MOV, WMV to iPad supported formats including MP4, M4V, MOV, MP3, AAC, etc.

Download iFunia iPad Video Converter for Mac
Click here to free download iFunia iPad Video Converter for Mac
To install it, simply mount the .dmg archive by double-clicking it, and copy the application to your applications folder (or wherever you want).

Step 1. Add Vdieo files to Mac iFunia iPad Video Converter
[b]Click the “Add” button to add video files to the Mac iFunia iPad Video Converter. This iPad Video Converter supports drag-drop and batch conversion, so you can import and convert several multimedia files at a time.

Step 2. Select iPad output format
Use the “Profile” on the bottom of the window to control the output format. Select iPad MPEG4(MP4) output format for each video file and specify a directory on your computer to save the output files.

Step 3. Start iPad conversion
Click “Start” to begin this conversion. The convert progress bar shows you how much of the encoding is completed.

iFunia iPad Video Converter is available from ifunia.com. There is a Windows version of the software that converts videos to iPad on Windows.

Upload AVCHD holiday home movies to YouTube

zisel — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 07:45:36 +0000

Got a HD home movie camcorder already and ready to shoot the coming holiday gathering? We used to burn home movies to DVD for sharing sweet holiday videos with family and friends. However, nowadays more and more people would like to show the world their holiday home movies by uploading the videos to YouTube. It’s easy and FREE!

In November 2008, YouTube added an option to watch videos in 720p HD, so the YouTube player was changed from a 4:3 aspect ratio to a widescreen 16:9. With this new feature, YouTube began a switchover to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC as its default video codec. In November 2009, 1080p HD support was added too. As we know, the recommended resolution to upload a HD home movies to YouTube is 1280 x 720, not 1920 x 1080 (1080p). So make sure you’ve captured HD home movies with 720p resolution.

To upload AVCHD home movies to YouTube, you have to convert the videos to YouTube accepted video formats first. We recommend you to use iFunia AVCHD Converter for Mac to convert AVCHD videos to YouTube compatible video format for uploading.

Before you start, please download, install and launch iFunia AVCHD Converter for Mac.

Step 1: Load video files
Click “Add…” button to select AVCHD M2TS video files. You can add your AVCHD M2TS video by drag-n-drop. And the software has a feature of previewing and playing your AVCHD video files. Simply select a file which you want to preview in the Source File area and click Play button; you can also take snapshot at will to store the image you like.

Step 2: Select output format
Select one or more files in the file list, and select your preferred video format from the Output format drop-down menu. Here we choose MP4-MPEG4 Video File (*.mp4) video, and click the folder icon to specify a directory on your computer to save the output files.

Step 3: Convert
After the above settings, check the needed files to convert in the file list, and click “Start” button on the window to start converting with iFunia AVCHD Converter for Mac.

Step 4: Upload video to YouTube
Once you’ve finished converting videos to YouTube acceptable format, made sure it’s less than 10 minutes, smaller than 2GB in size, you’re ready to upload it.
1. Click the Upload videos to YouTube button in the upper-right-hand corner of any YouTube page.
2. Click the “Browse” button to browse for the video file you’d like to upload to our site. Select the file you want to upload.
3. Click the ‘Upload Video’ button to start the uploading process.
4. As the video file is uploading, enter as much information about your video as possible in the relevant fields (including Title, Description, Tags, and Category). You’re not required to provide specific information, but the more information you include, the easier it is for users to find your video!
5. Click the ‘Save changes’ button to save the updates you’ve made to the video file.

It can take from a couple minutes to an hour for your video to upload to YouTube. This depends on the file size of your video and the broadband speed of your network.

Best Way to watch thanksgiving movies and videos on Mac, iPad and iPhone

zisel — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:40:43 +0000

Every year as Thanksgiving approaches, I would like to watch a good movie about the holiday; and this year, with the new iPad gadget and iPhone, Watch the best Thanksgiving movies on them will surely make the holiday more colorful. To make different types of videos playable on iPad and iPhone, what you will need is iFunia Video Converter Pro for Mac.

How-To:
Step 1: Add the thanksgiving movies
To watch thanksgiving movies on Mac, iPad and iPhone, you need to download iFunia Video Converter Pro for Mac, install and run it, then click the “Add” button to add thanksgiving movies on your hard drive to iFunia Video Converter. This video converter for Mac supports batch conversion, so you can import and convert several multimedia files at a time.

Step 2: Output Settings of the thanksgiving movies for your iPad and iPhone
Use the “Convert to” on the bottom of the window to control the output format of the thanksgiving movies. There we use the default output settings “H.246 Video(*.mp4)” for the thanksgiving movies. You can change the output settings as you need and choose “save to” and then select a folder for the output files. (Advanced users can click the round button next “Audia Quality” to customize output video audio parameters).

Step 3: start converting thanksgiving movies for iPad and iPhone
At last, just click the “Start” button; wait a minute and you can get the video with proper format. In addition, iFunia Video Converter pro for Mac supports auto shut down function, when it’s done, the video conversion software will exit by itself and shutdown your computer safely, after this, you are ready to enjoy Thanksgiving movies on Thanksgiving Day. Hope this helps.

Note: If you are using Windows, please go to iFunia Video Converter Pro for Windows
The steps on how to convert the movies and video to iPad and iPhone on Windows are the similar to the one on Mac; you can get the details step-by-step.

5 Best Thanksgiving Movies to Watch on iPad

zisel — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:57:14 +0000

Every year as Thanksgiving approaches, I would like to watch a good movie about the holiday; and this year, with the new iPad gadget, Watch the best Thanksgiving movies on iPad will surely make the holiday more colorful. The below are five films that have a Thanksgiving weekend release date and can be packed into your iPad to truly enrich your holiday life.

Part I. Top 5 best Thanksgiving movies

1. Tangled
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Family/Musical
Starring: Kristin Chenoweth, Dan Fogler, David Schwimmer
Release date: Wed 24, Nov 2010
2. Burlesque
Genrerama/Musical
Starring: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Eric Dane, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell, Cam Gigandet.
Release Date: November 24, 2010
3. Love and Other Drugs
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank
Release Date: November 24, 2010
4. Faster
Genre: Action
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino
Release Date: November 24, 2010
5. Nutcracker 3D
Genre: Fantasy/Family
Starring: Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane, Charlie Rowe, John Turturro, Frances de la Tour
Release date: Wed 24, Nov 2010

Part II. The way to watch the best Thanksgiving movies on iPad

Having problems with DVD movies, video clips, TV shows and music files not compatible with your iPad? iFunia DVD to iPad converter has ready-to-use presets for your iPad which enables you to convert the Thanksgiving movies to your iPad in just minutes. The simple instructions below will guide you through the easy step of the way.

Step1. Run iFunia DVD to iPad Converter on your computer and load the Thanksgiving movie disc by click the “Load” button.
Now get your Thanksgiving movie disc and insert it. Then run iFunia DVD to iPad Converter on your Mac and click the big button “Load…” to load your Thanksgiving movie disk, you may see the name of Thanksgiving movie disk if you insert DVD disk before running this DVD ripper tool (see the image below to have an idea). This may take up to a minute or two depending on the contents of the DVD and the speed of your optical drive.

Step2. Choose the right preset for your iPad device in the Convert-to drop-down menu.
In the Destination-Setup section of the interface, choose the right preset for your iPad device in the Convert-to drop-down menu. You can also change the output settings to make the video look the best on iPad. Here I set the output video format to ‘iPad MPEG-4 Video (*.mp4)’.

Step3. Hit Start to convert Thanksgiving movies to iPad supported video format.
Once the above mentioned steps are finished, you can click the big button “Start” to rip Thanksgiving movies to iPad via iFunia DVD to iPad Converter. When the conversion is done, you can get the output video for your iPad, by then, you are ready to enjoy Thanksgiving movies on Thanksgiving Day. Hope this helps.

Related Article:
Getting Top Summer Movies on Your iPhone4 or iPad
Note: If you are using Windows, please go to iFunia DVD to iPad Converter for Windows

You may also want to know:
Download & convert YouTube to iPad on Mac
Convert 1080P HD Videos to 720P for iPad
How to convert video for your iPad on Mac

Rip DVD movies to MP4 videos for iPod playback

zisel — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 04:02:53 +0000

There are fewer ways to add video to your iPod than there are ways to add music to it. However, there are a few ways other than just buying video at the iTunes Store. How about taking the video you already have—Movies, DVDs you own, TV shows you’ve recorded with a Mac-based digital video recorder (DVR)—and converting them so you can play them back on the new iPod?

No problem: The following step by step tutorial is going to show you how to rip DVD Movies to MP4 video for iPod playback on Mac using iFunia DVD to iPod Converter for mac.

Step 1: Run iFunia DVD to iPod Converter for Mac
Now get your DVD concert disc and insert it. Then run iFunia DVD to iPod Converter on your Mac and click the big button “Load…” to load your DVD concert, you may see the name of DVD concert disk if you insert DVD before running this DVD ripper tool. This may take up to a minute or two depending on the contents of the DVD and the speed of your optical drive.

Step 2: Choose the output formats
If you’d like to extract the DVD Movies to MP4 files for playback on iPod, just set the output format as ‘iPod touch MPEG-4 480p Video(*.mp4)’ and the Bitrate your preferred. Remember that the output file size mostly depends on the Bitrate you set. Larger Bitrate, larger file size.

Step 3: Start converting DVD Movies to MP4
Now you may click the big button “Start” to begin ripping DVD Movies to MP4 file for playback on your iPod.

Note: If you are using Windows, please go to iFunia DVD to iPod Converter for Windows

Make a Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow on Mac

zisel — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:41:03 +0000

Thanksgiving Day is coming to us soon; it is a time for remembering, cherishing and being thankful for all the good things you have been blessed with. And making a flash photo slideshow for Thanksgiving is a good way to keep these precious memories as a flash photo keepsake, which can be used to enhance your photo flash presentation with stunning Thanksgiving templates and share with friends and families on website, blog or MySpace.

Here, I will show you how to make a simple, yet stunning Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow on Mac. It’s easy and interesting and the process needs no flash skills at all.

Here’s what you’ll need:
1. Digital Photos for web flash photo gallery
2. Some back ground music
3. iFunia Magic Show for Mac – Click to Download Free Trial

Download and install iFunia Magic Show for Mac
Download iFunia Magic Show for Mac and then install it by simply mount the .dmg archive by double-clicking it, and copy the application to your applications folder (or wherever you want).

Step 1: Add Thanksgiving Day Photos with flash photo slideshow creator on Mac
Add the Thanksgiving Day photos you want by holding down mouse and dragging it to the panel. You can also drag to arrange the photos in the order you’d like them to display.

Step 2: Add caption and descriptions to the Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow – optional
If you want to add some words and descriptions to the Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow, you can do it in these steps: Click on the pencil like button in the toolbar, then input the words you want to say into the blank and click “save” to close the window. The caption will show up when you hang your cursor over photos, while the description will introduce additional information to the audience, such as the photo file name, when and where the photo was taken, as well as any text you want to tell.

Step 3: Choose from a variety of Thanksgiving flash slideshow templates
Click on Template tab and choose the Thanksgiving template you like. The chosen Thanksgiving flash template could be displayed on the preview window. Click on the setting button on the left down corner to set background image or change the background color. If you want to add background music to your Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow, just use the “Add music” built-in tool on the left side of the storyboard. You may check the option to control the background music looping or not.

Step 4: Preview and publish the Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow on Mac
Preview your Thanksgiving flash photo slideshow and if you are satisfied with your work, you can publish the flash photo slideshow in swf, html, exe, screensaver formats, or you can mail the flash photo gallery to your friends directly.

Through the above-mentioned process, you are capable to make your own beautiful Thanksgiving Day flash photo slideshow. If you want to have a try and make your own Thanksgiving flash gallery you can download the flash photo slideshow maker to keep your happy and carefree Thanksgiving Day memory.