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I have a friend whose only 'puter is an iPad. Is there a way for me to get him, and for him to view large video files that I've... acquired? In this case, the video is MPEG-4 in an avi wrapper.
He's not very tech savvy, so it's important to keep it simple on his end.
Jon,
avidemux is what I use to convert avi to mp4 for my ipad.
There are multiple ways he can get them to his ipad, but probably the easiest is to share files via dropbox. He can download the files via the app and open them with good player ipad app.
(so he will need to get the dropbox app and good player app).
He also could use Goodreader app to download files from a variety of Web sites (and dropbox). Goodreader probably could play the video, but I prefer Good player.
So, he'd need to get dropbox, and then I'd share a dropbox folder with him and the iPad app would see my shared folder?
that's right.
you know, you probably could also use box.net if you'd prefer, but you get the idea. if you invite him to the folder and he accepts your invitation, he should be able to see it no problem.
I use Handbrake for conversion, it's pretty easy.
Yeah, I have Handbrake and am converting the files now. I'll see if my friend can handle the other stuff. Thanks for the tips!
Gud,
I like handbrake, but avidemux is MUCH faster if you know the files are mp4 in an avi wrapper. It is like a 5 min conversion.
Here are the full instructions from my evernote: [link]
Does avidemux have presets for things like iPads? I like the idiot-proofiness of Handbrake for stuff like that.
Wait -- If I'm converting the files to an iPad friendly format, why does he need GoodPlayer? Can't the native app handle the files? Or is it that the native app can't grab and play them from Dropbox? It's probably not worth it for him to drop $2.99 for GoodPlayer.
okay, let me upload an .mp4 and see if the native app handles it. It has been difficult for the native app to handle files. That's why I recommend Good Player which can handle various video files better than the native.
theoretically, good player can handle avi, but I have found in practice it doesn't work that well.
give me 5-10 minutes.