Techspansion Closes its Doors Forever

FilmRedux is actually VisualHub. When Techspansion closed, they made VisualHub open-source with a new name, FilmRedux. If you have used VisualHub before, then you will get used to this very easily. And don’t worry, there are many very talented programmers dedicated to this project. To download this, you must use SVN. SVN (or Subversion) is a tool that is used by developers to share their code amongst themselves. Many projects like Adium, Handbrake and Transmission are open-source and use SVN. To download it using SVN, open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and type, “svn co https://transcoderredux.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/transcoderredux FilmRedux”. Once it is done, navigate to ~/FilmRedux/FilmRedux and open FilmRedux.xcodeproj. Then, just click on the Build and Go toolbar icon in Xcode and you’re off!

QuickTime Pro

QuickTime Pro is the Pro Version of QuickTime. It allows you to export to many formats, with a clean and simple interface (as expected). I would consider this the top-of-the-line of video and audio converting. But, with QuickTime Pro, there are even more things that you can do (that could never be done in VisualHub). You can add Chapter Markers, and control audio and video tracks without having to convert the video file at all (not for chapter markers though). QuickTime Pro is $29.99 (around the same price as VisualHub was) and there is no free trial available, but, it is by a very trusted company.

ffmpegX

ffmpegXuses ffmpeg, just like VisualHub and AudialHub. ffmpeg is a preferred (by developers) audio and video codec. This application has all the same functionalities as VisualHub and AudialHub combined. It gives you a lot of options, so, if you just want a simple program to convert your audio and video, I suggest that you don’t use it. It retails for $15.00, and you can download a free trial from their site.

TubiTunes

TubiTunes is by far my favorite of the apps I am talking about. It is by ManyTricks, a great company, and has a great interface. Some think that it only downloads YouTube videos, but that is just false; if you frag-and-drop a video file onto it, it will give you options for converting it. It uses QuickTime to convert your files (and yet, it costs less than QuickTime Pro), and does a great job of it. Of course, it also allows you to download and convert YouTube videos at ease. If you are looking at a tool that will compare to VisualHub, I highly suggest TubiTunes for is price, and ease-of-use. It only costs about $6.33 (€4.95)! What a deal!

Although it is very sad that Techspansion had to shut its doors, it also gave us a great opportunity to show you some great competitors (well, not anymore). As said, overall, TubiTunes is the winner. I do, however, suggest that you try them all out, and see which one works for you.

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