Very recently I reviewed a bunch of video converters, each of which had its own unique mix of features and user interface. But my conclusion was confused. I couldn’t decide, because none of them were obvious for my needs. So, what do I need in a video converter? I need to convert video for the iPhone (or iPad), and I need it done in the fastest way possible. I’m sure you have your other preferred format, but once you’re set you don’t need to change that. Okay so you know this is heading somewhere (what with the obvious title), so yes, we’ve been blessed with a brand new app for the Mac, and it’s called Permute.
Created by Fuel Collective, the guys who brought us Snippet and Swatch, Permute is the simplest video converter you will ever find. Featuring the often used ‘drop zone’, just add in your media, select a preset you want to convert to, and hit convert. It uses the FFMpeg engine, so it’s faster than the QuickTime engine many of the others use. Special mention for the user interface, which is not only minimal, but has some really nice UI elements. And that’s all I need really. A way to add media, and convert. Preset formats include iPhone, AppleTV, Xbox, PS3, and you can even create menu-less chapter-less DVDs which are saved as ISOs on your Mac.
Permute does also come with more power under the hood. If you go into the preferences, you can create new presets based on previous presets and adjust quality settings so it’s just right for you. My only complaint, and perhaps I should withhold this one since it’s still in beta, is that it doesn’t snap the audio bitrate to correct values (128k, 164, etc) instead warning you that an incorrect value could end up in a corrupted file. I hear this is going to change in a near-future release.
Permute is a great example of how less user interface makes technology more approachable. Less doesn’t have to mean less functional. If I need to recommend a video converter to a new Mac user, it’s most definitely going to be Permute. Even VisualHub, though simple, is comparatively riddled with knobs and switches that you aren’t sure you need to touch. With Permute, unless you go into Preferences where the power resides, there’s no ambiguous switches, leading to the most straightforward conversion possible. I’ve been using the RC build of the app for a few days now, and it hasn’t crashed or thrown up an error even once. Permute is not for everyone though. It doesn’t do artwork, nor subtitles, nor can it use a hardware h.264 encoder to speed up conversion. Its advanced settings are also nowhere near as advanced as in Handbrake. Permute is out [sometime] today, probably at an introductory price of $15, thereon heading to $20. I think it’s worth it.
Update: As noted in the comments, Evom and Miro are viable free alternative to Permute. I haven’t checked those out yet, but they certainly boast a similar UI and workflow.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t find a download. The website says “coming April 2010.”
It will be out at 12:00 Noon CST time today! With a new updated website.
.. sorry my bad. Evom is free too. So the question is.. what can Permute do that Miro/Evom can’t. I agree that Permute is the best looking of them, but is it the fastest? And if yes, how many dollars faster is it?
Evom isn’t in Beta anymore. It’s a free application from The Little App Factory. I personally wouldn’t say Permute is the best looking one as I haven’t seen it in action but just based on the screenshots they both look the same apart from the colour.
My own opinion is, Evom is just as minimal, really powerful, I know its fast as I use it to convert video for my iPhone all the time and it’s free. Not really seeing anything in Permute that would make me drop Evom and spend $15-$20 on something that (so far) looks as if it just does the same.
@jai I like Permute’s color better than Evom’s .. and btw it’s not just the background color, it’s the background color gradient and the button colors too
.. oh yeah, drop shadows applied to the “drop here” zone text too
I’m sticking to the free apps too though. At least until somebody gives me a good reason to pay whatever Permute will cost
#appaholicsunite
Just what I was looking for. I may give Evom a try later, but for now, Permute it is.
@Caneco: Nice find.
- No support for subs or dubs CC or menus/artwork:
for a paid app == FAIL
- No metion of whether 2pass encoding is used for high quality (which is tge convehtiihal approach – however x264 based apps like handbrake can now apparently achieve equal quality in 1pass, so clearly there are important changes going on in the library world which merit more detail).
- no mention of live preview ( to see the results of chavez to presets).
- no mention of batch mode.
Review = fail.
There are many scenarios where subs/dubs/cc/menus/artwork are not necessary. E.g. I got this fun clip I want on my iPhone/iPod, so I would not say paid app == FAIL. There are also user experience qualities people are willing to pay for. Not everybody, but some people.
Regarding the review, I agree it is not a deep review. But it does do a good job at giving a non technical overview of the app.
Batch mode btw = drag several files to the drop zone.
@fnurl
But you can see Zahadums logic though. The reviewer thinks this is worth $15-$20 for an app that offers absolutely nothing over a free app such as Evom. I agree that artwork, etc is not an issue, however the selling point for apps like these are it’s speed and absolute simplicity and you get both with other apps without laying down any kind of money.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say the review is a fail, but the optimist in me would say the reviewer has been a little shortsighted recommending a paid app when there’s a free app that does exactly the same thing and the cynic in me would say this smells like a paid advertisement for an app that offers nothing over a free app that is equally fast and simple to use.
Fact is, this product is a bit of a rip off. I tested it against Evom yesterday. It isn’t faster than Evom. I can’t be sure if it does 2pass encoding as it doesn’t offer that kind of information when it’s converting as Evom does. In case you were wondering, Evom does do 2pass encoding.
@Jai
I understand you might feel Permute falls short from other applications and may not see the full value in it and that’s fine. But I feel ripping the app apart in comments doesn’t help anyone and we’re still working on improving Permute and making it even better. The great part about permute are the default settings are perfect for people that just wish to convert videos with a quick drag and drop and press start.
Permute isn’t meant for everyone, if you’re a power user you might enjoy something like handbreak, but if you want something that “just works” and is easy to use, Permute might be for you. We’re always open to ideas and suggestions and just because we don’t have every feature another app has doesn’t make it useless or have no value. We just want to keep our apps as easy as possible and enjoyable to use.
If you have any suggestions for us please feel free to contact us!
-Stephen
My apologies Stephen. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was “ripping the app apart” I know how much time and effort it takes for you to do what you do, and belittling that effort wasn’t my intention.
On hindsight, my wording may have been a little too harsh and the point I was trying make doesn’t come across well.
I do, however, stand by my opinion that charging $20 for an application that is so similar to a free app that also “just works” just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m sure you feel that your work is worth the money and I’m in no way suggesting that you lower the price or even offer it for free. All I’m suggesting is if you are going to charge $20 for an application, then it needs to stand out. As it is now, against other applications on the market, in my personal opinion, it doesn’t.
And please don’t be offended, but that icon is truly hideous.
Good luck.
Evom is nice, but won’t be for free for very long. It still *is* in the beta (see the version number – 0.99c – not 1.0 yet) – even though not showing that stripy window that the beta expires in June. Also, looking inside the app, you’ll find a AFRegistration framework, which is the company’s framework for product registration → they’ll be charging for it, as well.
I checked out all three – Evom, Miro and Permute. I threw the same HD video clip recorded from my Nikon D90 into each to convert for playback on my iPhone. Miro failed to convert the video. Evom and Permute both converted the video without a problem but Permute was much faster with a smaller file size. Tossed a couple other videos at the app and was convinced it was worth a buy. I like the multiple choices for video conversion including support for Xbox.
Hi guys!
My pleasure to give you my suggestions.
According to my own experience using video converters, I am convinced that there is video sofware called Pavtube HD video Converter for Macpowerful in converting HD video. I used it and found it supports plenty of video and audio formats such as MP4, M4V, MKV, MPG. MOV, FLV, etc.
Comparing with other converters, I prefer Pavtube one because of its fast conversion speed and its pretty good output video and audio whcih satisfy me.It is said that this software applies unique audio and video sync technology which can guarantee the audio and video match.
you can check out it here
http://www.pavtube.com/hd-video-converter-mac
Regards
Neo Bai
Is it possible to include ALAC for encoding audio? Thanks
So interesting,but i prefer use Video to Flash Converter Pro.It’s prog can convert many different formats.Try.
well done. i have a bunch of video needed to be converted for my new bought ipod. thanks for sharing,i will give it a try.
Hi I just downloaded Permute and converted “the game” (movie only) from DVD to MP4 on my new imac 21.5″and it took 1 hour and 50 minutes. Is this typical as I was not impressed.
Love Permute. However if I am converting from a Video TS folder to MP4 or Apple TV, the app askes me to choose the folder to convert which is no issue but it then will ask me to choose an audio file. This is also not a problem but sometimes when I play back through my mac there is no audio. It is hit & miss (50% of the time) Is this a common issue?
I downloaded the trial version to try and convert an MP4 file to DVD and had no sucess playing the DVD. Any advice?