Well, its about time! The new version of SageToiPod software (version 1.5) is now available. Click here or on the link to the right to download it. I would recommend un-installing any previous versions before installing this version.

Whats new? Check it out...

General reorganization of the GUI
The user interface has been reorganized significantly to make it easier to use and more compact.

A second directory to scan for video other than the SageTV directory
You can put other video sources here and they will be automatically queued, transcoded and imported into iTunes in a separate Playlist called "Other video"

iPod video management
This allows you to manage how much video you want transcoded on a show-by-show basis. For example, even if you keep all the Simpsons episodes on your SageTV system, you can set the number of shows you want to keep in your iTunes library. SageToiPod software will keep the most recent shows up to the quota you've set in your iTunes library. It will delete old video from your transcoded video directory when the quota you've set for a show is exceeded.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To enable iPod video management, you NEED to install the Meekel STV for SageTV (http://www.vinceanido.com/blog/sagetv-plugins/) and enable XML file generation by selecting Settings->Advanced->External Setup->Auto-create XML. This is REQUIRED for iPod video management. With this enabled, An XML file will be generated in the SageTV video directory for each show. SageToiPod software needs the information in these XML files to properly manage the video directory.

Restricted time encoding
On the Transcoding Settings tab, you will notice that you can now set a time window for transcoding activity. If you don't want to be interrupted during the day with transcoding, you can enable it to transcode only at night.

Variable bit rate encoding
Variable bit rate encoding is now used for both mpeg4 and h264. I have found this to give smaller file sizes with improved video quality. I would recommend usingthe "mpeg4" Codec with "Good" or "Better" Video quality setting.

Abilty to specify additional FFMPEG command-line arguments
If you know how to use FFMPEG, you can add additional command-line arguments (i.e. you could add the argument "-r 15" to reduce the framerate to 15fps to save a little disk space).

Full log support and FFMPEG output
From the menu bar, you can turn on logging as well as view the log or FFMPEG output. This is very useful in troubleshooting if you experience any problems.

I apologize for not getting the new version out yesterday as promised. It is completed, but not tested enough. If there is anyone who is currently using the software and wants to test the new version, email me (link on the right side). I'd rather have a couple people test it before I post it.

I've had a rather busy week this week and haven't had much time to spend on the SageToiPod software. I'm looking at it today and will try to get a new version out tomorrow (Sunday). If you haven't already, make sure you install the Meekel STV for SageTV and enable XML creation. This will create an XML file for each show recorded that contains all the episode information. This XML file makes it much easier to manage the shows. The new version of SageToiPod will allow you to specify how many of each show you want xferred to iTunes. The show info is needed to make sure that old shows are replaced by new ones - I need the aired date shown in the XML file to get this. Also, a lot more tagging info can be added to iTunes with the XML info file (i.e. show summary).

I thought I would be able to post a new version of the SageToiPod software today, but I just finished it up and it needs further testing. Hopefully sometime this week. This version (1.4) should have a lot of the features that have been asked for. It has iPod library management where you can specify how many episodes of each show you want syncronized onto your ipod. There are a lot of other change that I will enumerate when I post it. Here's a couple screenshots of the new version:

Screenshot #1
Screenshot #2

I just installed the SageToiPod software at work and noticed that when you first start the software up, a message box pops up in Spanish (I think) indicating that a directory cannot be found. I apologize for this. I removed some initial registry settings that occur during install that caused this. Just select a directory for your SageTV and iPod videos, exit the program and all should be good. I'll fix this in the next release.

I am just finishing up another update to the SageToiPod software. The following will be added:

• Indicators for each directory displaying current number of videos and size
• A second video source (in addition to your SageTV directory) can be added. This can be used to automatically transcode/add to iTunes/iPod video from other sources such as Tivo, bitorrent et cetera. It should be able to handle most common video formats and transcode them to either mpeg4 or h264
• Easier transcoding format setup
• A couple minor bug fixes

Hopefully I'll have these new features coded and tested by the weekend.

I'd also like to add some form of automatic iTunes/iPod video library managment. Right now, the software will just keep cranking out video onto the iPod. It is up to you to delete shows. I'd like to add something like this:

• Syncronize with SageTV (i.e. delete content when disapears from SageTV)
• Remove content by time (i.e. delete all content, say 7 days old)
• Remove content by size (i.e. delete older content once a iPod Gb cap is exceeded)
• Remove content by number of shows (i.e. keep only x number of most recent show

Any comments?

A couple minor changes and fixes in v1.01.
- New application icon
- Tray icon is animated when transcoding
- Fixed "Re-add All to iTunes" (it wasn't working)

Please send me an email with any feedback you might have.

Just another note about the SageToiPod software. It uses ffmpeg as a video encoder. When you run the SageToiPod software, you will see a text box labeled "FFMpeg encoding parameters." By default these parameters are "-f mp4 -vcodec mpeg4 -s 320x240 -r 15." This sets up ffmpeg to use the mpeg4 codec with a video size of 320x240 (correct for the iPod) and a frame rate of 15fps. I haven't had much success with the h264 codec, but you can give it a try. I haven't found that higher frame rates improve the video quality, but significantly increase the filesize. Feel free to play with the parameters if you like. If you want to learn more possible encoding parameters, find the ffmpeg.exe file in the install directory, and run the file without any parameters from the command line. It will spit out all the possible encoding parameters.

After a week of neglecting my family as I whacked this together, here's the first release of SageToiPod. Now be gentle with me, I doubt if I got all the bugs out first try, so check back here often for fixes.

Either leave comments here of email me (email address in the about box of the software) if you have problems.

I have a few other ideas for it, so I will be adding features as time permits.

Good luck.

Download SageToiPod here.

I have also added video playlists. All shows are now loaded into their own playlist. Currently, the playlist is the show's name. I will add the option to allow you to select whether you want the playlists created by show name, channel or maybe genre (catagory).

Check it out:

Ok, memory leak fixed (I think). I've set it up to run for this afternoon and night. If no more serious issues arise, I'll post the install package here tomorrow.

Just so you don't think I'm yanking your chain, here's a screenshot of it in action.

Still working on getting the bugs out. Functionally, the software is working quite smoothly. It is successfully scanning the SageTV directory, transcoding files, loading them into iTunes, adding the tag info then updating my iPod. It is gakking when I walk away and leave it to run overnight, tho. Hopefully I'll get that issue worked out tonight or tomorrow and have an initial release Sunday.

One thing I need to add is the ability to create Video playlists. Right now, I have about 30 shows on my iPod all jammed into the "Movies" catagory. I need to have the software go thru the shows added to iTunes and sort them either by show or channel into playlists so its easier to navigate. Should be relatively easy, but I'm going to try to get the bugs out first before adding new features.

As soon as I bought my new video iPod I began thinking about a way to syncronize my SageTV media library with the iPod. I wanted all my SageTV content to become automatically available in an organized fashion on my iPod. Everytime I docked my iPod, I wanted all my SageTV content to be syncronized onto my iPod.

For those who don't know what SageTV is, its very similar to Tivo, but it is Windows-based software. Like Tivo, you can setup recording schedules and favorites. It stores all recorded shows as MPEG2 files in an easily accessible directory. Because Apple decided to limit the video codecs supported by the new iPod to MP4 and h264, the SageTV content must be transcoded before it can be transferred to the iPod. Also, while your transcoding, you may as well adjust the framerate and video size such that it is appropriate for the iPod as well. Finally, SageTV stores an xml file with each recorded show that contains show info. In order to properly organize the TV shows in iTunes and on the iPod, this show info must be read and added to the tag information when the video is imported into iTunes. Once all that is done, your golden.