The Turbo.264 1.1 Update introduced a new custom settings dialog. This
allows you to save customized settings for audio and video encoding,
based on the existing ‘Built-in settings’ profiles.
To access the new custom settings dialog, add a source movie to the
Turbo.264 application and click on the ‘Format’ drop-down menu. Choose
‘Edit...’ from this menu.
A new settings sheet will appear with drop-down menus for
configuring your own custom settings. From here you can create a new
‘Custom setting’ either by selecting an existing profile and modifying,
it, or clicking on the “+” button in the bottom left hand corner.
For instance, lets say you wanted to create a space-saving profile
for your iPhone. First select ‘iPhone from the ‘Profile:’ drop-down
menu. Then click the “+” button in the bottom-left corner to create a
custom setting based on the iPhone profile. In this example, the custom
setting has been renamed ‘iPhone Smaller files’. Next, the ‘Size’,
‘Data Rate’, and ‘Audio: Channels’ have been modified to create a
smaller file size. The size has been set to ‘w: 320 x h: 240’, the
‘Data Rate’ to ‘750 kbps’, and ‘Mono’ audio has been chosen to reduce
the file size.
After choosing your custom settings, click ‘OK’. Your new custom
setting will now be available from the ‘Format’ drop-down menu of the
Turbo application window.
Note: Turbo’s Custom settings will only allow you set quality
settings equal to or less than the quality settings of the existing
Profiles. In general, the ‘Automatic’ setting will choose the maximum
quality settings that the corresponding devices will support (’iPod
Standard’ is the exception, which is optimized for file size). This is
to ensure that you do not make custom settings which exceed the
device’s capabilities, as that would render the export unusable. Please
be aware that if you are using the custom settings to create files for
devices not listed under Turbo’s profiles, it is possible to create
exports that are not compatible with your device. Check with the device
manufacturer to find out what video specifications your device
requires.
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Glossary of terms used within the ‘Custom Settings’ sheet:
Profile: Chooses settings based on one of the existing device
profiles within Turbo. From here you can modify the export settings to
meet your needs.
Size: Number of horizontal and vertical pixels in the exported file. Typical values: 640x480, 320x240.
Aspect Ratio: The ratio of the horizontal length versus vertical
length of the video frame. “Standard” displays generally use 4:3, while
“Widescreen” displays are typically 16:9.
Overscan: Overscan crops the outer edges of the source video
before scaling to the export size. Television broadcasts often contain
black borders, or blinking dots of data which contain the closed
caption data for the program in the outer edges of the broadcast. The
Overscan feature eliminates this edge portion, which is generally
desirable if you are exporting analog TV recordings.
Frame Rate: Number of frames of video per second.
Data Rate: The amount of data transmit per second while decoding
(viewing) the video file. The higher the data rate, the better the
quality of the video. A lower data may be used to reduce the overall
file size. Be aware that most devices that play video have specific
data rate requirements.
Sample Rate: The number of samples per second used while
encoding the audio portion of the video. The higher the sample rate,
the better the quality of the audio. A lower sample rate may be used to
reduce the file size, or meet a specific device’s audio requirements.
Channels: Chooses between Monaural, or Stereo audio. If audio quality is not critical, Mono audio can be used to reduce file size.
