How can I get .RM files to iTunes?

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Level 1

100 points

How can I get .RM files to iTunes?

Ihave a number of movies in .rm format which I would like to put on iTunes and my video iPod, but it eems iTunes doesn't recognize the .rm format. Is there a place I can dowenload a free .rm to .mp4 or .mov converter?

G4 Cube, Upgraded to 1.8 Ghz processor, Mac OS X (10.3.9), 20 Gb HD, 200 GB Ext. HD,

Posted on Jan 9, 2006 4:28 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

183,286 points

Jan 9, 2006 7:32 AM in response to Brian

Your iPod cannot play a Real-format file, nor can iTunes, so you'll have to convert it. There are no tools for Mac I know of that can directly convert a Real track, so you'll need to capture the output of Real Player using a utility such as Audio Hijack or Wiretap. Either of those utilities can save the captured audio in a format that iTunes can import and transfer to your iPod.

Hope this helps

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Answer 2

Tom Graves

Level 7

20,627 points

Jan 9, 2006 5:56 PM in response to varjak paw

Dave,

There are no tools for Mac I know of that can directly convert a Real track

There is such a utility, but I would not recommend it for the average user because it costs $495. It is called Compression Master and they claim that, among other things,

[w]ith its extensive format support Compression Master converts to and from all common formats such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, QuickTime, DV, H.264, 3GPP, Flash, Windows and Real Media.

In looking at the comments on VersionTracker, it looks like there is a freeware command-line utility that will do the trick called FFmpeg that may do the trick, Decoding Real codecs are in its list of supported formats.

Regardless, the question was about converting RM files which are the Real streaming format files.

Tom

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

183,286 points

Jan 10, 2006 7:50 AM in response to Tom Graves

Hi, Tom,

Compression Master will output Real-format files, but will not input them.

The Mac OS X version of ffmpeg (ffmpegX) can apparently now handle Real files (though as you point out, not a RM stream) so it is an option. It's by no means simple, though (installation of all the various bits is complex), so WireTap or Audio Hijack will probably be a better solution for most people, even though they're not free.

Cheers.

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Answer 4

Tom Graves

Level 7

20,627 points

Jan 10, 2006 1:24 PM in response to varjak paw

Thanx for the info Dave. I had not completely investigated either more than reading VersionTracker and some of the web sites for the two programs web site. Compression Master's description made it sound like the Real format was one of the formats you could convert both to and from.

And I agree about the Audio Hijack or WireTap options. The few times I've had to convert a real file I've used Audio Hijack Pro.

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Answer 5

Brian Author

Level 1

100 points

Jan 11, 2006 11:27 PM in response to varjak paw

I tried downloading Wiretap, but it seems that can only convert audio, I need to get the entire movie. Without something like Snap Pro X, that records video from your screen, (and therefore takes as long to "convert" as watching the movie) there is no way for me to convert it for a cheap price?

(Sorry if I'm misunderstanding)

and one other thing, this is almost completely different, but with the free trial of Snap Pro x, I recorded ne of my movies, then tld ti to put it in mp4 format. It saved the file as a .mov, which I opened with Quicktime Pro and told to export to iPod. The export progress bar went approximately 1/10 through, then froze. This turned out to happen with whatever movie I tried to convert using Quicktime. Do you know what's wrong?

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Answer 6

varjak paw

Level 10

183,286 points

Jan 12, 2006 7:15 AM in response to Brian

Sorry, my mistake, I misread your post and assumed that you were referring to audio tracks (I'm still adjusting to the idea of iTunes handing videos). The only way to convert a Real-format video will, to the best of my knowledge, indeed be Snapz Pro.

As to converting a Snapz movie, sorry, I've never tried it with the movie to iPod converter so I can't offer any advice.

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Answer 7

Tom Graves

Level 7

20,627 points

Jan 12, 2006 8:14 AM in response to Brian

Have you tried converting the movie from within iTunes? Open the movie in iTunes and highlight it. Then Control-Click on it and choose "Convert Selection for iPod" and see if maybe the movie was converted this way. QT and iTunes do not always use the same code to do things, as I found out in an earlier version of iTunes 6.x which would not play one form of wav file but QT would (since fixed in iTunes).

There are other utilities besides Snapz Pro X listed on VersionTracker that claim to capture on-screen motion to a movie, but I have not used any of them.

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Answer 8

Brian Author

Level 1

100 points

Jan 12, 2006 12:19 PM in response to Tom Graves

I upgraded to iTunes 6.0.2 from 6.0.1, and tried the video conversion, and, oddly enough, the exact same thing happened. The progress bar went up to about 1/10 of the way thruhg, then stopped, exactly like quicktime.

And I'm about to look into the other possible programs from version Tracker, thanks.

Brian

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Answer 9

Brian Author

Level 1

100 points

Apr 11, 2006 4:53 PM in response to Brian

I decided that it can't be done simply, and I have to find a more complex way.

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