Review: iStudio 3 format conversion software

Getting video onto Apple devices can be a pain because the iPod, iPhone and AppleTV require files to be in a specific format before they can be viewed.

The iStudio 3 software promises to take the fuss out of the process and in addition to video, which it can copy from some DVDs, it can also extract audio from CDs and internet radio stations.

Video can be dragged and dropped onto the interface to make a list of files to process. The software supports the relevant formats and resolutions for the standard iPod, Nano, Touch or AppleTV and there’s also the option to choose from three levels of quality.

Rudimentary editing tools offer the ability to select a specific part of a clip by choosing start and end points, which is a nice way to eliminate credits or unwanted sections. DVD ripping (for unprotected discs only) involves choosing a chapter to convert and in both cases there’s a choice of formats for newer and older devices and the option to stretch edges to remove black borders.

The conversion process is pretty fast: in our tests it took just under 20 minutes to convert 300MB (an hour's worth) of video and this was at the highest quality setting. Unfortunately you then need to transfer the files manually through iTunes, but we were pleased by the playback quality on the device.

In addition to video files the software can extract audio from CDs and DVDs. In the case of the former this is a simple ripping utility but the latter is a useful tool, which retains the clipping and preview features for trimming files.

Finally the internet radio recorder can record live music or talk streams from the internet. There’s a scheduler so you don’t miss your favourite shows and the software will split songs into individual tracks labelled with the title and artist.

The main strengths of iStudio3 are its video conversion tools, which are both fast and easy to use and produce good quality clips. Despite some minor issues iStudio is a capable product that certainly takes the hassle out of filling an iPod with usable video.

True, there's free software that does a similar job, but for ease of use we'd go with iStudio.

Good points Fast and easy; good results; supports all of Apple’s devices

Bad points Won’t transfer content automatically; not a lot of extras