Reframe For Mac
Reviewed: Geetesh Bajaj
Date Created: October 30th 2009
Last Updated: October 30th 2009
Introduction
About Reframe
Working with Reframe
Pricing and Support
Conclusion
Introduction
Let us imagine that you have some video that you want to show within a PowerPoint presentation -- and the format is not something PowerPoint can accept. Looking at another example, what do you do if you want to create some video for display on a web site or mobile applications. I won't go into technical terms like frame rates or aspect ratios that video geeks use all the time -- but I do agree that there's still the need to convert videos between formats and other definitions all the time. Luckily, Reframe from Miraizon is one application that keeps things simple for me.
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About Reframe
Reframe is from Miraizon, a company based in California, USA. You can learn more about their products from their site...
Reframe is a video standards converter -- in simple terms, it is a program that lets you convert audio and video from one standard to another. Just so that you don't have to get worried about these standards, the application includes some pre-defined settings that can help you decide what you want to do. With Reframe, you can convert your movie clips to make them suitable for presentations, posting on YouTube, or for viewing on iPods or iPhones.
My contact at Miraizon for this review was Naoko Miyazaki - thank you, Naoko.
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Working with Reframe
Download the installer, run the setup routine and follow the instructions. When installed, follow these steps to convert video/audio files using Reframe.
- Start Reframe. As shown in Figure 1, Reframe uses a tabbed interface. The first tab is Input.
Figure 1: Reframe interface
- Within the Input tab, you can import one or multiple video and audio clips, then edit the properties, and choose an output file name for each individual clip. You can also then save the Input List and load it again later for reuse. Figure 1 shows some movie clips imported within the Reframe interface.
- The next tab, Video can be seen in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Video tab
Here you can select pre-defined video operations, or customize them if you want to. Customized settings can be saved if you want. Also, there's an Advanced Settings option that lets you tweak further as required.
- For audio settings, select the Audio tab as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Audio tab
Options here work in the same way as within the Video tab.
- The last tab within the Reframe interface is called Output, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Output tab
- Here you can choose from several output types and file formats -- when done, click the Start Processing button. Depending upon the size of the input files and complexity involved, processing can take a while. Reframe is optimized to deliver high performance conversion, but the overall performance (speed) depends on the type of media files you are processing, the machine you are using, and the settings applied. Miraizon does recommend using a machine with multiple CPUs if available for a noticeable increase in performance.
Pricing and Support
Reframe costs $129.95.
Support options include e-mail, phone support, and an online FAQ. The product also includes a User Guide PDF, and online Help that can be accessed from within the program.
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Conclusion
Reframe takes a complicated task, and then makes it easy for you with plain English terminology. Of course, if you want to dive deep, you can click the Advanced Settings and Options buttons -- and then explore the other options -- however most users will be happy with the preset options. With Reframe, Miraizon has created a simple, yet eminently usable product.
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