One of the most useful features I've found in any video compression program is the ability to do batch compression. This is extremeley powerful. Without batch, you have to manually compress each video for upload, one by one, and you have to wait until it's done to start on the next one. The idea behind batch is implemented in many different ways, and for several applications. For example, in Final Cut Pro, you can do a batch capture. You scrub through your tape (or clip) and set in and out points for the sections you want to capture. Then you press "Batch," and it captures it all for you, while you get a nice cup of coffee at your local coffee shop. Similarly, with Batch for video compression, you can set up a list of things for the computer to do, and it will perform them sequentially, without wasting your time, or CPU cycles. In fact, I'm convinced that the real reason for batch actions is for getting coffee!

Here are step-by-step instructions for using MPEG Streamclip (an amazing, free, compression program for Windows and Mac) for compressing videos specifically for upload to Vimeo. You can use this same process for Youtube.

Question
I use iTunes to download your weekly podcast, as well as several other public radio podcasts (Car Talk, Wait Wait, etc), using my home desktop. When I’m on the road (as I am the coming week, when we will be driving down Route 1 from SF to LA), I use iTunes on my laptop to download the podcasts. However, the two computers are not synchronized.

If I haven’t used the laptop in several weeks, I find that I am downloading program episodes that I have already heard when using the desktop. Is there some way to synchronize iTunes on the two computers (the only iTunes feature I use is to download podcasts)? Does iTunes, for example, use a data file that I could copy from the desktop to the laptop just prior to leaving on a trip?