A Mac OS X app that allows consumers to transfer personal video entertainment from capture devices and DVDs for enjoyment on next-generation consumer electronic devices including game consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile devices, it's less filling but also costs less than Toast($49.95 compared to $99.95). And the recently released version 4 has some nifty new features.

Popcorn is designed to let you make copies of your DVD movies without a lot of fuss. With it, you can copy non-encrypted (in other words, non-commercial) DVD-Video discs, disc image files, and valid VIDEO_TS folders from hard disk. It's easy to use, thanks to its drag and drop support and Media Browser. The latter is a window that lets you browse video files, EyeTV recordings, DVDs, etc.

With version 4.0, the software adds to its format compatibility with support for AVCHD and AVCHD-Lite (high-definition camcorder files), as well as the web-based Flash format. This is important to those using Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Express 4, as well as those who own AVCHD high-def camcorders from companies such as Sony and Panasonic.

For iMovie '09 users, it's a bit trickier. You can import AVCHD archives, which means that you can save the data from the camera to your hard drive in its native format and import it into iMovie from the AVCHD archives. To use AVCHD or AVCHD Lite Video:

° Begin your Convert VideoFiles project.

° Open the Media Browser and SelectAVCHD from the first pulldown.

° Make sure that your AVCHD or AVCHD Lite camera is connected to your Mac via USB,
and that it's powered on. In some cases you may also require an AC power source connected to your camera.

° Select your connected camera from the list in the media browser, and you'll see thumbnails for each recording along with the date and time of the recording as well as the length.

° Once you’ve selected your video title in the Media Browser, drag it into the Content Area. Once added, users can optionally crop and trim this video by double clicking on it and then clicking the Edit button.

Unlike iMovie, which must spend a big chunk of time converting AVCHD video into Apple Intermediate Codec before use, Popcorn supports AVCHD natively and allows you to add video to your project in seconds. Sweet.

However, there are some inconsistencies to the app. If you drag several chapters, or even whole titles, from the Media Browser you get separate files for each chapter, whether you want to or not. In other words, you can't simply convert select chapters. However, you can drag in a VIDEO_TS folder to keep whole titles as single files.

To reduce time spent on multiple conversions and to make sure that the end-results meet your expectations, Popcorn comes with a Video Quality Preview that lets you review a snippet of converted video to check video quality before you initiate the full encoding process. This is a great feature, which means you don't end up with any "surprises" in the finished transfer. What's more, Popcorn 4 also supports Elgato’s Turbo.264 for faster video encoding.

Popcorn 4's beefed-up video preparation tools make it easier to extract favorite video segments or an audio track from a DVD-Video or high-definition file. The software shows you the video, audio formats and languages to be copied. Popcorn lets you copy an entire disc or extract just the main movie, audio and language. It supports multi-channel audio, such as Dolby Digital 5.1, multi-language content, NTSC and PAL video, and widescreen or pan/scan aspect ratios. Plus, you can personalize your finished DVD with a label and jewel case cover.

With Popcorn you can create DVDs up to four hours long. This means you'll need fewer discs and spend less time on video-project transfer. The app includes a disc labeling application that lets you create personalized disc labels or print directly onto discs using LightScribe enabled burners and media.

Popcorn offers universal video conversion and encoding technology optimized for devices such as the iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, BlackBerry, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, all of which simplifies and streamlines the process of transferring your video for on-the-go viewing. It works well, other than the above-mentioned inconsistencies, on an iPod and Apple TV. I haven't tried Popcorn on the other devices.

The latest version of the software is equipped with a variety of features designed to simplify and accelerate the video conversion process, including Automatic TiVoToGo Conversion that starts encoding as soon as the TV show is transferred to the Mac, Batch DVD-Video Conversion that enables consumers to queue up multiple DVDs for use with Roxio’s Fit-to-DVD technology, and Pause and Resume buttons that let you suspend a disc copy or video conversion project, work on a different task, then resume when it's convenient.

Even better, Popcorn 4 streamlines video transfer with a new list of device “profiles” for next-generation consumer electronics including the latest handheld devices, the new iPod nano and Palm Pre, as well as game consoles such as the Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP go. You just select your device from the Profile list, and Popcorn will automatically create a file that’s optimized for playback on that device. There's also a feature that lets you directly upload your video to YouTube or the ability to output to Flash for publishing to a personal page or site.

Located in the Popcorn 4 folder, is the Mac2TiVo application. When running, this app allows you to share folders of video on your Mac with your TiVo DVR so that you can stream both standard and HD video to your television.

Popcorn 4 also makes it a breeze to capture video from Flash-based video sharing sites. This means you can easily save videos you watch online to your Mac or for use with a portable device.

Popcorn 4 has an improved and cleaner interface with two categories of projects. The Copy category allows you to access projects where you’re copying to DVD. The Convert category provides you with access to projects that allow you to convert DVDs, video, and even audio for playback on popular consumer video devices. The Popcorn main window contains the following components:

° Copy and Convert category tabs, so you can choose whether to copy to a DVD or Convert video and audio for portable players and the type of project with these two categories;

° Content area, where you can add files and folders you want to copy to this area;

° Space indicator, which estimates how much space on the disc or player will be used;

° Copy button, which lets you begin copying or converting video.

You can compress an entire 9GB DVD to a standard 4.7 GB DVD disc, and create Director’s Cut custom compilations, and select specific video, audio and languages for your DVD. Custom Video allows you to choose specific movies to include or exclude. In addition, for each movie or extra, you can select audio and languages by clicking the Audio button. As you make selections, the video quality indicator and compression level will change.

Another sweet touch: encoding can be paused at any time to free up the CPU for other tasks and then resumed later. When encoding is paused, you can run other applications or even switch to another user account as long as Popcorn remains open. If you close the Popcorn application, even when video encoding is paused, you have to restart the process from the beginning

If you frequently make DVDs of your videos or transfer videos from your Mac to one (or a variety of handheld devices) Popcorn will facilitate these processes. If you need these capabilities, plus even more goodies, give Toast a taste.

Popcorn 4 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") and Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). Its available at the Roxio web site for US$49.99 and will be available soon (if it's not already) at retail and online stores including Apple retail stores, Best Buy, and Amazon.

Macsimum rating: 8 out of 10