Every few months or so, clients or readers approach me asking how to export QuickTime video directly to a VCR or DVD recorder without going through iMovie or Final Cut. Their desire to bypass editing software is a rational one: they just want to hit Play with no fuss or editing involved. Fortunately for them, Apple provides a simple and elegant solution.

SimpleVideoOut X converts any QuickTime movie into a FireWire stream, regardless of whether it originated with your digital camcorder, your hand-held camera's movie function, or even (heaven forfend!) one of those illicit TV torrent sites. With SimpleVideoOut X, you can easily play through to FireWire and connect the output to a recording device or your TV. This article introduces you to the program, walks you through setting up the physical connections, and adds a few tricks along the way.

You may be wondering why you haven't heard of SimpleVideoOut X before. Well, it's actually a developer sample rather than a regularly supported application.

What You Need To Get Started

To export video through SimpleVideoOut X, you'll need to have the following materials on-hand.

• The SimpleVideoOut X software Download the software directly from Apple. Version 2.0.5 was released in October 2004. Click Download Sample to retrieve the software. The file, SimpleVideoOut.sit, occupies about 370K of disk space.

• A FireWire-capable Macintosh Apple offers executables for both OS 9 and OS X, but this article discusses the OS X version exclusively.

• A D/A Converter box or a FireWire-ready VCR or DVD recorder To connect your video to a standard VCR or DVD recorder, you'll need a D/A video converter box such as the Miglia's Director's Cut or Canopus ADVC100. These boxes convert IEEE-1394 FireWire signals into analog video signals that play back on TVs. In addition, quite a number of digital camcorders work as converter boxes. Consult your owner's manual to see if your camcorder offers video play-through.

  If you own a FireWire-ready DVD recorder or VCR, you can connect directly to your recorder without going through a converter box.

  Hot Tip: If your digital camcorder does not offer play-through, you can always export your video to the camera first, and then play it back to another device, such as a VCR or DVD recorder.

• FireWire Cable You'll need a standard FireWire cable. Make sure to check your connectors. Depending on your converter box, camcorder, or FireWire-ready recording unit, you may need either a 6-pin to 6-pin or a 6-pin to 4-pin cable. The 6-pin connections have flat, elongated connectors, while 4-pin connections use a more compact connector with a small "dent" along one side.

  The 6-pin IEEE-1394 FireWire connectors have a long, thin connector. The extra pins provide power along the connection. The 4-pin connectors are slightly "crimped" and generally connect to self-powered devices.

• RCA and/or S-Video Cables If your VCR or DVD recorder is not FireWire-ready, choose either a three-plug RCA cable (yellow, red, and white; yellow carries the video, red and white carry the audio) or an S-video cable (for the video) and a two-plug RCA cable (red and white for the audio; for stereo sound, red is right, white is left) to connect your converter box to your recording device. Note: Expect some quality loss when exporting to analog video and then redigitizing onto a DVD recorder.

Making the Connections

Connecting your Mac for output shouldn't be difficult. Follow these steps to connect your Macintosh to your VCR or DVD recorder:

1. Insert one end of your FireWire cable into a FireWire port on your Macintosh.

2. When working with a FireWire-ready recording unit, connect the other end of the FireWire cable to that unit and proceed to step 5. Otherwise, attach the remaining end of your cable to your converter box.

3. Attach your video cables (RCA, S-Video, or both) to the output connectors on your converter box.

4. Attach the other ends of your video cables to the input connectors on your recording device.

5. Set your VCR or DVD recorder to receive video input from the cables you just connected. As you might expect, this procedure varies by unit. Consult your owner's manual as needed. Most VCRs require you to tune to AUX (auxiliary input), EXT (external), or LINE to receive an external signal.

Installing SimpleVideoOut X

After downloading the program, it takes just a few simple steps to install the program in your Applications folder.

1. Unstuff the file SimpleVideoOut.sit onto your computer.

2. Inside the new folder, you'll find all the source files that make up the program as well as a subfolder called SimpleVideoOut folder. Open this folder. It contains four executable files: SimpleVideoOut 9 (for OS 9), SimpleVideoOut X (for OS X), SimpleVideoOut CW (OS X version, compiled in CodeWarrior), and SimpleVideoOut X xcode (OS X version, compiled in Xcode).

3. Drag SimpleVideoOut X from the SimpleVideoOut folder into your Applications folder, and then drag the SimpleVideoOut X program icon from your Applications folder into your dock.

4. You may now, if desired, discard SimpleVideoOut.sit and the rest of the SimpleVideoOut folder you unstuffed. Otherwise, at your leisure, feel free to browse through and examine the rest of the material that came with the program.

Running SimpleVideoOut X

After installing the program and making your connections, you're now ready to make magic. In the following steps, you'll learn how to use your new software to export your QuickTime video.

1. Power on your converter box (if used), recording device, and television. You cannot run SimpleVideoOut X unless it can gain exclusive control of the exporting hardware, and it cannot do that unless everything is powered on and connected.

2. Select the QuickTime video file you wish to export, and drag it onto the SimpleVideoOut X icon in your dock. The program launches and displays its Video Output Component Settings dialog.

3. In the settings dialog, select FireWire from the Output pop-up.

4. If you live in the United States, Japan, or other country that uses the NTSC system, choose Apple FireWire NTSC from the Mode pop-up. If you live in Europe, Australia, or other country that uses a PAL system, choose Apple FireWire PAL instead.

   Set your Output to FireWire and choose the proper country system for your Mode.

5. Click OK. This dismisses the dialog and opens a video window.

6. Click Play. The Play button is the small, right-facing triangle located below your video on the left. You will now hear the audio on your TV, but you will not yet see video. After a few seconds hit Pause to stop playback.

   Note: Do not use the volume control (located to the left of the Play button) to change the playback audio levels. Adjust the sound levels on your TV instead. You'll want to record your video at its normal (highest) volume levels to preserve the natural dynamic audio range.

7. Click Option-← (left arrow) to return the playhead to the beginning of your video.

8. Locate the downward-pointing arrow at the bottom right of your video window. Click this arrow to open its pop-up menu.

   This pop-up menu allows you to control the output settings for SimpleVideoOut X.

9. Select Video Output Echo Port Off from the menu. The video portion of your window will disappear, collapsing into a simple scrub bar.

   To watch your video on TV, you must first hide it on your monitor. You cannot watch video on both your TV and your computer at the same time.

10. Check your TV. The first frame will now display on your set's screen. If not, recheck the connections to your recording device and to your TV.

    After selecting Video Out Echo Port Off, video appears on your television.

11. In SimpleVideoOut, press Play.

12. Watch just enough of your video to ensure that playback is as expected. Click Pause to pause playback, and type Option-← (left arrow) to return the playhead to the start of your video.

13. Insert a fresh disk or tape into your recording device, queuing as needed.

14. Press Record on your recording device, and then press Play in SimpleVideoOut X.

15. Let your video play through completely.

16. Press Stop on your recording device.

17. You may now quit SimpleVideoOut X or, to continue with another video, choose File - Close Window (Command-W), and then choose File - Open (Command-O). Continue by returning to step 3 of these instructions.