Video converter software is helpful for computer users who watch videos regularly.
Loading a video into a converter and clicking conversion button to have
it converted is quite easier than figuring out what your computer needs
to run the video, downloading what's required to make those changes and
implement them into your system. As a result, there's almost a
guarantee that you will find video converters on the computer of someone
who deals with a lot of videos.
Here,we give you 10 video converter review, and hope you can select what you think the best Video Converter with
this review.
1) Any Video Converter Free
Video
conversion tools can sometimes be scary, complex, intimidating - but
not this one. If your needs are basic then you can just drag in your
files, choose the output format you need from the wide selection on
offer, click "Convert Now!", and the program will go to work. It's all
very easy.
There's also plenty of power here, though. Any Video Converter Free
can download videos directly from YouTube, Google, MetaCafe and so on,
for instance. Handy editing options include the ability to trim and crop
footage, and apply useful special effects (sharpen, reduce noise, tweak
brightness or contrast). And once you've chosen an output profile then
you can customise a few of its settings, perhaps choosing a new
resolution, frame rate, bit rate and so on.
Performance was a
little disappointing, especially considering that Any Video Converter is
(like many similar programs) mostly just a front end for the excellent
FFMPEG conversion library. Only two programs were slower in the
important MP4 conversion test, and the others weren't quick, either.
And
there was another problem. The program includes a "Burning to DVD"
profile which is supposed to burn your videos to DVD when the conversion
is over, but just gave us an error message.
This is a pity,
because Ant Video Converter is well designed and had lots of useful
functionality. It only offers limited control over the conversion
process, so video experts may want to look elsewhere, but if you're more
interested in ease of use and can put up with the below-par performance
then this could be an acceptable choice.
Free Studio
is a suite of 45 freeware tools to handle all kinds of video-related
tasks: downloading, ripping, burning, and of course converting clips
from one format to another.
A
front end menu tries to integrate all these, but it still takes some
exploration to find what you need. Once discovered the relevant tools,
though, they follow the usual route: import your chosen videos, choose
the appropriate output format or device, and convert at a click.
If
Free Studio doesn't provide a profile to suit your needs, then it's
possible to configure a new one. So if you need to create 1024x768 AVIs,
say, then in a click or two you can build a profile which uses that
resolution, and in future you'll be able to simply select it from the
list. Which is handy, although there are only very few tweaks available
within a profile: video frame rate, bit rate, resolution, audio sample
rate, bit rate, the number of audio channels, and, well, that's it. (You
can't even choose the audio codec, typically - the program selects
what's appropriate for the format.)
When it comes to performance,
the story is mixed: Free Studio did very well in the important MP4
conversion tests, but was poor at creating FLVs, and couldn't produce an
MPEG2 file at all.
And so if you're looking for real video
conversion power this Free Studio probably won't be good enough. But if
you only need to convert videos occasionally, maybe to MP4, then Free
Studio may deliver exactly what you need (and its ease of use and host
of extras are a welcome bonus.)
Format Factory
offers a good balance between ease of use and video conversion power.
It's easy to get started: you can choose the type of file you'd like to
create, add some videos to be converted, and pick your required output
settings. But you also just get a little more control over those
settings than in some of the more basic tools here.
When
creating an MP4 movie, for instance, you can choose the encoding option
(DivX, XviD, H264); the video resolution; frame rate, audio codec,
sample rate, volume and more, even rotating the image, or adding
subtitles or a watermark, if you like.
But if you're in a hurry,
no problem, the program also provides multiple profiles which configure
all your settings in a click. The MP4 conversion, for instance, has 27,
with descriptive names like "Mobile Device Compatible 320x240 MPEG4", so
it's easy to find what you need. (And if for some reason it isn't, then
you can easily create new profiles to do whatever you want.)
Performance
wasn't bad, either, with Format Factory scoring well on our HD to MP4
and WMV tests, although its inability to run our MP4 to FLV conversion
dragged its mark down.
The programs mix of usability with plenty
of advanced conversion tweaks does mean it's worth a look, though. And
as a bonus, there are plenty of extra options, including the ability to
create animated GIFs from movies, extract video soundtracks, convert
audio and image files, rip DVDs and CDs, and more.
If you need your conversion tool to support the widest possible range of formats then Freemake Video Converter
could be ideal: it supports a lengthy list of video types, as well as
being able to import audio files, images, DVDs, even YouTube URLs.
Once
your movies have been imported, you're able to remove sections you
don't need via a simple video editor. There's a useful option to set a
limit on the maximum size of your movie, or you might choose to import a
series of files, but then join them together so they're saved as a
single video.
Export support for files is a little more basic,
being mostly limited to the essentials, and you can only tweak a few
elements of your chosen format (codec, resolution, frame rate, audio and
video bitrate, sample rate, channels).
Exporting to mobile
devices is better, however, with support for many Apple, Nokia, Samsung,
Blackberry and other device types (there are even pictures of many
phones, rather than just the model names, to help you choose). Choose
the appropriate device and the program will automatically configure
itself to produce compatible videos: all you have to do is click Convert
and watch it happen.
And you won't be watching long, as Freemake
Video Converter delivers marginally above-average performance, not least
because of its CUDA support.
A few more output formats would be
welcome, then, as would some more advanced conversion tweaks. But that's
really just nit-picking: Freemake Video Converter is an excellent tool
which already has more than enough power to satisfy most people's
transcoding needs.
HandBrake
is probably the oldest of our crop of conversion tools, having been
around since 2003. And it's also one of the more specialised, being best
at transcoding videos to run on Apple devices. The program can only
export MP4 and MKV files, for example, and its output presets are mostly
Apple related (iPod, iPhone, iPad and so on).
As long as your target device plays MP4 files, though (and most do), this
doesn't have to be a major problem. And HandBrake does enable you to
customise the video conversion process in many different ways, which
could be appealing if you find the competition a little too basic.
Once
you've selected your source files, for instance, you can of course
choose the output resolution, video and audio codecs, frame rates and so
on. But there are also options to crop the source footage, add
subtitles, or include extra audio tracks. You can include chapter
markers, or apply some useful cleanup filters (Detelecine, Decomb,
Deinterlace, Denoise, Deblock). And real experts can access many
low-level encoding and analysis details via the Advanced tab.
What
you don't get here are spectacular conversion speeds, unfortunately:
Handbrake's MP4 output performance remained resolutely average in our
tests (although perhaps it could be improved if you spend time tuning
the program's more advanced settings). Still, if you need lots of
encoding options, and can live with the meagre selection of output
formats, then Handbrake may still be a reasonable transcoding choice.
If there were awards given for horrible interfaces then Internet Video Converter HD
(IVC HD) would be an obvious candidate. It's a cluttered mess,
confusing and poorly laid out, and will quickly have you wishing you'd
downloaded a more conventional tool, instead. The program has received
quite a few positive reviews, though, and once you get past the dubious
design decisions then a few plus points do emerge.
IVC
HD can download videos from YouTube and 12 other video sharing sites,
for instance. It's able to create Flash files (FLV or SWF) from your
videos, and can generate the HTML to host them. Editing options include
the ability to trim, rotate, deinterlace or sharpen your source footage,
and converting HD footage from one format to another is simplified by a
convenient set of built-in presets: just choose the one which matches
your needs and you'll be ready to go.
The basic conversion process
isn't too difficult to follow, either, once you've tried it a few
times. Choose your input video, pick an output format, customise a few
settings and click Convert: even if the developer is entirely clueless
about interface design, the core procedure is just the same as with more
normal tools.
Performance isn't quite as good as you'll get
elsewhere, however, with the program delivering marginally below average
conversion speeds in our tests. And so, if you really need the video
downloading feature, or you want to generate Flash files (SWF) with
matching HTML then IVC HD might be worth a try, just about. But
otherwise we'd recommend you ignore it entirely
At first glance, Free Video Converter
doesn't look like the most impressive of transcoding tools. File format
support is limited, for instance; you can only tweak the most basic
aspects of the output video (codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate and
so on); and there's nothing like the bonus features you'll get with some
of the more powerful competition.
Try
a few conversions, though, and the program will soon seem more
appealing. Importing videos is just a matter of dragging and dropping,
for instance (and it supports all the formats most people will ever
need). There are lots of presets available for various devices (Apple,
Android, Sony, BlackBerry, Xbox and more). And while there's only one
editing tool, it's perhaps the most important, allowing you to trim
unwanted footage from the start and end of your clip.
There are
also some issues, though. And the major one is performance. The program
proved particularly slow in our HD conversion tests, and the other times
weren't great, either. While elsewhere, minor irritations included the
lack of a local help file, always an issue when you're dealing with such
a complex topic. And an interface quick means you can't manually type
the video bitrate you require into the program (you're bizarrely forced
to use assorted buttons and a slider, instead).
Free Video
Converter scores highly for its ease of use, then, and if you only
occasionally need to run simple conversions of small files then it may
be good enough. If you're after power or performance, though, the
program will probably disappoint.
If your video conversion needs are complex, and only the most powerful tool will do, then start by downloading a copy of MediaCoder 2011 - it's packed with functions and features.
The
program doesn't just import all the main video formats, for instance:
it can also download streaming videos, read CDs and DVDs, connect to
video capture devices, and more.
In-depth editing options then
allow you to trim and crop your footage; tweak levels, brightness,
contrast, saturation, hue and gamma; and apply filters to deinterlace,
denoise, deblock, dering and otherwise enhance your footage.
You
can then output to all the usual video formats. And not just using
whatever settings the developer thought best. MediaCoder gives you
access to an incredible number of options, probably more than you ever
realised existed (the Advanced XviD section currently contains 39
settings all on its own).
And smart optimisations, along with
support for CUDA and Intel video acceleration technologies, helps to
ensure that MediaCoder delivers the best possible performance. It was
the fastest in our tests by a large margin.
With all this power
comes a degree of complexity, unsurprisingly. The author has tried to
combat this by providing a wizard and some simplified device-specific
interfaces to help configure MediaCoder's key settings, but it's still
trickier to use than most of the competition.
If you'll use the
program's extra power, though, don't let that put you off. It doesn't
take too long to master the MediaCoder basics, and your efforts will be
handsomely rewarded by its powerful features, extreme configurability
and great performance.
And if you must have something simpler, check out the program's website:
there are simpler, more specialised versions of MediaCoder (for Apple
devices, say, or mobile phones) which deliver similar performance but
are much easier to use.
Throughout
these tests we've been giving extra marks to programs which allow us to
tweak the video conversion process, change various advanced settings to
produce the precise results we need. But if you don't care about any of
that, and just want the easiest conversion tool you can find, then Miro could be interesting.
The
program really is very simple to use. All you have to do is drag and
drop a file onto it (all the major formats are supported), choose an
output preset (Apple and Android devices are covered, along with the PSP
and basic MP4/ WebM/ Theora options) click Convert, and that's it: Miro
will begin converting your movie right away.
This simplicity does
mean the program has plenty of limitations, though. You can't tweak the
resolution or frame rate, for example. There's no talk of codecs here,
no editor, no configurable sample or bit rates. You can't add additional
presets for your own devices.
It's not even possible to process
more than one file at a time, so if you've ten files to convert then
you'll have to drag and drop them individually.
Still, conversion
speeds proved acceptable, with the program ranking fourth out of twelve
in our MP4 export test. And so, if you occasionally need to convert a
single video to play on your iPad, say, then Miro will get the job done
fairly quickly and with the absolute minimum of hassle.
If you'd
like wider format support, more (or any) conversion tweaks and a few
video editing options, though, then move along to the next program: you
won't find any of those items here.
Quick Media Converter HD
does its best to create a good first impression by opening in an "Easy
Mode", with minimal conversion options and plenty of bright, colourful
icons. But it's not long before you realise that "Easy Mode" isn't
really so easy, at all.
The
program tells you to drag and drop your input videos, for instance, but
that didn't work for us. Many of the presets are confusing, basic and
inconsistent. And while "Easy Mode" includes resizing and "bit rate
select" buttons, most of the time they don't work, either.
Switching to HD Mode is a little better, in that you can choose from some common target HD resolutions.
But
then Expert Mode introduces new problems, in that it allows you to
create all kinds of impossible combinations (like converting videos to
GIF files using the H264 codec). Presumably they're hoping experts will
choose more sensibly, but a little help from the interface would still
be welcome.
And other interface irritations include the horribly
basic integrated video player, which doesn't have a progress bar, so you
can only play clips from the beginning - there's no option to jump
ahead.
Still, at least Quick Media Converter HD uses FFmpeg to
convert your files, so we thought conversion performance would be
acceptable. But no, it turned out the program wasn't great here, either.
It did reasonably well on our small file tests, but when converting HD
files Quick Media Converter HD was clearly outperformed by most of the
competition.
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