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Best Free Audio-Video Format Conversion Program
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Introduction
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There are many different audio and video formats out there, and most devices (such as the iPod) and programs (such as Windows Media Player) are only compatible with a few specific formats. An AVI or WMV movie will not play on an iPod, for example, without being converted into an MP4 file first. There are quite a few programs that will do this for free, with more popping up all the time. They tend to fall into a few general categories:
While some are better than others overall, which one is best for you will depend on what sort of program you need. Note: If you want to rip video directly from a DVD, click here to view the Best Free DVD Ripper page.. |
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Discussion
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Device-Specific PicksPazera Video Converters Suite
Also recommended:
General Converter Picks
You can convert most any format of video or audio with this handy piece of freeware, along with DVD's, photos, and even web embedded media from sites like YouTube, Google, and Vimeo. There are lots of presets and quite a few options, giving the software best-in-class capabilities. The visual cues are easy to follow, pretty much guiding you from start to finish on any conversion task and providing a more user-friendly experience than most other software. This software can make use of DXVA and CUDA (two methods of hardware accelerated encoding) to boost speeds. I was only able to use DXVA on my test computer, so you may get faster encodes with your machine. On my laptop, I had an NVidia card, and Freemake actually displayed a message recommending that I update my video card drivers to make use of CUDA acceleration. Freemake took 39 minutes to produce its output using an Auto Bitrate setting, with a two-pass encode. It took under 15 minutes to do a one-pass encode. Handbrake took 33 minutes using a Constant Quality RF:20 setting. The quality of all three test encodes was excellent, with no apparant difference from the original. You won't find advanced encoding settings anywhere in this interface, so if you're looking to fine-tune your output, I recommend moving on to something like Handbrake, Format Factory, or FFCoder. I would have loved to give this software 10/10 stars, however there was one negative aspect to Freemake Video Converter: the bundled FaceMoods Toolbar that is set to install by default unless you choose otherwise on the first page of the install wizard. To their credit, the Privacy Policies are easily available for both Freemake and FaceMoods. I installed FaceMoods into a dedicated Sandboxie sandbox, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary pop out of the install package. Just the same, I reinstalled onto my system without the toolbar and would recommend you do the same unless you genuinely want to make use of the FaceMoods features. Although their website defaults to an "online installer", they do host offline installers, available here.
NOTE: When installing Format Factory, watch out for the bundled toolbar. It is installed by default if you don't uncheck the box on the first screen of the installer package. A portable version of this software is also available at LiberKey, which is a superb portable application manager.
Also recommended:
Custom-Oriented PicksIf you need to make complex, custom jobs, FFCoder is the standout choice for its coherence. Like most programs in this review, it has an excellent device preset list, the ability to convert multiple files at once, and a simple, sleek interface. Where FFCoder stands out is its support of highly advanced configuration for each of the dozens of video formats and codecs, down to lighting and rendering settings. Despite a few dependencies (listed below) and a steep learning curve for any tweaks past the presets, this is the best converter for almost any power user, device owner or not. One of my favourite FFCoder features is the Directory Watch. You can setup FFCoder so that it monitors a folder for files matching a filename pattern, which will be automatically converted using the selected settings. It can be a bit confusing to set up, however I found I got the best results when setting the wildcard filename pattern to something other than *.* (such as *.avi). There were two things I didn't like about FFCoder. The first is that is always creates Start Menu entries in the Administrator account, regardless of which non-admin account is being used to install it. This is fairly minor though, contrasted with all the powerful features. The second drawback is that it seems to be less stable on 64-bit Windows systems every now and again. I ran into .DLL errors and missing presets, which strangely were intermittent problems. I've spoken with the author and it looks like many of these bugs will be worked out in the next release. Also recommended:
Audio-Only PicksXRecode II is the most feature-rich audio converter you're likely to find. One thing I noticed is that the speed of conversion is literally amazing compared to other software I've used in the past, and I think this is because it makes full use of each of my CPU cores. It can also edit the metadata of MP3 files before you convert with is a really cool feature. There is a portable version available as well. You can extract audio from video files, and you can convert from a single source file to multiple outputs at once which is really unique. This is highly recommended if you've got time to wade through the hundreds of options and settings. The only downside to it is a short nag-screen when you open it, asking you to Register. There is no time limit, and there is no functionality loss. Pazera Free Audio Extractor is the audio-only program in the above-mentioned Pazera Video Converters Suite. It supports both video and audio input and output to many formats, and is slightly simpler than some of its sibling programs. Otherwise, it is perfectly identical.
Online Conversion WebsitesZamzar is an excellent website when you're on the run. It doesn't allow you to customize the encoding settings, however it makes up for that somewhat with its portability and flexibility. If you have a browser with internet access, you have Zamzar. If you have any file, you can convert it to any other type of file in the same class. For example, you can convert video files, audio files, photos (ex: .JPG to .PNG), archives (ex: .RAR to .ZIP), documents (ex: .PDF to .DOC), and eBooks (ex: .LIT to .EPUB). You can even paste a URL (ex: YouTube) and it'll download the embedded video for you and convert it. Once the conversion is done, they email you a link to download the finished product. This email-based file retrieval can be either a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. It's more fuss than there really needs to be in the process, however it gives you the flexibility of converting a Youtube video from a computer where you can't download the content, such as when at work behind a proxy or at a public library. When you get home, you can then download the finished conversion immediately using the email link. I first used Zamzar over a year ago, and to this day I have never received unsolicited email from them. There is a 100MB file limit for free use, but you can upgrade that to 200MB and get about 5GB of online storage if you want to pay their fairly steep monthly prices. For most users, the free services are more than adequate.
Tested and not recommended:
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is really a package of several separate device converters with a common launcher. Each converter is powerful, with several presets for device, custom tweaking/profiles, multiple-file support, all in a simple text-based interface. If you don't mind the launcher, you could effectively use it as a hybrid converter.
To Be Reviewed:
- Avanti
- DVDVideoSoft (re-review)
- Miksoft Mobile Media Converter
- Mediacoder
- Motion Man by Blink Solution
- MeGUI
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Related Products and Links
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You might want to check out these articles too: |
Portable version available here.
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Editor
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| This software category is maintained by volunteer editor DrBaker. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or suggestions they might have by clicking here. |
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Tags
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| free audio converter, free video converter, best audio video converter, top audio video conversion program, free av converter, free av conversion. |
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Comments
Just a quick note on the 'Freemake video converter'. It appears to need .NET to work. As this fact is included in the Format Factory info', perhaps also for the Freemake?
Great tip, but now I'm sort of wondering...
What do you think about the need to mention this requirement?
.NET framework.. is this really a negative point?
Some do consider it a negative point. Can be understood, because of the heavy disk size these .NET frameworks take up. So, some do not like this.
However, some think that installing .NET frameworks makes their system slow, which is a myth.
I've added the note about Freemake requiring .NET, as some users may appreciate it.
Great :).
Anyways, if a program has any such requirement of anything extra installed for it to function properly, then it should be mentioned in the review. This holds true for across the site.
I downloaded the free maker video converter. Unfortunately when i tried to convert files it crashed every time I tried to convert. Any ideas on how to resolve this problem. Or should I try one of your other great finds.
eric
Always good articles - very informative. I have used some of those listed above, but my favorite for video - to - DVD conversion is Videos to DVD Converter by Koyotesoft.com; on my computer it is not blazingly fast but is really good for compiling a mixture of video formats (avi, flv, wmv, etc) simultaneously. It also allows for menus that can be editied, the menu is returned to after each video plays on your tv, and, when when converting videos into DVD format, it seems to do compression automatically (I have converted a number of mixed video formats into one DVD starting at about 6,500Gb which was compressed to about 4.5GB.
Perhaps other readers have similar experience with this freeware.
Keep up the good work.
The trouble with Freemake and all the converters I have tried is that I lose sync between the video and the audio after conversion. This is unacceptable. I don't know how to fix this issue. Why does audio get out of sync with the video?
This is a very common problem. If you download a lot of YouTube, you'll see this more often than not.
iWisoft Free Video Converter allows you to correct this.
After you add the file, right click the file, select Advanced.
You'll see the option to offset the audio. Usually 500ms will be about right.
Allen, this sometimes happens to me too. Previously, I've done a bit of digging into it and have never fully nailed down a solution, although I can recommend a couple things for you to try:
1) Try encoding after a fresh reboot of your computer, with the internet cable disconnected and with no TSR (anti-virus, etc) software running. If this fixes your issue, then you may be dealing with a problem based around lack of system resources. A permanent fix for this would then be to upgrade your hardware and/or drivers.
2) Try using software which lets you specify the output frame rate. In my experience, it's usually 29.97 fps source video that winds up with sync issues, however no matter what your source video frame rate is, try setting your output to 24 fps. This simple trick usually fixes the problem for me. It's not ideal, as you may not actually want that frame rate, however I personally can't normally tell the difference when watching on a TV (movie theatres are usually 24 fps anyways). A permanent fix for this would be to pick a different source video. I'll explain below:
Usually when people try to convert a video, they are converting FROM a source that is not original. So, you might try to convert FROM a .AVI file, TO a .MP4 file for example. All .AVI files are at best, the first encode of an original source, and whoever did that original encode (whoever took the video FROM the DVD, or DV-TAPE for example), may have had issues with their encode, such as dropped keyframes and other audio/video sync precursors. If you can't control your conversion source, then you can't control your conversion output. As a workaround, the 24 fps usually works. When it doesn't, try looking further back and finding the 'original source' video to work with. This is usually frustratingly impossible to get your hands on :)
Hope this helps!
I agree that Freemake is an excellent program. It is easy to use and produces great output. My criticisms would be the lack of tweaks and control of the settings. The CUDA encoded output is not that good.
I prefer Mediacoder even though the interface is not as polished and intuitive. The amount of control over audio and video settings is fantastic. It supports CUDA with better control and output than Freemake. It also supports Intel Quick Sync if you have a newer Intel Sandy Bridge processor. The speed of the encodes is fantastic and the quality is quite good, much better than CUDA.
I'm going to make a point of testing out Mediacoder in the near future, as it looks really good. It's been on my to-do list for a while. Who knows, maybe it'll finally push the oft-disputed Format Factory down a notch :) ?
thanks for your recommendation!
I'm not familiar with a lot of the programs listed, but I've very familiar with the top three and Format Factory, and the first thing I want to say is that Freemake is much more than a converter. It's also the best and easiest to use video editor for simple editing (without special effects).
In fact, I regard it as the best free editor, period because it's so easy to use, with a straight-forward interface, and an absolutely precise frame selection. No other editor I've used is as precise - they drop a few frames, add noise, etc.
But if you're using Freemake just to convert, it's the best in this category too due to its simplicity and speed.
The drawbacks are several, however, the biggest of which is the nag screen. The reviewer may not have noticed it because it doesn't appear at startup or shutdown, it appears when you process your conversion, and it's especially annoying because they nag you to "like" Freemake on Facebook - and it doesn't go away. Well, maybe it does if you decide to like Freemake, But I refuse to find out because it's so irritating.
There's also a cropping feature that doesn't work which annoys me because if it did, I wouldn't have to do a second processing in Handbrake after editing in Freemake.
Regarding Handbrake, it's great, but get Vidcoder instead. It's a Handbrake shell program that makes the complicated Handbrake somewhat easier to use.
I regard iWisoft and Format Factory to be inferior to the above two for converting, but I would take Format Factory over iWisoft, as I find the latter's conversions to be less sharp and a bit jumpy at times.
Finally, I like XMedia Recode (not mentioned) because there's nothing faster for converting if you aren't making any changes, and it's the only one that handles .WTV, Media Center's video format.I simply take a TV program I've recorded, pass it through XMedia Recode, and it converts an hour program to MPEG, AVI, MP$, etc in about a minute, compared to 15 or twenty minutes or more for other converters.
Now, I'm off to find XRecode to see if it's as similar to XMedia Recode as the name would indicate...
Thanks for the tip about Xmedia Recode. I'll take a personal look at this one, and mention that about the .WTV support...
I hadn't noticed that Freemake doesn't crop well, as I have not had to crop a video recently. I'll see if I get the same problems.
Regarding the 'nag screen' in Freemake, well, I agree that it's annoying to have software constantly displaying advertisements. In my books, this particular case of advertising doesn't detract from the usability, so it's more of an 'opportune advertisement window' than a true 'nag screen' which would by my definition, cause a delay in the user's workflow.
You won't find XRecode to be similar, as it's for audio only, but it is quite good at what it does.
I'll take a look at Vidcoder as well, but I find Handbrake to be quite simple in its current build so I'm not sure we need to simplify it more, since we have so many non-customizable software options at our disposal already. If it simplifies without sacrificing flexibility, then it would definitely be worth mentioning on the page, though.
Thanks
I agree that the Freemake nag screen doesn't hinder functionality, but it greatly hinders MY functionality.It's outrageous that they would nag you to like them and not let you dismiss it once and for all, so I use a version that predates their nagging. It also has the advantage of being able to scroll the conversion choices individually.
I don't consider Handbrake to be all that simple, but Vidcorder gives it a more ordered feel. I believe that if you try it, you won't go back to Handbrake standalone, but maybe it's just me.
About XMedia Recode, there is no faster converter if you are simply going from one format to another and keeping all other settings intact, just set the video and audio tabs to "copy." It's when you add effects or change video bitrates that it slows to "normal." Since I need to use several freeware programs to get from DVD or .WTV to an edited 1500 MP4, XMedia Recode does the initial conversion faster than anything. And since it also does just audio conversions very fast, it's become my program of choice.
But there's a big caveat... I always keeps five versions in reserve because, amazingly, each new update seems to have bugs that affect previously functioning features. For example, in 3096, I couldn't isolate a segment from a DVD track, it would only copy the entire track, despite 3094 being able to isolate the segment just fine.
Oh, and XMedia will sometimes not present all the DVD tracks for ripping, just what it considers the main one.
One other problem with XMedia Recode, as with most converters, is that you can't edit a segment precisely - or even close to precisely. What makes this especially annoying with XMedia is that you can crop precisely which slows the conversion process to what's normal for other converters, and then you still need to use another program for a final edit, and still another for cropping, so my regimen is XMedia Recode (really fast converting - Freemake (fast, precise editing) - Vidcoder-Handbrake (bitrate reduction and cropping_.
Why not "any video converter"? I recommend it!
I have used the Any product and had trouble with converting VOB files. It couldn't convert them properly to WMV files, but when I chose MP4 format, it then handled them correctly. I am off to try the #1 recommendation.
It's under the "Tested and not recommended" category.
I'd appreciate a list of conversion software which best handles embedding of *.srt subtitles. I've found the most consistently reliable so far to be Freemake. Any Video Converter does a good job - when it works. While iWiSoft mentions subtitles on their website, I couldn't find the function on the product itself.
It would also be useful to know whether anyone has produced a single piece of software which allows conversion of sub/idx format to *.srt and then enables embedding. So far, I've found the functions quite distinct and require different conversion software. Thanks for your help.
SG
I've found that Mobile Media Converter does a really nice job embedding srt subtitles on video.
http://www.miksoft.net/mobileMediaConverter.php
Thanks I'll check it out. I've heard of MikSoft before... can't remember where and I don't recognize any of their 3 products.
For those who visit their website, keep an eye out for false download links. They have quite a few advertisements which look like the 'download' button. I found the real download button at the bottom of the page. It was a grey color.
Embedding subtitles isn`t something I`m familiar with, but I`ll keep an eye on that feature for future reviews and re-reviews.
As for finding software which converts and then subsequently embeds the subtitles, I am in agreement with you that this is not easily found. I`ve always had to convert the subtitles separately, and I think that there is such a small demand for this functionality that developers don`t spend the time coding it in. It would be nice to see though.
One more.
Free Media Converter : http://www.freemediaconverter.org/
Seems to be new. Site does not have a WOT rating yet.
They just keep cropping up, don't they? :D
Yes Man, I used Free Media Converter and it is great, now they issued version 2.0 with a great developing steps, it is a media converter, a dvd ripper, a video downloader and a screen recorder.
Hi, I test it and look really good so far. Really fast convertion speeds.
Hi DrBaker, good work with this article. I've tried some of these converters and I thought I'll share some of my experiences with them. I tried iwisoft video converter which is shown as the recommended converter here. When I used it, I really liked it but if I remember right, it didn't have an option for 2 pass video encoding (though that was about a year ago), so I think that deserves a point deduction (if that feature still isn't there). I tried out Format Factory and tried to remove some black bars from some of my videos but I wasn't at all pleased with the results. The interface wasn't to my taste either. Otherwise it did well and is an all round conversion program. Again this was a year back, but I fell so in love with Freemake's Video converter that I stopped looking for another conversion program. I've been using it from just a month since it was first released and it has kept getting better. Now I use it together with Handbrake. I'd rate Freemake a solid 10 and recommend it as the best converter any day. Gonna try xrecode now.....
Kiara Encoder : http://kiraraencoder.sourceforge.net/
I love finding out about new Open Source software in this category. Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to post my thoughts on the page.
Great! Will be good to hear your thoughts about this.
So far, Kiara Encoder is doing a good job of converting my test videos. It's quick, hasn't crashed yet, and has produced smooth output. I'm not a fan of any java-like interface, however it has been functioning well, and is actually quite intuitive.
It's got a large amount of inbuilt presets as well. I think what I like most about it is the utter lack of 'in-your-face' freeware extras. There are no browser popups, no advertisements, no gimmicks. The fact that its open-source is a plus for me. I like software with nothing to hide, even if I don't understand the language it's coded in myself.
I did notice that upon install, it tried to connect to an external IP address. I blocked it with my firewall, but I expect it was some type of automatic version checking. I looked through the preferences/options afterwards and due to it not being a native English program, I can't be sure but I think there is a toggle to turn auto-checking for updates on/off, after the fact.
I'm going to test it a little bit more, and likely add this software to my recommended list.
Thanks for the tip :)
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