Free Video Converter!
Published by: Codrut Nistor, in Tips & Tricks
August26th2008
Apart from antiviruses, most fake programs I have seen so far are related to video conversion. What is a fake program? Well, think about a program that you pay for, and you end up with an empty interface that does...absolutely nothing! Anyway, I am not going to talk about that now, because I have to tell you about a free video converter, or maybe more than just one. More is better, right? OK, ready or not, here we go...
For most users, until starting to have DVD burning problems, the most annoying problem is that of the video conversion. Why? Well, think about a new camcorder or a new digital camera with decent movie making capabilities - what do they usually have in common? I am not talking about a certain brand, the maker of these devices doesn't really matter.
From my own experience, and from what I heard from my friends and other people I talked to, virtually all digital cameras and camcorders come with video conversion software that can be described by a single, meaningful word: disaster
(you can also think about the "F word," it describes perfectly one of the first words you'll say out loud after using those conversion programs for only a few minutes).
If you want to know more about this kind of "free video converter," then let me add two more things - these programs always sacrifice power to be as user friendly as possible, and the range of video formats supported is usually extremely limited.
About two weeks ago, when we talked about free DVD player downloads, I told you about one of those programs that saved the day for me a few times, VLC. Just read that article, get the program, and once you start to find your way through its not-so-friendly interface, you'll surely be rewarded by its very good video conversion capabilities, but now...
...let me tell you a few words about today's free video converter, namely VirtualDub, described by its author as "a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP)."
Unfortunately, while this software comes with extended audio and video processing filters, plugins and options, its main target is to work with AVI files, and while it can open MPEG files and convert them to AVI as you wish, it doesn't work properly with other formats popular with digital cameras and camcorders, like MOV, for example. VirtualDub has support for third party plugins, so it can be pushed pretty far, depending on what kind of plugins you can find for your tasks.
These being said, I think I'll leave the next free video converter for another time... What do you think? After all, you have a lot to work with today, especially if you missed grabbing a decent free video player so far!
For most users, until starting to have DVD burning problems, the most annoying problem is that of the video conversion. Why? Well, think about a new camcorder or a new digital camera with decent movie making capabilities - what do they usually have in common? I am not talking about a certain brand, the maker of these devices doesn't really matter.
From my own experience, and from what I heard from my friends and other people I talked to, virtually all digital cameras and camcorders come with video conversion software that can be described by a single, meaningful word: disaster
(you can also think about the "F word," it describes perfectly one of the first words you'll say out loud after using those conversion programs for only a few minutes).
If you want to know more about this kind of "free video converter," then let me add two more things - these programs always sacrifice power to be as user friendly as possible, and the range of video formats supported is usually extremely limited.
About two weeks ago, when we talked about free DVD player downloads, I told you about one of those programs that saved the day for me a few times, VLC. Just read that article, get the program, and once you start to find your way through its not-so-friendly interface, you'll surely be rewarded by its very good video conversion capabilities, but now...
...let me tell you a few words about today's free video converter, namely VirtualDub, described by its author as "a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP)."
Unfortunately, while this software comes with extended audio and video processing filters, plugins and options, its main target is to work with AVI files, and while it can open MPEG files and convert them to AVI as you wish, it doesn't work properly with other formats popular with digital cameras and camcorders, like MOV, for example. VirtualDub has support for third party plugins, so it can be pushed pretty far, depending on what kind of plugins you can find for your tasks.
These being said, I think I'll leave the next free video converter for another time... What do you think? After all, you have a lot to work with today, especially if you missed grabbing a decent free video player so far!
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