• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Any good video converters?

Olowkow

Philosopher
Olowkow
Joined
Oct 29, 2007
Messages
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I have been using Video DownloadHelper to download and convert videos for a long time. Recently, when Firefox installed version 36.0, it stopped working, which Firefox stated was a known problem. After a month or so, a new version of Video DownloadHelper has installed itself.

It works for downloading *.flv etc, but it does not come with an MP4 or M4V conversion which I need for my IPOD Touch.

There are quite a few "free" conversion programs available, but every time I read the comments on CNET, it seems there is some fatal flaw, such as adware or complexity associated with it.

Does anyone have a good converter, either free or for sale, that lets you put YouTube videos on an iPOD? I use Windows 7 w/PC.
 
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I was in need of a good .flv to .avi converter as I do live streaming with XSplit, and the local saved files are in .flv. I read up a bit and found Any Video Converter, and it's worked very well for me. Fairly quick, with decent quality output. Tons of supported formats. Easy to use.

They have a freeware version. I've not yet had it spam any ads or limit the features. http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
 
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Whiplash said:
I was in need of a good .flv to .avi converter as I do live streaming with XSplit, and the local saved files are in .flv. I read up a bit and found Any Video Converter, and it's worked very well for me. Fairly quick, with decent quality output. Tons of supported formats. Easy to use.

They have a freeware version. I've not yet had it spam any ads or limit the features. http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll try it with due caution. :D

When my Video DownloadHelper stopped working, and I found the reason, I just decided to go find a version 35.x of Firefox so I could continue using VDH. I clicked on the first one that came up and installed it. I have told countless people to never do this without carefully checking the source.

I wound up with three unwanted programs, and 244 hits on malware using MalwareBytes.:eek:

Tsukasa Buddha said:
HandBrake is my fave. Free, open source, multi-platform, and handles all the formats.
Click to expand...

I heard about that one a long time ago, but never bothered to look for it since the one I was using worked so well. I'll go find it.
 
I always used this one when I needed to do video conversions, but I haven't needed to in a long time. It was good at what it did, and is free.
 
Yes!!! Handbrake works great! The original Video DownloadHelper downloaded and converted in one operation, but this will serve my purposes. Thanks.

I'll give the others a try when I get a chance.
 
Handbrake, et al. are fine, but if you run into problems, you can usually solve them with ffmpeg and the right script. It runs in a console window. I think it's worth learning how to use it, if you find yourself converting media files from varied sources, on a regular basis. I have an assortment of scripts that give me more control than I can get with Avidemux or Handbrake.

I also use Mediainfo to figure out exactly what it is I have captured or downloaded. It varies greatly...
 
I second the recommendation for AnyVideoConverter. Never have had a problem with it, it converts to either MP4, NTSC or PAL depending on your need, and the lack of price is a strong selling point. It does nag you to update/upgrade every time you open it but that's one click to close and you're on your way.
 
ffmpeg

All others are simply pale copies.

It's a bit complex, sure, but here's all you need for the iPod Touch

Code: 
ffmpeg -i {filename} -acodec aac -ac 2 -strict experimental -ab 160k -s {ssize} -vcodec libx264 -preset slow -profile:v baseline -level 30 -maxrate 10000000 -bufsize 10000000 -b 1200k -f mp4 -threads 0 {filename}.ipod.mp4
from http://develop.participatoryculture.org/index.php/ConversionMatrix

{filename} -> Name of file to convert (eg ReallyNotPorn.flv) (2 places)
{ssize} -> Size of output (eg 640x480 or 160x120)

If you're a weenie and need a gui:
http://winff.org/html_new/
 
savefrom.net

Simple online converter. I've just finished downloading every Star Trek episode and a truckload of movies and music videos for a total of 500GB in the past month without a single problem. No malware, no popups, fully compatible with FF & TOR.
 
I'll give each a try eventually. I notice one annoyance with HandBrake is that I need to name the output every time, but it seems to work nicely. My only concern about trying stuff was malware, big time sink getting rid of it, so all these suggestions are very helpful.

Yes, I'm most assuredly a weenie.:D I definitely need a GUI.
 
GodMark2 said:
ffmpeg

All others are simply pale copies.

It's a bit complex, sure, but here's all you need for the iPod Touch

Code: 
ffmpeg -i {filename} -acodec aac -ac 2 -strict experimental -ab 160k -s {ssize} -vcodec libx264 -preset slow -profile:v baseline -level 30 -maxrate 10000000 -bufsize 10000000 -b 1200k -f mp4 -threads 0 {filename}.ipod.mp4
from http://develop.participatoryculture.org/index.php/ConversionMatrix

{filename} -> Name of file to convert (eg ReallyNotPorn.flv) (2 places)
{ssize} -> Size of output (eg 640x480 or 160x120)

If you're a weenie and need a gui:
http://winff.org/html_new/
Click to expand...

I second this post!

There is so much support for it online that you can merely google(for example) "converting flv to avi using ffmpeg" and copy and paste the answer into your commandline and run it.
 
I've been pretty happy using Freemake. (Can convert mutiple files at once, seems to handle multiple video AND audio file types.)

One thing to be wary of... they attempt to install other bundled software, like the conduit browser tool bar, and the option to decline that added software is not obvious.
 
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