What is one of the best/most popular video converters?

[llmercll]

I am using Mediacoder but I've heard a lot of people don't like it for some reason, is there is a reason why? is it the quality?

I basically just want the best all in one video converter out there. I really like Mediacoder but if it doesn't perform as well as others out there I'd rather scrap it.

[MysticE]

Best can mean so many things, on many forums asking for 'Best' will get you a warning.

You have a program and you stated "I really like Mediacoder", but "a lot of people don't like it for some reason". Most folks who look for different programs do it because they "don't like it" and state why. That way folks can offer the 'Best' solution based on their specific, stated, needs... "some reason" don't cut it.

[llmercll]

Best can mean so many things, on many forums asking for 'Best' will get you a warning.

You have a program and you stated "I really like Mediacoder", but "a lot of people don't like it for some reason". Most folks who look for different programs do it because they "don't like it" and state why. That way folks can offer the 'Best' solution based on their specific, stated, needs... "some reason" don't cut it.

Best Quality, isn't that what most people consider best? and im pretty sure they didn't like it because other programs give better quality but cant remember because i read the article over a year ago.

I'm wondering if reencoding video will cause quality loss, regardless of how high i set the bitrate (kind of like how reencoding lossy audio will), or if it will retain it's original quality as long as the bitrate is high enough.

I'm asking this because I'm converting a few files I have that are HUGE in .wmv format. I messed around today with mediacodder and got a 700MB h.264 file from a 2.3 gig wmv (1:30 length). The bitrate was high, at 1000kbps but i think i saw some minor quality loss. I just want to do this and retain as much quality as possible. I'm a quality junkie.

The most important encoding for me will be h.264 but i also use it for ipod and avi.

specific enough?

[Starkian]

The term "Best Quality" is a very subjective one. It will depend on how long are you willing to spend on encoding time, does file size matters , what makes a good image (how much details can you throw away before it shows) and so on ...

The term "HUGE" is also a subjective one. What your video is about? action or talk-show with no movement? The resolution (720/480,640/480 or other ) and also the quality you wanted. I can't say it's big only on file size. For some like me HUGE doesn't depend on file size but on the end result you get.

To your question re-encoding a video from a lossy codec to another will cause quality loss but it doesn't mean you will notice it!

[llmercll]

I'm aiming to keep the originals quality as much as possible. This can range from anything for me, low resolution, 800x800, and even HD. Encoding time isn't as important as quality, but I won't 2x 3x encoding time for a 5% quality increase, if you know what I mean.

I just want to know what tool I can use to get this done and maximize quality.

It's like theres a standard for cd ripping. EAC

a ton of people recommend dbpoweramp for audio converting

programs like dvdshrink and fairuse wizard are known around teh dvd ripping world, and *at least was* considered one of the best

what is the powerful, reliable, popular program for video encoding? generally speaking. I'm not being specific because I really can't in my situation. i just want to know which program out there has a great reputation for quality and does what i need it to, which is basically conversions from any file to any other file, more specfically h.264/ipod/xvid


You know? theres gotta be a bread and butter 100% recommendable video converting program that falls into the category of *best* or *extremely popular*. Just one that gives top notch results. Something like media coder, only I don't know if media coder gives good results. They seem OK but I still see bad texture loss, and remember hearing bad things about it. tis all

[redwudz]

Let's start over. Ripping is just transferring an exact copy from one media to another. No encoding involved. Usually rippers remove some form of copy protection, and sometimes re-arrange the format, but they don't change the data.

You apparently want to re-encode a large, possibly high definition, WMV file to a smaller format. Of course you will have quality loss. How much depends on the source quality and the codec used for encoding and it's settings.

Two encoding programs that use the same codec and settings will yield the same results.

It sounds like your preferred codec is H.264. There are several variations of this.

These are some popular H.264 encoder programs: https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/video-encoders-h264-vc1 I would probably suggest MeGUI, but you may have problems converting WMV for use with it.

If you specifically want to convert HD WMV> H.264, you might change your subject title in your first post of this thread to clarify what you want and you may get more specific replies.

[nbarzgar]

In this respect most apps are dependent on you, i.e. the user and his/her experience and expertise concerning the goal.

1. You should know a bit about video and the factors determining quality - you seem to know something about that.
2. Since you want the best results from your point of view one could not recommend software based on your perception, especially as the device you intend to use the result on (TV, HDTV, iPod, MobilePhone, etc.) determines the "quality" settings...
3. Important: Do you want to do some clicks, depending on given templates and let the application do the rest? Or rather set any possible value yourself?
4. Last, but not at all least: The applications around as a rule use a given set of encoding libraries, so the differences in mpeg4-encoding are rather small, IF the settings are adjusted correctly (and so long as you use something not entirely made up of templates.) So basically you might as well use VirtualDub or VirtualDubMod and use e.g. XViD, where all settings can be edited exactly to what you like them to be.

AND also something you would of course have to keep in mind, although you seem to have: resolution and bitrate are THE values/settings most dependent on each other. It wouldn't make sense to recommend a given bitrate for any given resolution for any codec, since "high" bitrate is relative to that...

FairUse Wizard is rather a kind of (almost) one-click application for that matter, which contains most of the encoding settings 'ready-made'. (I like it and use it a lot!) Media Coder, on the other hand, is an application, which allows you to play around with practically any setting you can think of. (It uses ffmpeg's encoding libraries, as do many others, like AVANTI-GUI [which I like very much] or WinFF or SUPER.) Then there is MeGUI of course, using the libraries of the original codecs (free ones, like XViD, x264, etc.) and allowing for even more interesting combinations of project settings, where video and audio may be encoded separately, then muxed into the container of your choice and you choosing from templates OR setting everything yourself. It's very popular with some people, whereas I don't really like the GUI so much... but that is entirely personal preference. You see my point, don't you?

IMO the best possible course to take: look at the 'tools'-section of this site, where quite a number of apps have been already evaluated, choose one and start encoding short clips, tweaking the settings to your needs, and try those test-clips on the respective output device.

[llmercll]

OK thanks to your replies ive been messing with MeGUI and seem to like it, only problem is I can't figure out how to encode to xvid, any help there?

[llmercll]

Afer playing around with some more, I've got another question in addition to my prevous one about xvid.

In order to encode a dvd i would need to rip it first right? can i do that using dvdshrink or do i need another program? can anyone recommend a good way to rip dvd's or blu ray?

[redwudz]

The freeware DVDFab HD Decrypter can be used for DVD rips. It's updated regularly, so most any of the newer discs can be ripped to your hard drive then Shrink can be used to create a smaller DVD file. Shrink is an older program and can't rip many of the newer DVDs out there.

Blu-Ray is different. The only dependable ripping program presently is Slysoft's AnyDVD HD. It's about $85US at present. You can use it with RipBot264 to back up BD discs to other formats. BD conversion takes a lot of computer power and quite a long time. I back up BD discs to MKV files in about six hours. That's on a 3Ghz quad core computer.

[llmercll]

The freeware DVDFab HD Decrypter can be used for DVD rips. It's updated regularly, so most any of the newer discs can be ripped to your hard drive then Shrink can be used to create a smaller DVD file. Shrink is an older program and can't rip many of the newer DVDs out there.

Blu-Ray is different. The only dependable ripping program presently is Slysoft's AnyDVD HD. It's about $85US at present. You can use it with RipBot264 to back up BD discs to other formats. BD conversion takes a lot of computer power and quite a long time. I back up BD discs to MKV files in about six hours. That's on a 3Ghz quad core computer.

ahh thank you =) dvd fab sounds perfect. for awhile i was using dvd shrink and some other decrypter program but this ounds like a nice all in one package.

as for blue ray rips time doesnt matter too much as i will most likely set them for overnight

[nbarzgar]

I like DVD Decrypter very much (though not developed anymore), still doing a great job on almost any DVD I have thrown at it so far.

Good alternative for DVD (although "gettin' on in years" ) is SmartRipper...

Can't say anything about Blu-ray, yet...