Best free video converter these days

[Digmen1]

Hi Guys
I have been working on videos for about 6 years and it is still a very confusing minefield!
So many different formats and options and so much software.

I thought I would ask what most people think is the best free software in common use these days (not some obscure program that has just come out)

Software that converts DVD videos to other file formats playable on various devices.

I have used
Avidemux
Handbrake
AKGordion Knot
XMediarecode

I have read about
Makemkv
Vidcoder

What do think?

[johns0]

Vidcoder is what i use for encoding all my blu-ray and dvd collections to watch on my sony blu-ray player to sony hdtv as mkv(data mode) or blu-ray authored.I use makemkv to rip the files to the hdd.

[redwudz]

I encode DVDs with VidCoder to MKV H.264/AC3 audio. Usually ~1 - 2GB filesize with a CQ of 18.5

[KarMa]

Avidemux - Never liked this program, at least the Windows version. Always messed with my colors, crashes a lot.
Handbrake - Great for a novice looking for x264/x265 quality, decent filters for basic stuff.
AKGordion Knot - Don't Know
XMediarecode - Not a fan so I stopped using it quickly.

Makemkv - Don't Know
Vidcoder - Just a frontend for Handbrake so should be ok

Handbrake/Vidcoder would be the best if you don't know what you are doing and just want to use the best H.264 encoder out there (x264). Feeding x264 directly with Avisynth would be best, MeGUI for example, but it's pretty daunting at first.

[paul5]

Newbie. I want to convert a lot of my old video collection FROM old formats like AVI, rmvb, some .TS saved via a TV tuner, to the latest H265 / MKV, which I read is far more space efficient, but WITHOUT LOSS of resolution, preserving any included subtitles, and preferably without having to do a lot of fiddling with the software. I have very little source above 720p. No interest in 4K. As videos recorded in .TS are split into many parts to cutout adverts, it would be nice if I can merge the parts back into a single file, but not essential.

Which free video converter is best for that ?

I see a number recommending VIDCODER running on top of Handbrake.

I also saw a 'top 5 free converters by videoconverterfactory.com - but v. sparce review which favoured theirs, yet when I click on their pick, the only 'Specification' was for their paid for 'Pro' - no way of discovering if their limited 'free' version will convert from abouve sources, to H265/MKV

[redwudz]

You can try Handbrake/VidCoder, it's OK for some of those formats and easy to use. With other formats you might use AVIDemux, or similar.
RMVBs don't convert easily.

WITHOUT LOSS isn't really possible unless you just copy the original file. You will always have some conversion loss.

I would try Constant Quality setting in Handbrake or VidCoder. Then it's easier to set your quality.
An explanation here: https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/ConstantQuality

But try some encodes and see if they work for you.

And welcome to our forums.

[johns0]

Vidcoder - Just a frontend for Handbrake so should be ok
.

Vidcoder isn't a frontend for handbrake,it's based on the handbrake engine so you don't need handbrake installed to use vidcoder.

[KarMa]

isn't a frontend for handbrake,it's based on the handbrake engine so you don't need handbrake installed to use vidcoder.

Oh ok, I just never used it.

[wendfd]

Im using Wondershare. First one i've tried

[smrpix]

Im using Wondershare. First one i've tried

It's pretty well agreed around here that one's terrible.

[Tom Saurus]

I think the Video To Video Converter is a useful video converter to have as a tool. I use it mostly for taking .flv files and using direct stream copy and selecting .mp4 to repackage the files in so that files will play on my Blu Ray player. The process takes just a matter of seconds and I haven't run into any problems so far. Though I have noticed one thing that is odd, the .flv files had a frame rate of 29.970 and the new file has a frame rate of 30.557275

[paul5]

Many thanks for the helpful replies.

I try to install as little software as poss to keep system clean, so hoping to make a single good choice of video encoder based on reading reviews/recommendations. As mentioned, looking for a converter that doesnt require much 'fiddling' with software. I will not have time multiplying what fiddling there is, x n converter programs.

Interesting @redwudze advises converting file to another format entails quality loss. I hadn't realized that. I assumed that once the intrinsic analog nature of video was in digital domain, converting to other digital formats could be done without quality loss.

I read your useful handbrake link on 'Constant Quality', a CQ of '20' COULD be optimum, and if not careful, the output file may be larger than the source. What caused my interest in converting my videos in older formats, was reading h265 files take half the space of H264 for SAME resolution. Is this not easily achievable if converting from AVI, rmvb, TS to H265 ?

Re. the CQ setting dependant on DVD or Bluray; as mentioned, all 3 old formats I thought to convert, by definition already been converted once from some disk. Only info I have on the source are whats reported in VLC, typically 360p, 480p, or 720p. Are there recommended CQ values to match those 3 resolutions ?

I can't find much documentation on VidCoder, just the following Wiki:
https://github.com/RandomEngy/VidCoder/wiki which says "using H.264 encoding with x264, the worlds best video encoder" yet has nothing to say about H265 other than its supported. Seems to imply forget anything but H264 ? or have they just forgotten to update the text since H265 came along ?

I see Gizmo's "Best Free Audio-Video Format Conversion Program" top pick is now 'Freemake'. Apart from the warning to avoid the toolbar & opencandy install, any thoughts on how it rates relative to VidCoder ?

[DarrellS]

I use Virtualdub for just about all of my video needs. With all the right plugins, I can import just about any file type I want and with the external encoder feature I can encode to just about any file type I want. People here say that it is difficult to learn but there are plenty of users here to help. I guess if I hadn't learned years ago how to use it, I would probably download this version which comes with an installer and all the plugins you need to get started.

Virtualdub AIO

https://www.videohelp.com/download/VirtualDubAIO_1.0.0.9.exe

[redwudz]

H.265 can be more compact, but that somewhat depends on the type of video you are encoding.
And you may have problems with playback of H.265 with some players.

Another problem is it requires a fair amount of computer power and lots more time to encode, especially with large files.
H.264 is more mainstream with more acceptance.

You can 'repackage' some video to a different container without quality loss, but that's a whole different discussion.

The best way at present to see the attributes of a video file seems to be MediaInfo.
It usually gives very accurate information.

But try some short H.265 encodes and some H.264 encodes with some different settings and decide for yourself.

[Cauptain]

MEGUI - Very nice software. Learn curve is high but many options to make a highest quality (Full support to Avisynth scripts)

RIPBOT264 - Very easy software to make BLURAY or DVD to MP4/MKV files.




Claudio

[paul5]

H.265 can be more compact, but that somewhat depends on the type of video you are encoding.
And you may have problems with playback of H.265 with some players.

Another problem is it requires a fair amount of computer power and lots more time to encode, especially with large files.
H.264 is more mainstream with more acceptance.
.....

You say depends on video type: Of the 3 source types (AVI, rmvb, TS), I want to save space without losing noticeable quality, am guessing the .TS files recorded from SD DVB TV tuner might be more rewarding than the other 2. So the video type is typical TV if there is such a thing (no cartoons or animations). For that scenario can you give a suggested CQ value (i.e in 18..22) with estimated space saving with targets a) H264, b) H265 ?

Re. computer power, my NUC is i5-4250U with 8GB DDR3L, SSD. Any estimate on conversion time/hour of source for target H265 ? (I can leave it running overnight if need be). Of course H.264 has more acceptance as it has been around far longer than H265.

Although I see very little video downloadable in H265, I did run (VLC) a hi-res H265 test video on my NUC and it played absolutely fine - although I guess no guarantee all H265 will run ok.
Would I be correct in thinking MKV is a better container choice than MP4 if only playing on a pc ?

[redwudz]

I'm using MKV (H.264/AC3) because it works for me. I don't really use MP4. All my devices play MKV back with no problems.

I can't really estimate the speed of an encode. Easier to just try a short representative file and compare the different formats on your system.

I use 18.5 CQ with DVD conversions with VidCoder as it gives me a size of 600MB to about 2GB, depending on the length and attributes of the video. Anime ends up on the low side and fast action DVDs on the high side. It's completely subjective and depends on the quality you want VS the storage size. I see some degrading from the original, but I can live with that as I have the originals. I do have a video projector and a large screen and they look good to me.

I chose an output size for BD to MKV conversions mainly for backup purposes. I use 8GB so I can easily fit the multiple conversions on a BD disc in case of hard drive failure on my server. Which has happened several times in the past years. It saves the time of re-converting. Some of them have a bit of quality loss, but it's acceptable for me.

I've only used H.265 a few times, but it's a bit slow for encoding, even on my system. True the size is a fair amount smaller at a similar quality.
But I haven't tried it with all my players for compatibility and I don't really lack for room on my server as the price of large hard drives is fairly low at present.

[paul5]

I'm using MKV (H.264/AC3) because it works for me. I don't really use MP4. All my devices play MKV back with no problems.

I can't really estimate the speed of an encode. Easier to just try a short representative file and compare the different formats on your system.

I use 18.5 CQ with DVD conversions with VidCoder as it gives me a size of 600MB to about 2GB, depending on the length and attributes of the video. Anime ends up on the low side and fast action DVDs on the high side. It's completely subjective and depends on the quality you want VS the storage size. I see some degrading from the original, but I can live with that as I have the originals. I do have a video projector and a large screen and they look good to me.

I chose an output size for BD to MKV conversions mainly for backup purposes. I use 8GB so I can easily fit the multiple conversions on a BD disc in case of hard drive failure on my server. Which has happened several times in the past years. It saves the time of re-converting. Some of them have a bit of quality loss, but it's acceptable for me.

I've only used H.265 a few times, but it's a bit slow for encoding, even on my system. True the size is a fair amount smaller at a similar quality.
But I haven't tried it with all my players for compatibility and I don't really lack for room on my server as the price of large hard drives is fairly low at present.

Thanks for your further info on this. Just as background, as I move about a lot, I need to travel light and so rarely use CD/DVD's due to weight, hence use of compact hi-capacity ext. USB HDD. Typically, I bring out an external DVD drive only to install Windows. I keep a 24" 1080p monitor & keyboard/mouse at each location. As my eyes not that sharp, and trying not to keep buying more ext. HDD, I think 720p is reasonable max resolution for me. Also, I had read writable DVD media tends to degrade over not many years, not suitable as backup, so was thinking ext. HDD is best backup media. I don't use a NAS, just a system of buying bigger ext HDDs as they come out, and bulk copying from old HDD to new, while keeping the older smaller HDD's as 'backup' in case newest HDD fails. Keep no multimedia on the small internal SSD.

While on that subject, I discovered 'Windows Copy' can be unreliable when doing bulk copy operations over USB as it does not do Verify or report copy errors. I recently settled on 'FastCopy' to do all my bulk copy operations as it does verify and has excellent logging. Which method do you use ?

Although being able reduce the size of some of my older media using more efficient codec has been at the back of mind for some years, the reason for timing of registering with this Forum, was I was actually googling to discover a decent working language translation of subtitle .SRT files, that just simply works and is free. During that, so far fruitless search, I noticed Christmas promotions of 2 commercial programs: Wonderfox & WinDVD free upto 31 December, for converting film media from one codec format to another. As the Wonderfox 'review' appeared a little suspect, and as stated before, am reluctant to install stuff on my NUC in the off-chance it will do what I want, I thought to do a quick search for a 'always free' alternative to the commercial programs to see if better, which is what brought me to your site.

Hasslefree language translation of .SRT subtitle files is actually my current priority. Until about 3 years ago I used to paste the SRT file directly into Google Translate, and after about 3 passes as google would hang on files with more than about 500 lines, I was able to obtain an output file with timings intact. Unfortunately Google altered their engine which completely screwed the timecodes making it unusable for this purpose. (I then googled for a free 'utility' to do the job; recently a review recommended the 'new' 'Subtitle Workshop' as best translator. I installed it but it crashed !)

Do you think 'SRT Language Translator' a suitable topic for this Forum ?

[redwudz]

Do you think 'SRT Language Translator' a suitable topic for this Forum ?

Sure, post it in our 'Subtitle Forum'. Subtitle Workshop is a bit out of date, but still a good program.
Maybe some of our members more familiar with subtitles and translating them can give good advice.

I back up to both BD data discs and to hard drives. Both can fail at times.
I rarely transfer lots of large files all at once to my backup or my portable drives, it's mostly incremental, a few files at a time.