Handbrake – Open Source MP4 Video Transcoder

agreenlees — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:41:57 +0000

I have been using Handbrake for quite sometime now but have recently increased my usage due to my acquisition of an Apple TV. The Apple TV is only capable of playing video files that are supported by iTunes. These supported video formats do not include AVI (well not without a Jailbreak and aTV Flash, but I will save that for another time) which is the current format of majority of my movies and TV shows. Due to this flaw in the Apple system I have been forced to convert all my unsupported videos to a format supported by iTunes. Enter Handbrake!

Handbrake is an open source video transcoder available for Windows, Mac and Linux and comes equipped with various conversion setting presets. Handbrake can convert a single video file, a queue of video files or a DVD video in a few simple steps:

Select the source video file or DVD title/folder
Select a destination for the converted file
Select a conversion preset or configure the specific audio/video settings
For a single file conversion click the Start button or click Add to Queue if you wish to convert multiple files. Click Start once you have added all videos to the queue
The conversion process will start and notify you once all videos in the queue are complete

Note: For greater compatibility with iTunes, enable the ‘Use iPod/iTunes friendly (.m4v) file extension for MP4′ setting

Handbrake is by far the best free MP4 video transcoder that I have come across. Let me know your opinions or alternatives that you may use in the comments.

MP4 to AVI Conversion

agreenlees — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:33:59 +0000

I was asked by one of the staff members at the school I work out how to convert MP4 files to AVI. The staff member needed a quick, simple and free way of doing this so that the files could be imported into Windows Movie Maker. A quick Google search and I came across a nice little program called MP4Cam2AVI.

MP4Cam2AVI allows you to convert and/or join MP4 or MOV files to AVI in four easy steps:

Browse to the location of the video file/s you wish to convert.
Select the video file/s from the listing.
Select the appropriate action to perform on the video/s (Join or Batch Convert).
Select the Output directory and start the conversion.

The resulting video file/s can now be imported into Windows Movie Maker.

AG's Latest! » MP4

Handbrake – Open Source MP4 Video Transcoder

MP4 to AVI Conversion