So you asked, what is the best file conversion tool? I’ll answer that question in a moment, but also in this post I’ll let you know what all my other ‘essential’ tools are and why. So first, why convert? Well, the short answer is, because sometimes you receive a file that’s hard to work with (best example might be getting a .mov file from a Mac user but finding it difficult to work with on a Windows machine), or the file might be too large to deal with easily. I would start by converting the .MOV file to .MP4. There are many other examples, but the tools I present below should help regardless of the format you’re converting to and from.
Best tool:
Handbrake – It allows you to convert video from nearly any format. It’s multi-platform (Windows, Mac and Linux). And it’s free.
Once installed, and using the .MOV example, click ‘open source’ and select the file you want to convert (in this case .mov). Next select the format and size of file you want to convert to. One change I make on all my conversions is to save the file as .mp4 and not the default .m4v format (don’t ask why ’cause I just do it, no valid reason). Here’s what it looks like before the conversion starts.
Click Start Encode, and you’re off to the races… But in some cases, you might want to use Handbrake to significantly reduce the resulting file size. In this example, I choose an output format that will be substantially smaller than the original 1080p, 30fps format. In this example I use the Gmail Medium 5 minutes 480p30fps setting.
For sake of comparison, the resulting files sizes for our example are as follows:
original .mov (2.2mb)
first conversion 1080p .mp4 (3.05mb)
second conversion compressed 480p .mp4 (.78mb)
As you can see, the compressed 480p version is much smaller, and resolution probably only suffered a little. If you’re sending videos around via email, this might be an important consideration.
Hands down, Handbrake is the BEST video conversion tool there is!
Next up after Handbrake, is AAC (Any Audio Converter). This tool is absolutely amazing!
Step 1 – Download AAC from here, install and run it
Step 2 – Drag the file you wish to convert into the app
Step 3 – Select the conversion output file format you desire
Step 4 – Click Convert Now! Your file will most likely go to the ‘…\Videos\Any Audio Converter\…’ location under your primary user account, unless you told it otherwise. Once your file is converted, AAC will always ask for money. Just say ‘No, Thanks’ and you’ll be fine.
AAC has an overwhelming number of conversion options. I usually use AAC to rip audio from video files, but there SO much more it can do. Here are just a few conversion formats AAC supports:
Not to be left out of the discussion, there are some ‘cloud’ conversion tools that might be of interest. One I have had good luck with in the past is CloudConvert.com. Here a sampling of the formats CloudConvert can handle:
Note: CloudConvert (free version) has a limit of 25 conversions/day.
OK, so that’s mostly what I wanted to cover today. But to finish this post, I want to let y’all know what other fantastic (free) tools I have in my tool-box. Here they are:
Audacity – a free audio editor. Use free Audacity software to record and edit sound on windows, mac and linux.
DarkTable – an open source photography workflow application and raw developer. A virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers.
GIMP – a cross-platform image editor available for Linux, OS X, and Windows.
MakeMKV – converts video into a free and patents-unencumbered format that can be played everywhere. MakeMKV is a format converter, otherwise called “transcoder”. It converts the video clips from a proprietary (and usually encrypted) disc into a set of MKV files. MKV files can then be converted to the more popular .MP4 format using Handbrake.
OBS Studio – software for video recording and live streaming. I often use OBS for screen capture projects. The resulting video file is saved in .MKV format. After a screen capture I’ll ‘remux’ the recording to .MP4 using the function built in to OBS. For more information about OBS, consult my previous post here.
OpenShot Video Editor – an easy to use, quick to learn, and surprisingly powerful video editor. Before using this Video Editor, I recommend viewing the developer’s YouTube tutorial videos first (available here). This will improve your results and reduce your frustration.
VLC Player – cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
That’s all folks!
