Video Converter

Hi All,

Just joined this forum.

Does anyone know of a completely Freeware video converter to convert wmv videos into .mov vids so i can edit them on Final Cut Pro. The only converters I have found are trial versions and think there must be a few out there.

Thanks

ffmpegX is a good place to start

Convert your video to H.264 MP4 with Handbrake and then import the output mp4 file into your imovie.

I agree that handbrake is the best video converter out there. It does sometimes hang on some wmv files though. If so you can try the outdated VisualHub which has never failed to convert a wmv file for me. ffmpegx is cool but complicated.

If you have Final Cut Pro, I would assume you'd also have Compressor. You didn't say what version of Final Cut you have, so that's just a guess.

Handbrake is definitely a good one, if you'd like something a bit more user friendly, check out Adapter. Adapter - Free Image and Video Converter for Mac and PC

Hello Robtob, Ok bear with me

Robtob said:

Hi All,

Just joined this forum.
Thanks

Click to expand...

Hello Robtob, Ok bear with me as I get slightly geeky for a minute...

First of all do you care about quality very much or are you just trying to ingest the files into Final Cut for a simple cuts edit? My advice is that you should always try to get the highest quality.

Next what version of Final Cut Pro are you using? Around 2008 Final Cut Pro started using the Procoder format in the timeline.. people who use versions before that era would use the Intermediate Codec which is the ultimate way to go when doing DV or HDV files. If you are using Final Cut Pro X thats an entirely different animal and I do not have any experience with that version yet but the principal is still the same, try to get the best file quality possible.

Ok here's the deal the best Freeware that does video compression is MPEG Streamclip. Hands down. You need this in your library and to be honest I have used this over compressor many times. I have done lots of video work for Major ad agencies in NYC and China so I'm trying to get you to have the right and best tools. This app will convert practically every relevant and file known to humans The only problem with trying to convert a WMV file is that the watermark will sabotage what you are trying to do...

That said Might I strongly suggest purchasing Flip4Mac for $29. Granted there's a fee and I know its annoying but hey if quality is paramount then i strongly suggest purchasing it it too is an industry necessity but again if you are not worried about quality and as you stated you dont want to spend money then yes yes avoid this solution.

Handbreak is excellent and the way to go if you are converting DVD files to MPEG or H.264. The same goes with FFXMPEG its good for the resulting MPEG or H.264 files. They both will definitely convert the WMV but they will give you an unusable file not made for FCP.... My advice is download these apps for your arsenal down the road but Final Cut Pro doesn't play well with MPGS which means that you will have to find a way to recompress them again which means that you are loosing another generation of compression and thats a No No.


Alternative you can try a radical approach to this instead of using any of these why not try opening the WMV file to play using Quicktime then open a "New Screen Recording" under the file menu. Anyway if you try this it will be the highest possible quality compression you will get from a file of this nature without the paid solution. This is my advice and I know I said a lot but hopefully this is going to be helpful to you.

- Bendrix (Creator of Bendrix.me Productions)

I have many thoughts on how to help you but it would be helpful to know how long your WMV files are and what quality you need them to be and how often you intend to do it?

You want the best quality possible and since Final Cut Pro (FCP) doesn't play with WMV and MPG files I hate to suggest this but Flip4mac has the best WMV converter but it costs $29. To be honest I'd try it out if you are planning to convert many WMV files over the long haul... I've worked in production houses in NYC and China for years and can vouch for the such a product. The biggest advantage with getting this is it will allow you to convert the WMV wrapper to whatever FCP friendly format you want. I mean there are specific formats and codecs that work best in FCP but if you can be more specific with what you wish to do then I can give you some solid specs that will be best for encoding the file.

HMMMM i haven't tried this but I wonder how After Effects works with converting WMV files hmmmm.. if you have it try it but I think you might run into watermark issues but i don't have it any more so i don't have a way to confirm this at this moment.

However you did say FREE and I'm also for free.. sadly MPEG Streamclip is not able to remove the WMV watermark DRATS!! But again if you had an app like Flip4Mac then you would be able to convert this file in either Streamclip, Quicktime Export or Compressor if you have it. Seriously you must get MPEG Streamclip I even choose this over compressor for most projects.

If you are not concerned about quality and having to convert Handbreak might be all you need but be sure the MPG file created works in FCP otherwise you then need to convert the file again which will be annoying and now that will be 2 generation losses. I am too lazy to try now to find out but maybe later i will get a chance to try and i'll let you know if it works.

Here's another free and kind of radical idea but it works… Try opening the WMV file in Quicktime and at the same time go to the file menu and open "New Screen Recording". Set up the screen recording to record the WMV video then hit record… once its recording hit play on the WMV file. when the full video plays out.. totally inefficient and Booo but its free and it will give you one generation for your video and it will be in a format that FCP will recognize.

Hi Guys,
I'm completely new to video and have made a bit of a mess with a two hour long recording using my go-pro camera out in the fields. I think whats happened is Its been recording in NTSC instead of PAL which is what I thought I'd set the camera up for. I've been looking for a free converter as I don't see me using video to anything other than youtube standard. Trouble is, the only ones I've been able to source are 'trial' version.
Anybody able to help here please?
Cheers.
Ysbytymike