Free converter for video files

I have a lot of work related videos in Windows which are mpeg2 or other formats. I need to convert them to Mpeg 4 for my macbook pro. Which is the best free software for doing this.

Sunir

Welcome to the Forum. Try mpeg streamclip - it has worked well for me.
Download MPEG Streamclip for Mac - Convert MPEG-1/MPEG-2 files, transport streams in several formats. MacUpdate Mac Software Downloads

If the files are mpeg2, you'll need to purchase the quicktime mpeg component for mpegstreamclip (from apple) to convert an mpeg2 file. You can purchase it here: QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component for Mac OS X - Apple Store (U.S.) - mpegstreamclip uses quicktime for conversions and will require that if you're trying to convert mpeg2 video files.

You can try to use Handbrake ( http://www.handbrake.fr/ ) as it doesn't uses ffmpeg to do its conversions. Although handbrake isn't originally designed to do conversions, it does work well for it as long as you need to convert to mp4/m4v/mkv.

Converting video formats

sunir:

I had the same question you posted and after following the advice (getting Streamclip and purchasing QT component - $20.-) am now able to use my Panasonic VDR-D 300 camera's RAM disks to do editing and burning movies.

Actually, you already have the QT MPEG component on your computer. The Apple Store - in return for your purchase order - will give you the key to give you access. Streamclip is free, just Google for the name.

Once you have those components and need the steps, please let us know.

Typically, how long (time) does it take to convert a 750MB .avi file to mp4? I've downloaded prism video converter and it seems to be taking forever! Almost like it's converting at real time?

Woznaldo: you really should start your own thread as your issue is separate from the OPs who was specifically looking for information about free video converters where you're looking for assistance with a specific video converter.

I've never used Prism before, but conversion will depend on how long the video is, what your settings are, quality of the conversion software and of course the system itself (ie: CPU model and speed, RAM, etc.).

Longer the video is (not necessarily the larger the file size) will take longer to transcode, the bigger the change in the video (ie: resizing from HD to say a resolution for an iPod Touch) will take longer to transcode, depending on the capabilities of your hardware, when going from one codec to another (possibly more difficult codec) can add time to your transcode, if you've pegged all cores on your machine and it's taking forever to transcode then either try different software that may be more efficient or understand that your system just can't go any faster with the given software package (you can check your activity monitor while transcoding or look for an older version of iStat Menus (they just went to pay for with version 3.0) to watch your CPU activity.)

Depends on the specs of your machine and the settings you have chosen for encoding. What are the specs of your machine, what settings did you choose and what are the source and destination of your video?

EDIT: Nethfel beat me to it. I must be really slow this morning .

Hahaha, yeah, I was in rare form with typing speed considering I had only been up for about 25 minutes at that point

Just waiting for the spammers to descend upon this thread <taps foot>

cwa107 said:

Just waiting for the spammers to descend upon this thread <taps foot>

Click to expand...

They already have - think I wiped the floor with a couple of them this morning.