Comments | vidding_tech: avi to mpeg

starrylizard in vidding_tech

avi to mpeg

Jul 09, 2011 15:54

Has anyone got a lead on a program that'll convert .avi to .mpeg, preferably freeware, but something reasonably priced would be okay too.

My vidding program is mean about avi these days, but copes nicely with mpeg and I have some stuff only in avi format. :)

software

Comments 7

futuresoon July 9 2011, 06:48:48 UTC

Format Factory is great freeware conversion software--it can turn pretty much any kind of video or audio file into pretty much any other kind of video or audio file, though I haven't myself used it for avi-to-mpeg. Hope that helps!

starrylizard July 9 2011, 06:50:36 UTC

Sounds perfect. I'm going to check it out now. :D
Thank you!

littleheaven70 July 9 2011, 08:29:55 UTC

It might not be the .avi files themselves (.avi is just a container for any number of different codecs) but the kind of compression used in creating them (e.g. DivX or Xvid). Compressed .avi files are not truly editable, so it might help if you make lossless .avi files. I've used Virtual Dub and either the Lagarith or Huffy UV codecs (all are freeware) that play very nicely with editing programs. The files are very big, because they are virtually uncompressed, but being a truly editable format you may find them much better to work with.

starrylizard July 9 2011, 08:36:33 UTC

Thank you. I think you told me that a while back and I have used Lagarith a few times since (my program didn't like Huffy weirdly), but the file size is a bit of a bummer. Okay for a few episodes of something, but a bit prohibitive for a whole season...

The program suggested above seems to work quite nicely for conversion to MPEG, so hopefully I'm set. I'll try them in my program later tonight. It's good to have options.

Thanks again. :)

littleheaven70 July 9 2011, 08:48:19 UTC

Yeah, the size of the files can be an issue. You can just convert the individual scenes you intend to use, but I often like to have whole chapters that I can scrub through which means my project eats hard drive like woah :o)

sc_fossil July 9 2011, 11:53:34 UTC

You need to save your avis as uncompressed. Then you won't have a problem with them. I have over 1T of avis and they are the best for clarity especially since my source material is from the 1970s.

I use MPEG Streamclip to convert my finished avi vid to mp4. It also does mpegs, a variety of other format, and even jpgs. I love it. It will also cut directly from a DVD.

Have fun!

starrylizard July 9 2011, 12:03:01 UTC

Thanks for the info! :D