AVI to MP4 converters: which is the best/fastest?

SubJeff on 29/7/2010 at 14:25

I've trawled the net and Google and I've found converters that work, yes.

But I want something (free!) that does batch converts, and fast. I don't know how much my machine specs are going to be a limiting factor - I have a Core 2 Duo E6600 and 4 Gb of RAM - and I feel it's almost time for an upgrade anyway.

At the moment I'm using WinFF and it seems ok, just very, very slow.

Any pointers?

Update: What I'm really trying to do is get some MP4s onto my Android phone so I can watch them wherever. I've tried with WinFF and the converted files don't seem to work. I used preset as "Widescreen" but now I'm trying it straight to the "Google Android Compatible Video" type. Perhaps this is what I'm really after... Though the specs for Android say it plays MP4s.

Ulukai on 29/7/2010 at 16:03

Only thing I've tried recently is (http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/) this.

I'm not sure how fast it'll be in comparison to what you're using now, but it IIRC you can queue files up.

Sulphur on 29/7/2010 at 16:56

(http://handbrake.fr/) Handbrake? It does batch jobs, but I'm not sure how fast you'll find it.

Al_B on 29/7/2010 at 17:16

I've only used virtualdub myself - but that won't be able to directly output what you need to play on your Android. However, it may be useful as a resizing step (see (http://androidforums.com/android-media/3068-video-specs-default-player.html#post20878) video on this forum). It then suggests using "Super" ((http://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_video/convert_video/super.cfm) e.g. from here) to do the actual conversion into MP4. I think it's just a front-end to codecs so it may not be much faster than your current system.

Both programs should be able to do batch conversion.

SubJeff on 29/7/2010 at 20:00

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I've found that WinFF can batch process things and perhaps I'm being impatient. Conversion to mp4 takes an age but also produces a much larger file that I don't need on the Nexus' small screen and which is also too large for me to have many files on the SD card (time for a larger one anyway I think).

The only thing is I'm not 100% sure about the output aspect ratio. It seems okay, but perhaps a little thin. The originals are 39:22 and I can't find the exact pixel size. Does anyone know how to find this out about an avi file? At the moment I'm reconverting one of the avis to to android version using this as a setting so I'll see how it goes.

Muzman on 29/7/2010 at 20:18

Have you got VLC?
If you play a file in that and check the codec information in Tools, that should show you the frame res of the file at square pixels.

SubJeff on 30/7/2010 at 01:32

Thanks Muz. I won't be needing that advice though as I've been recommended Videora Android Converter which works a treat at everything I need. Surprising fast (in comparison) especially as I can get higher quality Android compatible mp4s. They are larger files though so a new micro SD card is in the post :D

ZylonBane on 1/8/2010 at 15:27

(http://skypher.com/index.php/2010/05/21/video-playback-on-android-2/)

SubJeff on 13/8/2010 at 07:11

You don't have an Android device, do you?