Hello

I hope i am posting this in the correct forum. I found that here at CDFreaks i can get very valuable answers to my questions, i really apreciate that

So here it goes. I am looking for an application (freeware or commercial, i don't really care as long as it does what i need it to do) which can convert ANY video format into ANY video format. And it must NOT rely on pre-installed codecs, i.e. should bring it's own!

Now here's the catch: I am running Windows Vista (Ultimate, 32 bit).

I need to convert things like mpeg, avi, divx, rm, rmvb, 3gp, mp4 etc at least to mpg, but if i could cross-convert to say avi (xvid is fine), mpg and rmvb it would be SO good.

I previously used the programs "Pro Coder 2" and "Super" for such tasks, however both of them seem to rely on codecs that were installed before them (such as K-Lite codec packs) and because Vista won't work nicely with such codec packs, either program (even tough they actually run on Vista!) won't convert anything because "unable to process file type" or "unsupported media type".

Background: I have loads of larger video files in all sorts of formats of which i create shorter clips to be used on mobile phones. I can't be bothered with a gazillion editors, so i just convert anything into mpg, edit it (create the clips) with TmpgENC and convert the finalized mpg files into xvid-avi's with the program that came with the phoen player, LCG's "SmartMovie" converter which does such s60-formatted avi files with specific image size etc. TmpgENC works fine under Vista, now i just need to get the mpg files, hence - i need the multi-format converter.

I apreciate ANY help, googling the issue brings me to a million softwares of which none does what i need and has me downloading and messing up my system with tons of trial versions....... Also my machine isn't a Gray-2 but just a Sempron 2800 with 1.5 GB of RAM, anything that does the job on such a machine would be apreciated.

With kind regards.....

your Thanh

There is no all in one that does it all. There are some that will do most of them. The professional solutions cover most of the formats, but will cost you a few hundred bucks. The prosumer level (adobe premiere elements, vegas movie studio, ulead studio 10) cost around $100.00 and handle many of the formats, then there is ConvertX2DVD which is I think around $39.00, and it will handle many of the formats quite well. You will always need a couple of programs to handle all the different things that can come up.

Hello

Thank you very much for that reply, i do apreciate it. I am going to make mty "request" a little simpler, to narrow it down..........

I am looking for a software that can convert ANY video format into regular "mpg" files. With "any" i mean the formats avi, divx, rm, rmvb, 3gp, mp4, flv and wmv.

Canpus "Pro Coder 2" could do that, however it seems to depend on seperately installed codecs. I am using Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit now which doesn't quite like codec packs, so Pro Coder 2 doesn't want to do much now, therefor i need some other program that does NOT rely on such codec packs but instead bring it's own.

It's 39 or 100 or 250 $, i don't really care since i need to buy it only once and will use it for years. This kind of activity (video converting / generating clips) is what i use my computer mostly for, so it's worth the investment.

"Super" is a decent program specially considered it's freeware, and it DOES work on Vista but it is painfully slow, i don't want to wait 4 hours to convert 1 hour video, plus it too won't convert certain formats (divx, rmvb!) without some codec pack being installed.

Could you name me ONE decent software for my task, if possible one that's also somewhat easy to use (like Pro Coder: Select input file, select output file format and click "Convert"), and i will go for it.

Thanks a lot in advance.....

your Thanh

I find Super very useful...check if the latest version will do what you want. (they update this thing all the time)

VLC can do some transcoding, has its own codecs and is free. In the 'Open File' dialog just check 'Stream / Save' and set up your output format.

Hello

VLC won't do anything - it pretends to convert the file, and a file is saved indeed, however that file remains at 0 byte and won't open.

Got the latest version of "Super", still right from the start it complains "You're running an obsolete version, please check for the latest update". Throwing a file at it and starting to convert - a couple of minutes in the process: ERROR. Tried that with several different files, always the same.

ProCoder 2: DOES CONVERT! But preview won't show anything, and it is the slowest process i've EVER seen..... had it running for 5 1/2 hours and it managed to convert 1:18 of a 1:45 video. WTF??? All the while generating a 100% CPU load. While under XP it got me the 100% as well, it would have finished that video in less than 45 minutes!

I have Windows XP in a virtual machine. So i thought i'll install ProCoder on that and see of it works better. Nope. During install, it generated some error (Inrecoverable Processor.... bullshit) and now that VM won't even start anymore.

Vista seems to deeply hate anything to do with video conversion. I am out of disk space now due to the amount of videos i have piled up that i need to convert. Does really nobody here actually run Vista and is able to convert some videos into mpg's and able to tell me what software he/she uses..???

Kind regards.....

Thanh

Your problem is the creepy vista, which is more a sack of bugs than a working OS.

Not exactly, if i may explain......

First of all, thanks for the reply. My exact problem is the foolowing: Vista has been around for quite a while in various betas, yet the developers of codecs (especially DivX!) have been sitting on the information without acting on it. There has to date been no Vista-compatible version of that codec, and why? certainly not because "Vista is a sack of bugs". See Nero as an example, it took thema while too, but they GOT their act together and made a version of their software that DOES work in Vista.

If i compare Vista with Linux (oh yes, the favourite topic of many), i would say at any time that just about any version of Windows, which includes Vista, offers a HELL OF A LOT more functionality and ease of use than ANY version of Linux. Linux, out of the box, also does not play any video format apart from mpg. Native codecs? No, sir, we don't have. But you may try, on own risk, some "hacked Windows codecs". They may work, or they may totally f*** up your system. And now it's exactly the same with Vista.

By the way i found the problem with ProCoder in that VM, it installed a "hasp driver" which relies on USB dongles, which VPC does not support. Uninstalled that (last known good config worked) and now ProCoder runs happily under Windows XP - in a virtual machine under Vista - and converts happily every video i throw at it, and much faster so than under Vista directly. Maybe at some stage Canopus could offer a version that is directly Vista-compatible too? (What's an alternative video converter software for Linux? Is there any..?? I've got Ubuntu running, and once i figure out how to install software on it i would try it.... i will get SuSE running again too, tomorrow maybe.... and yes, they run in virtual machines too, because Vista is able to handle all that with ease! So much for "a sack of bugs").

Kind regards......

your Thanh

Sorry you couldn't figure VLC out. Here on my lowly XP machine I tried it and it seemed to work.

You answered your question by yourself again which just underlines my opinion.

Use the OS which supports that tool. Over.