Simple Newbie Question on File Conversion

[NoName]

I recently purchased a video camera, and have software (came with the
camera) that saves the videos to the computer as .avi files, which
are huge. I want to convert the files to .mpeg2 or .mpeg3 format. I
have several programs lying around from past purchases, all of which
are supposed to make video editing easy -- ULead Video Studio,
RecordNow ShowBiz, and Veritas RecordNow.

I'm pretty darn computer smart and software smart, and I can't get any
of these programs to do a simple: (1) Open .avi file, followed by (2)
Save as .mpg file. (ShowBiz appears to do that, once you figure out
which buttons to push, but then no video file shows up in the
directory I selected.) All these programs seem built around complex
schemes for creating projects, editing projects, saving to DVD, etc.

Can anyone please recommend some reliable, easy-to-use software for my
purpose -- open video file from disk in first format, save file to
disk in second format, that's all, thank you -- that I can download,
and that preferably costs no more than maybe $50?

I have Windows XP. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Steve

 

[Ken Maltby]

I recently purchased a video camera, and have software (came with the
camera) that saves the videos to the computer as .avi files, which
are huge. I want to convert the files to .mpeg2 or .mpeg3 format. I
have several programs lying around from past purchases, all of which
are supposed to make video editing easy -- ULead Video Studio,
RecordNow ShowBiz, and Veritas RecordNow.

I'm pretty darn computer smart and software smart, and I can't get any
of these programs to do a simple: (1) Open .avi file, followed by (2)
Save as .mpg file. (ShowBiz appears to do that, once you figure out
which buttons to push, but then no video file shows up in the
directory I selected.) All these programs seem built around complex
schemes for creating projects, editing projects, saving to DVD, etc.

Can anyone please recommend some reliable, easy-to-use software for my
purpose -- open video file from disk in first format, save file to
disk in second format, that's all, thank you -- that I can download,
and that preferably costs no more than maybe $50?

I have Windows XP. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Steve

Your Ulead VideoStudio will have an Encoder built into it.
You could mention the version of the program that you have.

With 10 (and 8, if I remember correctly) you use the "Share"
dialog to "Create a Video File" then select the type of file you
wish to make.

Just open the program and right click on the storyboard or
timeline and select "Insert Video..." you then can find your
avi file. Once it is loaded just click on the "Share" tab.
It takes time to render and encode to another format.

Luck;
Ken

 

[NoName]

Ken,

Thanks for the feedback, but... I have ULead VideoStudio version 7,
and it does have the Share --> Create Video File option, but it's
shaded out (that is, not selectable). I have no idea why. I have
definitely selected an existing video file (an .avi file), so that's
not the problem.

If you or someone can explain how to get that option working, that
would do the trick. Otherwise, I'm still seeking suggestions for
other programs.

Thanks,
Steve O.

 

[NoName]

Ken,

Thanks for the feedback, but... I have ULead VideoStudio version 7,
and it does have the Share --> Create Video File option, but it's
shaded out (that is, not selectable). I have no idea why. I have
definitely selected an existing video file (an .avi file), so that's
not the problem.

If you or someone can explain how to get that option working, that
would do the trick. Otherwise, I'm still seeking suggestions for
other programs.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[John Inzer]

I recently purchased a video camera, and have software (came with the
camera) that saves the videos to the computer as .avi files, which
are huge. I want to convert the files to .mpeg2 or .mpeg3 format. I
have several programs lying around from past purchases, all of which
are supposed to make video editing easy -- ULead Video Studio,
RecordNow ShowBiz, and Veritas RecordNow.

I'm pretty darn computer smart and software smart, and I can't get any
of these programs to do a simple: (1) Open .avi file, followed by (2)
Save as .mpg file. (ShowBiz appears to do that, once you figure out
which buttons to push, but then no video file shows up in the
directory I selected.) All these programs seem built around complex
schemes for creating projects, editing projects, saving to DVD, etc.

Can anyone please recommend some reliable, easy-to-use software for my
purpose -- open video file from disk in first format, save file to
disk in second format, that's all, thank you -- that I can download,
and that preferably costs no more than maybe $50?

I have Windows XP. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Steve

========================================
(crossposting removed)

Maybe the following freeware would be worth a try:

SUPER © Simplified Universal
Player Encoder & Renderer
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html


--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Ken Maltby]

Ken,

Thanks for the feedback, but... I have ULead VideoStudio version 7,
and it does have the Share --> Create Video File option, but it's
shaded out (that is, not selectable). I have no idea why. I have
definitely selected an existing video file (an .avi file), so that's
not the problem.

If you or someone can explain how to get that option working, that
would do the trick. Otherwise, I'm still seeking suggestions for
other programs.

Thanks,
Steve

Check the "Tools" listings at
www.videohelp.com

you will find several encoding options including
several free ones like Super (c)

Luck;
Ken

 

[David Moerike]

I seldomly use Pinnacle, and normally TMPGEnc 4.0.

Pinnacle can also make MPEG directly from the camera, however afaik it's
MPEG1.

At present time TMPGEnc 4.0 costs $ 74,95, the download address is:
http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/shopping/te4xp.html

If you are able to do it on the command line, you can use ffmpeg for
Windows, which is at no charge at all!

Download address: http://www.paehl.com/open_source/?Convert_Tools:FFMPEG

You simply say ffmpeg -i film.avi -b 6M film.mpg,
this will produce an MPEG1 at the bitrate of 6M.

To get an MPEG2 or MPEG4 (MPEG3 is unknown), specify the bitrate and the
video codec, I suggest:

ffmpeg -i film.avi -b 6M -vcodec mpeg2video film.mpg, or

ffmpeg -i film.avi -b 6M -vcodec mpeg4 film.mpg,

and I normally deinterlace, that is:

ffmpeg -i film.avi -deinterlace -b 6M -vcodec ... film.mpg

Thats all.

David

 

[M.L.]

I recently purchased a video camera, and have software (came with the
ConvertX2DVD: http://www.vso-software.fr

VideoZilla: http://www.videozilla.net

 

[NoName]

Thanks, Ken. Super(c) seems to be doing the trick.

Steve

 

[Don Stauffer in Minnesota]

I recently purchased a video camera, and have software (came with the
camera) that saves the videos to the computer as .avi files, which
are huge. I want to convert the files to .mpeg2 or .mpeg3 format. I
have several programs lying around from past purchases, all of which
are supposed to make video editing easy -- ULead Video Studio,
RecordNow ShowBiz, and Veritas RecordNow.

I'm pretty darn computer smart and software smart, and I can't get any
of these programs to do a simple: (1) Open .avi file, followed by (2)
Save as .mpg file. (ShowBiz appears to do that, once you figure out
which buttons to push, but then no video file shows up in the
directory I selected.) All these programs seem built around complex
schemes for creating projects, editing projects, saving to DVD, etc.

Can anyone please recommend some reliable, easy-to-use software for my
purpose -- open video file from disk in first format, save file to
disk in second format, that's all, thank you -- that I can download,
and that preferably costs no more than maybe $50?

I have Windows XP. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Steve

I would recommend Premiere Elements. My wife uses the full-blown
Premiere, but I am merely her assistant and use Elements for my own
personal editing and it is fairly powerful yet easy to understand and
use. Even she uses it when it comes time to burn projects to DVD and
make menus. One can cause it to write the compressed video to a file
instead of burning.

The capture function of Elements works very nicely and intuitively.