1 The Mega Guide to Media File Conversion Tools in Windows Written by Gavin Phillips Published June 2015. Read the original article here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mega-guide-media-file-conversion- tools-windows/ This ebook is the intellectual property of MakeUseOf. It must only be published in its original form. Using parts or republishing altered parts of this ebook is prohibited without permission from MakeUseOf.com. Read more stories like this at MakeUseOf.com 2 Table of contents Audio 4 Free WMA MP3 Converter 1.8 4 VLC 5 MediaHuman Audio Converter 6 iTunes 7 Foobar2000 8 Audacity 9 SUPER 10 Video2MP3 / Anything2MP3 11 Video 12 VLC 12 HandBrake 13 Any Video Converter 14 Avi2Dvd 15 Free Studio 16 Images 18 IrfanView 18 ImageMagick 19 Zamzar 20 http://www.neftojpg.com/ 22 Other File Types 23 Ascii – Ascii Generator 2 23 Icons – iConvert Icons 24 Unknown File Extensions 24 Any File Type 25 Konvertor FM 25 Format Factory 26 Round-up 27 3 Whether new to computing or Internet savant, you’ll likely have scrambled around the web looking for a media file converter at some point. It stands to reason: there are an awful lot of file types around and not every bit of software comes equipped to handle each flavor. We thought, “Why not save everyone loads of time and put them all in one place?” Eventually, we emerged clutching this mega-list of the best free media file converters for Windows. You’ll find converters for audio, video, images, and many more media file types. Go ahead and find the converter you need right now. Audio Audio converters are dime-a-dozen, with countless free options striving to grab your attention. They all perform a similar task – converting your music – but which tool does it best, and what other features does the software have? We’ll clue you in. Free WMA MP3 Converter 1.8 Supports: MP3, WAV, WMA Often, it isn’t the flashiest, biggest, or the most expensive piece of technology that does the job the best. This is certainly true for software. Having tried a couple of alternative choices for this category, I found Eusing Software’s Free WMA MP3 Converter 1.8 to be the best choice, believe it or not. It offers quick conversion for several file types, a tiny download, and updates your id3 tags where required during batch conversion (see options). You can choose your compression method, the sample rate, bitrate, and whether you want stereo or mono output. Sounds basic? It is – but that’s what makes it appealing. 4 VLC Supports: FLAC, MP3, MP4, OGG VLC is an extremely versatile tool, not only for the massive range of supported video formats, but for its conversion tools, too. Open VLC. Head to Media > Convert/Save. This is the dialogue box you should see: Click Add and browse to your MP4 file, then proceed to Convert/Save. Now, you need to specify the Destination file. This bit is quite important, as it alters the type of file you end up with. Change the Save as Type to All. Enter file name you want followed by either .mp3, .ogg, or .flac. Check the image if you need help – my final file name was trains.mp3. Hit save when you are ready. Next, we need to alter the conversion profile to match the desired output. If you want an MP3, then choose Audio – MP3, Audio – OGG, and so on. You can now click Start, and the conversion will begin, leaving you with an .mp3. 5 MediaHuman Audio Converter Supports: AAC, AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG WMA, WAV I found the MediaHuman Audio Converter an excellent choice here. Whilst FLAC is probably the best format for audio quality, sometimes it is necessary to convert to a compressed format to fit all of your millions of tracks onto a single portable music device. MediaHuman Audio Converter does exactly that: converts, quickly, quietly, with a wide range of available input and output formats, including Apple Lossless for iDevices, supremely handy for those cross-platform users. Rapid automated batch conversion (I was converting five or six files at a time at some points), automatic disk cover search for files containing id3 tags, folder structure retention, and iTunes support make this converter worth a good look. The MediaHuman Converter can take video formats and strip the audio, converting it into a handy, compressed MP3. It also features handy social media plugins, just in case you are outrageously excited by converting your files… 6 iTunes Supports: AAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, WAV Converting from Advanced Audio Coding to MP3 is a somewhat questionable process. Both are lossy formats meaning that converting from one to the other results in further compression, equating to further loss in overall sound quality. However, it can be exceptionally useful for those with legacy devices with minute storage, where the accepted file format is still MP3. Originally designed as the successor to MP3, it achieves better sound quality with slightly smaller bit rates than its predecessor. This is another format you can convert with software you may already have on your computer. iTunes is surprisingly versatile, and despite the iTunes store delivering your files in AAC format, Apple realizes that many devices, including their own iPods, still use MP3 as their primary music format. So, how do you do it? Open iTunes and head to the menu, situated in the top left. Select Preferences. Head for Import Settings. There are several settings here, and you’ll note the options for MP3 and AAC encoding. Check the settings: ensure you’re not converting to a lower bit rate, or your music will begin to lose quality rapidly. Head back to your iTunes music collection. Select the tracks you want to convert, and right-click. Select Create MP3 Version to begin converting your selection. You’ll end up with two copies of each track, so you can decide which format offers you the sound quality you want. You can alter the import settings for the format of your choice. If you’re using iTunes, you may also be interested in our article on converting AVI & MKV files to add videos to iTunes. 7 Foobar2000 Supports: AAC, AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, Ogg, Opus, WAV, and more via encoder packages. Foobar2000 is a firm favourite of mine. Not only does it have a ridiculously small memory footprint, you can customise it again, and again, and again. It is a supremely versatile piece of media software, so by now you’re probably not surprised to hear it can convert music, too, with the right add-ons. Before you begin converting, you’ll need to download the additional encoders for the most popular formats: AAC, FLAC, MP3, and AIFF amongst others. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the encoders, open Foobar and locate the music you want to convert. The conversion function works on individual tracks or entire playlists, so it’s your choice here. Right click the music tracks and select convert, which should have been added to your context menu. Despite the previously mentioned issues when encoding from one lossy format to another, we’ll go ahead and convert from MP3 to AAC, just for fun – you can see the warning Foobar raises. Click past it, and continue. Your files will be converted swiftly into the destination folder of your choice. There is an extended range of Foobar encoders available from rarewares.org, seriously expanding the range of available formats for your music and audio file collection. 8 Audacity Supports: AIFF, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, and more. Audacity is probably one of the single most useful audio tools around. While it isn’t strictly a converter, Audacity opens almost every format and can save to plenty, too. It is one of the most downloaded pieces of open-source software featured on SourceForge, is available in some 35 languages, and is still receiving plenty of updates throughout each year. You can import and export numerous audio formats and its support network, community, and general cross-platform versatility have won it massive support in the professional world. Once you’ve downloaded and installed Audacity, open it up. Head to File > Import > Audio, and locate the audio tracks you wish to convert. Once imported, head straight back to File > Export Audio. You’ll now face a dialog box asking where you want to save your converted audio files. Adjust the file type here will alter your final audio type. 9 SUPER Supports: Any and all audio and video formats. Now, some software is extremely useful, but comes with its caveats, and SUPER is most definitely one of those arriving on your computer with extreme warnings. Yes, it is powerful, yes, it features pretty much every audio file format under the sun, but unless you seriously watch what’s occurring during the installation, you will end up with a serious Internet Explorer 6 toolbar situation, and worse. That said, the sheer range of SUPER’s format’s makes the horrific installation worthwhile – just keep declining and reading everything until you’re through to the other side. SUPER is actually a GUI package for FFmpeg, MEncoder, MPlayer, x264, MusePack, Monkey’s audio, Shorten audio, TAK audio, True audio, WavPack, the libavcodec library and the theora/vorbis RealProducer’s plugin. With all that packed into one install package, you can see the converting appeal to the software – but very seriously, consider the health of your computer before clicking through the installation. The maker of SUPER acknowledges their role in compiling the software in a credits spiel when closing the program – but makes no offer of an apology! N.B: One of my outstanding colleagues pointed me towards Unchecky.