Comments on: AVI to MPEG conversion tool

Question: AVI to MPEG conversion tool

madman — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 23:54:13 -0800

I need a free tool to convert AVI files to MPEG files [more...]

I have a new digicam that allows me to shoot video. I want to use it to shoot short cooking tutorials and upload it to my restaurant web site.

Unfortunately, the camera shoots in 320*240 mode and stores it as an AVI file. I want to convert this to an MPEG file (for better compatibility) and reduce the resolution to 160*120 so it downloads quickly. Is there any free tool to do this? Google throws up far too many results for "convert AVI to MPEG" and I'm on dialup so I don't want to download each one and find out.

If it's relevant, the camera is a Casio Exilim EX-Z40.
(and no, I don't have the money to buy a camcorder.)

By: mrgavins

mrgavins — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:16:32 -0800

Well, there is TMPGEnc, which has a free trial (30 days I believe). Not sure if it does the resizing though.

Get it here.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 06:10:23 -0800

Are you on a pc or a mac?

By: madman

madman — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 07:10:10 -0800

Er, sorry, PC.

By: britain

britain — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 08:42:16 -0800

It sounds, from their website, like JahShaka could do this and more, but I haven't tried it yet to tell you for sure.

By: travis vocino

travis vocino — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 10:26:54 -0800

Just a quick note, not sure what you're using for capturing. I would suggest VirtualDub to capture and work with your AVI (resizing, optimizing/simple cutting, etc.). It's very simple, fast and free (GPL). Then, as mrgavins said, TMPGEnc to convert your avi files to mpeg.

By: shepd

shepd — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 14:24:25 -0800

TMPGEnc is free for only 30 days. After that you get surprises! Woohoo! (Not)

BBMpeg is free forever and includes source code. It does MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. And the output looks good. Oh, yeah, and it's pretty fast, too. Yes, it will resize your video (although the controls are odd).

(I also spent a lot of time looking for such tools. I used TMPGEnc until I realized it did an absolutely ABYSMAL job of converting 44.1 khz audio to 48 khz).