The Best Media Converter!

Format Factory is your one stop shop when it comes to your multimedia conversion needs. This is definitely one of my favorite free software. This gem will allow you to convert one video, audio or picture file format into another with relative ease. Its just sad that the program doesn’t seem to get the recognition it deserves whenever I view other forum boards regarding multimedia files. Here, I will go over some of the many uses of this awesome tool and how easily you’ll be able to convert your files into another format!

You might be thinking why you need to convert certain multimedia files to another format. Well, its simple. Sometimes working with certain applications will allow only certain types of files to be imported. For example, if you have a AVI file that needs editing but your editing application only supports WMV files, than you can use Format Factory for the conversion process. Once you have the AVI converted into WMV, you’re then free to import it to your video editor for editing. How about importing movies to your iPod or other portable MP3 players? Because your original video file size (the resolution, not how big the file itself is in terms of hard drive space) is larger than what the iPod can handle, you’ll need some way to convert it to iPod’s specification and Format Factory can help you here. What about wanting to watch those movies on your big screen TV from your PS3? If you don’t like the streaming method I’ve talked about earlier, you can definitely use Format Factory to convert those movies into a PS3 compatible format to watch on your HDTV. In any case, Format Factory is here to save the day.

Using Format Factory to Convert Files

Simply head over to Format Factory’s homepage to download the free software. The installation is as straightforward as can be. Just be sure to deny the install of promotional software during the install screen.

1. Fire up Format Factory and you will be presented with a fairly simple to use interface. That’s another big advantage with using Format Factory. Almost anyone can use the program to convert their files with relative ease. This can’t be said with other conversion products in the market today that force you to make all kinds of complicated formatting decisions that a lot of us have no idea what they mean! Format Factory did a good job in that all you need to do is to tell it what it is you want to convert to and it will work its magic. In the menu on the left hand side, first select what type of file you are converting. There is video, audio and pictures. Format Factory also allows you to rip a DVD movie from disc into a video format of your choice! Also, it allows you join/combine two separate movie or audio clips into one!

In this example, I will convert a simple Youtube video that I have downloaded in the MP4 format to the Windows WMV format. So, I would first select the Video option and select the All to WMV option. Once I select that option, a dialog box immediately pops out. It is here that I will add the Youtube clip.

If you want to set more advance options, you definitely can. Hit the Output Setting button and here, you can set a host of options from the video quality, the video encoder, the frames per second, the bitrate, embed a subtitle and much, much more. However, in most circumstances, this is not necessary and the default should suffice. Once done, the last thing you need to set is the output file destination option. I simply chose to have it dump the converted file in the same location as the original file.Next hit the OK button. You will then be taken back out to the original menu with your video file to be converted in the main area.

2. Alright so now that we have everything set, we can simply begin the conversion process. As simple as it may sound, all you need to do is hit the Start button on top to begin. The bad news with converting videos, especially higher quality one’s, is that it can take a good amount of time. If you have a slow processor, it can take even longer. However, do realize that this is not Format Factory’s fault. You can purchase a $300 professional converter and the outcome will be the same. Luckily, Format Factory anticipated this and included the option to have your computer automatically shutdown once every conversion job has been completed. This way, you can begin the process before you go to bed without having to worry about the computer being powered on the entire night.

Once the conversion is completed, you’ll find the file in your output destination and that’s all there is to it!

Remember, you can convert audio files and pictures as well into other formats. If you have mobile devices, Format Factory already has a list of supported devices with their correct settings pre-configured! So if you needed to convert a video to be compatible with your Creative Zen player, Format Factory got your covered! Your converted video will then have the correct video size, ready to be transferred to your device. You can do this all without having to read manuals and downloading extra software that can’t do half the things Format Factory can.

As you can probably see already, Format Factory is indeed a very powerful yet easy to use conversion tool. It honestly can’t get any better than this. I just hope that the good developers of this software continue to support and update the product.