When you first start the application you will notice that the interface can be divided into three modules. A maximum of two sections can be retracted to save screen estate. The left segment displays the program’s core features. Available are the following options:

• DVD Ripper – Copy movie DVDs to your computer
• Universal Converter – Convert video files
• Streaming – Capture videos from websites and applications
• Media Center – Displays video files, synchronization with devices, media player

The middle section changes depending on the application selected by the user, the right displays a media player, a playlist of recent video files and options to browse, sort or search the media collection.

DVD Ripper

When you select the DVD ripper app from the menu you are asked to insert a video DVD into the computer’s DVD drive. A convert menu is displayed here as well to select an output video and audio format for the DVD movie. Only some of the available conversion profiles are displayed directly. A click on the arrow at the end of the line opens advanced conversion options.

Here it is now possible to select the output audio and video format from a wide variety of types. A click on video for instance displays the formats that Audials Moviebox 9 supports, profiles for specific devices and an option to create a custom conversion profile. Supported are Android, Apple, Windows Phone 7 and Nokia devices, gaming consoles and many other devices. And if a device is not supported outright, you can create a profile for that particular device.

The very same options are available when the audio output format is selected. These conversion options are available in all Moviebox modules.

DVDs without copy protection are directly copied, converted and saved on the computer. Protected DVDs are played back in fullscreen and recorded by the application to comply with local laws. This process takes considerably longer as the movie plays back in realtime. You also need to make sure that you do not use the computer during the recording to avoid breaking it.

Converter

The media converter supports audio and video files. You can drag and drop files into the interface to populate the list of files that you want converted, use the file browser to select them or use the search to do the same.

You can play video or audio files that you have added to the conversion queue. The conversion options are available here as well. You can still select an existing profile to convert your media files to, or create a custom profile to suite your particular requirements.

The converter can search for covers, ID3 tags and lyrics automatically and add those to the program’s meta data if that is supported by the output file.

The program is fast when it comes to conversions. Even large files (600+ Megabytes) or files with a long playing time are converted in a matter of minutes. This may vary depending on the PC the program is running on and the output formats and quality selected.

Streaming

The streaming module can be used to capture audio and video streams from websites and applications. A click on the video recording button starts the scanning of the network stream for media files. You have the option to save videos manually or use the automatic save option to store all media files that you open on websites or in applications automatically. You can furthermore use the conversion options to convert the downloaded media files directly to appropriate formats.

A test on popular video hosting sites such as YouTube, Gametrailers and Microsoft properties was positive. The program catches the media files when they are played in the browser or in another application and displays them in the interface.

Moviebox either downloads the streams directly to the computer, or records what is shown on the screen. That’s handy if you need to download a movie from a site where the stream cannot be downloaded directly. A test on the popular Hulu website was successful because of this as well.

It may happen that the video that you want to download is not recognized by the application. You can then switch to manual mode where you define an area on your screen that you want to record.

Media Center

The media center offers two options. It for one allows you to manage your media collection which includes playing, sorting and even deleting files. The second option can be used to import or export media files to devices or locations. It is here for instance possible to export new media directly to iTunes, or import new media files from a smartphone.

Additional options include burning media to disc, creating ringtones, exporting it to a specific folder or to cloud storage providers. The program supports eSnips, Strato and T-Online as well as the WebDAV format (so that popular providers like SkyDrive or Amazon Cloud are supported as well).

Audials Moviebox 9 Verdict

Audials Moviebox 9 is a versatile tool for users who work with videos, movies and DVDs regularly. The program’s easy to use despite the functionality that it provides. Some users may say that other programs are more efficient when it comes to copying protected DVDs. That may be the case, but they are not really an option if you are living in a country where it is not allowed to bypass copy protections.

What I personally like about the program are the little things that make life more comfortable. The option to automatically download streaming media, that your custom profile is available in all program modules and that you can import or export media effortlessly.

Giveaway

Audials sponsored 20 licenses of Audials Moviebox 9 for the giveaway. If you are a Facebook user you could give them a like for that.

You will be included in the drawing when you leave a comment below. Make sure you use a working email address so that I can contact you in case you have won one of the licenses.

Video 2 MP3 is a free software program by Skwire that comes without an interface. Well, that’s not entirely correct, but it comes without an interface that you can use to convert videos to mp3 format. You can however execute the program to see instructions on how to use it.

Here is how it works. You can convert video files by dragging and dropping them onto the Video 2 Mp3 executable. The program is a portable program which means you can unpack it to any location and use it from there without installation.

When you drag and drop a video file onto the program executable, you will notice that an mp3 file of the same name is created automatically in the program directory.

The cursor highlights the conversion and will return to the standard cursor once the conversion has been completed. The length of the video has a direct impact on the time it takes to convert the mp3 file. The mp3 file will always use a quality setting of 160 Kbps with no option to change it in a configuration file.

The program supports several video formats including mpg, avi and wmv. It is said to be compatible with flv files as well but I could not get the program to convert these into mp3 formats on a 64-bit Windows 7 system. It tried several from different sources and all failed to convert.

It is possible to convert multiple video files at once to mp3 by dragging and dropping them all on the program executable. Video 2 Mp3 will process them one after the other until the conversion queue is empty.

Options to change the audio quality settings are missing from the program, which could convince some users to use other video to mp3 converters instead that offer audio quality settings. Conversions with Video 2 Mp3 are fast and the process itself is comfortable and uncomplicated.

Interested Windows users can download the latest version of Video 2 Mp3 from Skwire’s Empire at DCmembers.

Videos are loaded into the interface by clicking on the + icon in the header or by right-clicking the queue and selecting Add from the context menu (the program window states that drag and drop is working as well but we were not able to get it to work). It is possible to select multiple videos at once if they are located in the same directory.

Videos that are loaded by the program are displayed with their file name and playtime in the video queue.

The available video formats are displayed at the bottom in a scrolling bar. The user has to scroll quite a bit to see all the video formats offered which is probably not the best way to present the options especially for new users of the program.

Video formats can be added or removed in the program’s options. This is the same option that is available during installation. Removed video formats are removed from the list which is recommended to make the list of available formats more accessible.

Available for video conversion are generic formats like divx, xcid, avi or h.264 videos but also device specific formats including support for iPod, PSP, Apple TV or DVD format as well as audio formats to only extract the audio of the selected videos.

The advanced options are accessible from the same screen. They can be used to change quality settings, aspect ratios or frame rates.

Download and Installation

ConvertVid is available for free at the Giveaway of the Day website. The developer’s website can be found here.

The program comes as a zip file that will extract the setup file. Installation could pose a problem for some users as the program asks the user to select the video formats that videos should be converted into during the setup. All of the formats are selected by default but this is confusing and not helpful. The readme.txt that is extraced with the setup contains the serial number for ConvertVid which needs to be entered after clicking on the Buy Now icon in the header of the program.

Alternatives

There is definitely no shortage of video converter alternatives. From online converters like Movavi or Media Converter to software solutions like XMedia Recode Video Converter or, Super

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Supports batch processing including the option to save a batch to process it later
• Supports basic conversion profiles and advanced settings

Cons:

• The selection of video formats during setup is confusing.
• Drag and drop not working although it is mentioned in the program interface
• No video previews
• No custom video profiles that can be saved, e.g. for devices that are not included in the list of supported formats.

The program will add two new entries to the right-click menu in Windows Explorer if one or files are right-clicked. The first entry deals with audio conversions offering to convert the selected files into various audio formats while the second while convert videos into different formats.

Video Formats: 3GP, 3G2, ASF, AVI, DV, DVD MPEG2, FFM, FLV, GIF, MOV, MP4, MPEG1, MPEG2 PS, MPEG2 TS, NUT, PSP, RAW YUV, RM, SVCD MPEG2, SWF, VCD MPEG1, VOB, YUV4MPEG, M1V, M2V, M4V.
Audio Formats: AC3, AAC, AIFF, AMR, AU, FLAC, MMF, MP2, MP3, OGG, VOC, WAV.

It is even possible to select multiple different file types for the conversion. The selection will open the main program’s interface listing all the selected programs with information like name, size and playing time. The selected output format is configured as well which leaves the user with the task to select an output path and the possibility to make last minute changes to the output format.

The program will start the conversion of multiple files at once to speed up the process further. This can be changed in the program’s options. Speed and quality depends largely on the source and destination file format but also the performance of the computer system. Oxelon Media Converter is available for most Microsoft Windows operating systems including the three most recent systems Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It is necessary to download both the program files and a plugin pack which both need to be installed separately.

The media converter is a comfortable alternative to other popular media converters. We did not like the fact that it was not possible to save the download path in the software program. It was also rather annoying that the developer’s website was opened whenever the program was closed. This can be prevented with the right firewall rule for the application.

An avi to mp4 converter can be used to convert the videos so that they can be played on these devices. Probably the easiest to use avi to mp4 converter is Convert Avi To Mp4 which can convert avi videos with minimal user interaction to the mp4 format.

The main advantage of this software program is that it supports a wide variety of input formats ranging from avi to mpeg, wmv, divx and xvid. All of these formats can be converted to mp4 without the need for external programs or codecs. Everything is built in and it only takes a few seconds to start the conversion.

Convert Avi to Mp4 is compatible with most Windows operating system including Windows XP and Windows Vista. Some users might find the avi to mp4 converter to easy to use as it does not come with any settings or parameters that can be changed. Users who simply want to convert a video format to mp4 without having to set any conversion parameters will find Convert Avi To Mp4 the perfect companion for that undertaking.

A Video_TS file is usually created by those DVD ripping tools like DVD Shrink or HD Decrypter. They can also be downloaded sometimes. The tutorial explains how you can convert the full movie including subtitles and additional languages if required.

The only software program required is AutoGK (Auto Gordian Knot) which utilizes a handful of well known tools like Virtual Dub Mod or AviSynth and automates their usage. That’s probably the greatest strength of the video software. It requires minimal input to convert the Video_TS folder to one video file.

AutoGK can do much more than just convert the video_ts file but that’s what the video tutorial will be concentrating on. Installation of the software takes a while because it spawns the installation of the additional tools used by it. Start AutoGK after the installation of all programs has finished.

The minimal steps that are required to convert the video_ts folder to a single video file are the following:

• Click on the Browse icon in the Input File row and pick the Ifo file of the Video_ts folder that points to the full movie. It usually contains the same digit as the largest amount of VOB files in the folder. In the case of the movie Crank it was VTS_02_0.IFO because there were six VTS_02_x.VOB files in that folder.

  AutoGK is displaying the playtime of the selected movie after picking the IFO file which is another indicator if you picked the right one. If the DVD has more than one main track then you need to repeat the step and merge the files later on.

• Now check or uncheck the available subtitles and languages.
• Once that has been done it is time to select the output file and size for the video that will be created.The output file size can be selected by picking a predefined size that ranges from 1/4 CD (175 MB) to 3 CDs (2100 MB). Several additional options are available for DVDr sizes. The user can also select a custom size if he likes but most should find a suitable one among the predefined sizes.
  The output file is simply a link to the avi file that will be created.
• Several optional parameters can be configured in the advanced settings. This ranges from selecting an output width to a selection of the video codec and output format.
• The last step involves adding the process as a job to the job queue and clicking on the Start button to encode all jobs in the queue. It’s possible to add additional jobs and let them run overnight for example.

The result is a avi file that can be played in video players on the computer.

FLV videos have to be transcoded into the AVI or MPG format to be able to play them on standalone players or burn them to DVD. Thanks to Alter Falter (German blog) I discovered a software that can transcode several flv files at once into AVI or MPG files. The software is called Pazera Free FLV to AVI Converter. It does not have to be installed at all, just unpack it to your system and start the executable.

Click on Add files to add as many flv videos as you like, they will be processed one after the other once you select the output format and click on Convert. The options are to create AVI or MPG files from the flv files. Converting them to MPG is the easier way, you just select a general quality level VCD, SVCD, DVD or Custom and if you want the videos in PAL or NTSC.

If you want to convert them to AVI you have to select an appropriate video codec and change the Auto settings for better results. Stefan suggests to use a bitrate of 1500 instead of Auto but I guess you have to play around with those settings a little bit to find the best options for your preference.

What I really like is that the whole process is uncomplicated. Add files, select output format, click on Convert. That’s all there is to do.

The input format is automatically detected if you chose to upload it from your computer while you have to select the format for the url links by yourself. Various output formats exist that can be selected. The list of available audio and video formats is long and all popular formats are supported.

The amount of time each conversion takes depends on the file size, your Internet connection, the format that you want to convert into and the load of the media converter server. It did not take more than several minute for instance to upload and convert a 4 megabyte mp3 file from my computer into an ogg file.

How to convert Avi, Divx and Xvid to DVD describes the software needed and the procedure with detailed screenshots. The method uses only one tool and everything is completed after five simple steps. The guide does not tell you how to use menus for your new dvd but the program supports this option as well and you can chose from several different preinstalled templates.