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I'm using Mac OS X 10.5 and am looking for a free video converter software which supports mp4, avi, and wmv files (and perhaps rmvb, too). I want to convert avi, wmv, and rmvb files to mp4 to be able to play them on my iPod. I've already searched but could only find quite expensive shareware. Do you know any software available for free, please?

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7 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I still use Visual Hub:

visual hub screenshot

Works a treat every time. Unfortunately it's not available for download from the creator anymore, but it can still be had via alternate means.

Actually, the source files for Visual Hub (filmredux) are also available

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Visual Hub is open-source now: transcoderredux.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/transcoderredux – mipadi Dec 13 '09 at 17:03
Thanks, very easy to use! – Lilly Dec 13 '09 at 17:32
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up vote 2 down vote

I don't know about wmv and rmvb files, but Handbrake does quite a good job with avi, mpg and mov and has a built-in iPod and iPhone/iPod Touch preset to help you easily convert your videos.

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I know handbrake and have already used that to rip my DVDs, but if I want to choose an avi file to convert into mp4, there appears "Source: No Valid Title Found". Doesn't work :-( Or what do I do wrong? – Lilly Dec 13 '09 at 16:26
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Handbrake requires VLC be installed in order to convert video formats. I have found that it crashes all the time so I use VisualHub instead. For ripping DVDs Handbrake is great though. – ridogi Dec 13 '09 at 18:22
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It's the other way around. HandBrake can convert video formats on its own (although not AVI, OGM, or XviD, as of v0.9.4), but loads VLC's copy of libdvdcss dynamically to perform DVD decryption. – Lawrence Velázquez Dec 13 '09 at 22:15
My bad, you are correct. – ridogi Dec 13 '09 at 23:44
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up vote 2 down vote

try "PEnGUIn Encoder MP4". It suits for your purpose perfectly. first thing after installation do a "update binaries" in help menu, then you are good to go

it's 100% free.

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Thanks here too! Now I have loads of working software on my Mac :) – Lilly Dec 13 '09 at 22:18
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up vote 2 down vote

Check out ffmpegX. It's a GUI frontend that can use either FFMPEG, mpeg2enc, or mencoder as a backend. It hides all the commands from you and makes conversion much simpler:

alt text

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THX, I'll give it a try. – Lilly Dec 13 '09 at 16:32
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up vote 1 down vote

Take a look at ffmpegX.
I have never tried it but as it is based on the very powerful ffmpg I think you should give it a try.

Edit:
 Further reading on the webpage (thanks John T) reveals that you have to install ffmpeg separately, but they do provide a link, but only to the ffmpg source. Unfortunately binary distributions for ffmpeg are hard to find and not everyone is up to building things from scratch.

So my advice is to see if it's simpler to use mpeg2enc, or mencoder as a backend instead. (links found in John T's answer)

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Keep in mind he still needs to install a backend, ffmpegX is not a converter by itself. – John T Dec 13 '09 at 16:26
Thanks, too, also for the edit, I've downloaded it and am trying to convert some files right now. I started with avi to mp4 and that one seems to work. – Lilly Dec 13 '09 at 16:45
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up vote 1 down vote

Another free program (which I'm running now in the background) to edit videos is MPEG Streamclip, which reads mostly everything that can be read through Quicktime with Perian and can generate mp4 files that can be dragged into iTunes to be synced to your iPod/iPhone.

The only thing I'm not sure it reads is rmvb.

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Thanks! Another good tip. – Lilly Dec 13 '09 at 22:12
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up vote 1 down vote

Check out Video Monkey, it's VisualHub re-incarnated.

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Thank you! That one is really great, too! – Lilly Dec 14 '09 at 11:31
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