14 DAY TRIAL // Media formats on computers have always been a strange affair; after all, in the real world, you don't need a special set of eyes to see a certain picture.
However, in the digital world, things are not always the same as they are in the real one, and to view any media, you need a program that can decode it from the file. Things would be simple if there was only one format and one codec, but there are many, as well as many wrappers and other things that are best left unknown.
Fortunately, for still images and sound, things are pretty much set in place and it is rare that you find a image you cannot view with just about any image viewer. But movies are a different matter entirely, and there are many formats and codecs and rival companies and open source applications that cannot be bundled with the codecs and it is basically one big mess.
Fortunately, there are applications out there that will play just about any movie file you throw at them such as mplayer and VLC. So things are not that bad, but say you want to convert video for use on your iPod or PSP or living room DVD player. You are going to need a piece of software that can first decode the video file and then re-encode it into the format you desire.
While there are many applications that convert from one format to another, if you are looking for a one-stop solution for video conversion, regardless of the formats, then VisualHub is the application for you.
What it does
VisualHub is a small application that will convert just about any video format into another. It is designed in such a way as to permit easy, quick conversions and batch jobs, but is still powerful enough for use by advanced users.
The program can be used straight off and is as intuitive as can be, even the advanced options are not that advanced if you know how movies work and only the extra ffmpeg flags can actually send you looking for the documentation, everything else being self explanatory even with the most minimal of video knowledge.
Formats and codecs Because of various laws and policies, the codecs needed by the application to do what it does are not bundled with it, however, that is not a major impediment because all you have to do is click a button. There is no need to find out which codec you require and where to get it from and where to place it, the application knows all that already and all you have to do is give it the OK to go out and get the necessary resources.
Once you have the codecs, you are set to go. The application can read from and convert to many different formats such as Flash, MPEG, WMV, MP4, AVI, DVD, DV, PSP and iPod. That list is pretty conclusive, and although it does not support absolutely every format out there, it gets the vast majority of them.
Conversions made easy
While the format you are converting from does not really matter because the program knows how to handle it, the format you are converting from usually has some peculiarities which you need to be aware of. Fortunately, when you select the desired destination format, the program automatically presents you with the important settings.
If you do not know what these settings do, the manual is more than informative and a pretty amusing read at any rate. It is recommended that you at least skim the manual as there are certain settings, especially those for PSP and iPod video that are quite important and may make the video behave in an unexpected way if not set up properly.
Once you have selected the file or files you want converted, you simply specify a destination and click start. The conversion is pretty fast but it depends on the size and quality of the movies you are working on. Fortunately, the program can batch process all your files, and can even leverage the power of multiple core or networked computers to make things faster.
The Good
Works with many formats and makes converting movies very easy. The interface is clean and straightforward with everything you need being readily available.
The Bad
Nothing bad about this one, it is a great video conversion tool.
The Truth
If you want to convert movies for use on several devices or simply to have them all in the same format, this program is perfect for it. Has the most widely used codecs out of the box and is super simple to use.
Here's a screenshot, click to enlarge:
