14 DAY TRIAL // FLV files are at the peak of their popularity. Websites like YouTube, MySpace or Google Video are using the format. You must think that if these "players" are using it then it must be good. The quality is not much, but it is the most viable video format up to now. The size is small so spreading it all over the Web is easy. Also, due to its small sizes the upload and download is done very fast.
Thanks to its popularity, the emerging of FLV encoders and converters was just a matter of time. For some time now users have the option of converting a FLV file into a regular AVI, MPG or MOV. This way playing the videos from YouTube on various mobile devices is a cinch.
GetFLV is one of the newest FLV converters and encoders on the market. The software from SuperLogix comes at a $29.95 price and a 30 day trial period. That is more than enough to test and decide upon buying or looking for something else.
The skinnable interface allows settling for one of the three views: Digimix, EasyLine or KDX. All of them are Mac like interfaces and to be frank there's a long time since I've seen such a clean drawing in an interface.
GetFLV is equipped with only two menus. FLV Utilities is one of them while Options is the other one. The utility box GetFLV comes strapped with includes everything you need to convert .flv videos into AVI, MP4 or MOV, as well as converting regular video to .flv and more. The tool also features a ripping utility designed to extract the audio from .flv files.
But first, you will be welcomed by FLV Downloader, a tool that will help you download and manage all your FLV video files. If "Enable FLV Prompt Mode" option is enabled, anytime you bump into an Adobe video on the web, GetFLV will prompt and ask you if you want to download that file. That's the beauty of this software's utility, there is no need to look for a "download" button of the video because the application will prompt you and store the video on your hard drive.
The categories you can place the videos range from Arts and Animation, Autos and Vehicles, Comedy to Science, Sports, Travel and Places or Video Games. The user can add his/her own category or rename and delete the default folders provided by the software. The videos will get downloaded in GetFLV's installation folder, in the "/Download/" directory.
Tool number two on the list is the FLV to Video converter. The utility works like a charm when it comes to batch convert also. The video formats you can transform the .flv video into are AVI, MOV and MP4. There is also a bitrate control that cannot do too much to improve the quality of the video as if the original file is crappy, nothing good can come out of that.
Converting from video to FLV is as easy as the above mentioned process. However, I do not recommend using this option without taking a look at the output result. It could disappoint you. There are no options to set the output result resolution so do not expect too much of a quality.
The feature that almost threw a monkey wrench into the running of the program is Extract FLV Audio. As soon as I hit the "Extract" button the interface just vanished from my desktop. At a second test, the software was stubborn enough to disappear again. However, I succeeded to complete the job with no apparent problems, but the files would not be played in any other player than Windows Media.
Repairing FLV files option is designed to fix those seeking errors you get when playing a FLV video.
Getting into Options section of the application allows you to make the settings for downloading the .flv videos from the Internet. Thus you get to set the split downloading file (it will increase the downloading speed) and the download directory. For monitor settings you get to enable the prompt mode when you reach a FLV video on the Internet in order to download it immediately.
The Good
The conversions are done very fast and the quality is not damaged at all. The best feature is by far the Prompt Mode option that automatically detects FLV files you bump into on the Internet.
Also, the video player allows you to view the videos you download.
The Bad
Some problems were encountered when it came to extracting the audio. The issues were solved after a restart of the software.
The Truth
The price seems a little too much for the average user, but you have 30 days of testing of the application before you actually decide upon buying it or not.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
