14 DAY TRIAL // Whether you are just looking to transfer video files to your phone, email or share them with your friends or carry out more elaborate tasks such as ripping your favorite DVDs, you will find yourself in the situation of looking for video conversion software. XMedia Recode packs video and audio conversion as well as DVD ripping and basic video editing capabilities. The application can also extract audio from movie clips.
Finding conversion software that best fits your needs has never been a simple job and every PC user knows that. When it comes to video converters, things just may get a little more complicated. The perfect application should perform above expectations, provide accurate results and ease of use. Processing times, output formats and their customization level have always been a major concern. A good application will successfully take you from point A to point B. A better one will be faster and feature-rich. The best is what makes you say “Wow! I finally found it!”
The video converter of the day comes from developer Sebastian Dorfler, is called XMedia Recode and is free. In addition to the video conversion capabilities, XMedia Recode will handle audio files as well. It supports all popular formats such as AVI, MPEG, MP4, 3GP, MOV, MKV, WMV, ASF, VOB, FLV, SWF or TS on the video side and MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AAC, AC3, WAV or M4A on the audio side.
At first glance, XMedia Recode may seem a bit crowded, but nevertheless it has the makings of a powerful and really capable converter. The interface is neat and looks great for an experienced user. However, beginners will have to take a little time to adapt. The main window consists of a button bar for file loading and job management, a file area that provides information on Duration, Video and Audio streams and Subtitles (where given the case), a conversion options menu and the destination folder section.
You will start by adding your source files from your computer or DVD. At this point, you can use the software’s Open buttons or drag and drop your videos directly into the file area. XMedia Recode’s conversion options menu offers a very long list of predefined profiles. It’s almost impossible to look for what you need and not find it in there. No matter what type of conversion you are looking for, the application will make sure you’ll quickly select a profile for your laptop, netbook, MP4 player, and mobile phone or game console.
Leaving the profile set to Custom will allow you to enter the format you need. Once again, the converter covers the spectrum of possible options. You’ll get all the popular formats and even some you never met. XMedia Recode does a fine job when it comes to codecs. For example, the AVI video file format has more than fifteen available codecs, thus giving you the opportunity to fully customize the output video stream. Same thing goes with the audio stream options. All you really have to do is choose the ones that suit you best.
If all of these are not enough, by clicking on the Video tab you will go further into the available options regarding the quality, framerate, bitrate, threads or color mode. It all depends on your experience, whether you feel like changing values or just skipping the advanced customization capabilities. You will be able to individually select and convert up to two different audio tracks, a feature that will come in handy in case of a multi-language DVD disc. The Filters / Preview tab will be more generous, providing users with video preview and resolution options. One more click and you get cropping, padding, denoise, sharpness, invert, and grayscale or deinterlace effects and filters. XMedia Recode also enables users to easily trim their video files using the controls and the bottom of the video preview.
A Bitrate Calculator is also available in the Options menu that will come in handy while considering options for a certain output video file. Users will also find helpful the options within the Preferences window of the software. You can set the interface language and most importantly, choose to avoid standby when processing. You will be able to select default audio selection for your DVDs and the number of threads for H264 / MPEG-4, MPEG-2 or VP8 Decoding (up to eight).
For testing purposes, I created an all-round job list that will rip and convert the contents of a DVD disc to popular video and audio formats. Users will be able to select the targeted CD, DVD or flash drive and check whether the output size surpasses their limits. During the encoding operation, you will be informed of Average FPS, current frame and file size and pretty accurate remaining and elapsed time will be displayed too. The window will also offer the possibility of shutting down the computer as soon as the work is done.
During the encoding process, the amount of utilized RAM tops sixty megabytes when converting to non-HD formats (normal bitrates and resolutions). The CPU will be really fired up if a high definition conversion is taking place, thus is not recommended to attempt it on poorly cooled cases. In this case, the quad-core system performed at full load and over two hundred and twenty megabytes of system memory were used. The results of this conversion process were pleasantly surprising: XMedia Recode really puts your hardware to work and manages to provide great quality in a very short time. The output files played like a charm - all of them.
If you ever need fast video conversion with a handful selection of multimedia formats, XMedia Recode just might be the winning ticket. With its well-crafted interface, the application will intuitively take you through its features and finally, generate remarkable results. Thumbs up!
The Good
XMedia Recode rips DVDs and converts all-known media files with speed and astonishing results. It features multiple laptop, mobile phone and MP4 player embedded profiles. Advanced video and audio stream editor and enhancer are also provided. XMedia Recode comes with a clean interface and nice job list.
The Bad The main disadvantage of this application is the lack of documentation. The only help file is available on the Internet and it’s in German. Novices may easily alter the results of the conversion operation due to the absence of a simple / advanced interface switch. Also, a CD / DVD burning feature would make XMedia Recode look even better.
The Truth
Bottom line, this video converter can easily be considered one of the few that really gets the job done, with no watermarks or conversion limitations whatsoever. Furthermore, it will take so little of your time in doing so and offers a vast array of both video and audio profiles and formats. Simply put, XMedia Recode is a must for every PC user.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
