14 DAY TRIAL // These days, a really good video converter will provide the user with an easy to use, friendly interface, great features (large number of conversion profiles, video editing capabilities) as well as high speed conversion with excellent results. iWisoft Free Video Converter offers a well-knitted application capable of converting between every major video and audio formats. It will bring simple yet powerful video editing at your fingertips.
Not so long ago, video conversion was a thing for the pros. Few would put their computers through the tedious job of converting video files. Furthermore, the market lacked solutions in this matter, with only a few expensive applications that made some people regard them as unreachable. Years passed and new software arrived, promising hyped conversion speed and a large number of innovative features. Nowadays, with a little help and time well spent looking for video converters, you can find quality software for low prices and even free of charge. The focus has changed from high-end PCs for the tiniest video conversion to more-for-less processing applications.
iWisoft Free Video Converter from iWisoft Development is a free tool designed to convert your video files to various file formats compatible with almost any portable device on the market. It will help you convert videos between AVI, MPEG, MP4, 3GP, MKV, WMV, DivX, XviD, MOV, FLV, H.264/AVC, AVCHD, RM, and audio MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, AAC, AC3, OGG. The application also offers support for numerous digital multimedia devices such as PlayStation3, XBOX360, Nintendo Wii, PSP, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Sony Walkman, iRiver, Zune, Creative Zen, Archos and some mobile phones like BlackBerry, Google Phone or Palm.
iWisoft Free Video Converter will automatically launch your Internet browser for update checking every time you start it. The interface is nicely built, clean, well-organized and you can find everything you need in the main window, with no secret sub-menus that hide additional features. It’s not likely to impress fast-paced users due to fairly slow responsiveness, but it will surely please the eye.
Video file loading is easily done by using the Add button, File menu or the supported drag and drop function. You can then move your source video files one by one to set the conversion priorities, clear the list or enter the editing mode from the upper menu. iWisoft Free Video Converter will help you quickly and easily select your desired conversion profile and choose between Common Video / Audio, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PS3, PSP, Mobile Phone, Windows Mobile, XBOX, Portable Multimedia Device, Wii, DS, HD Video, Flash Video and Picture or DVD format. The software also supports batch conversion and merging of your files, thus an additional video joiner will not be necessary.
The available profiles feature sub-profiles and fine tuning of both output video and audio streams. You can adjust the video codec, size, framerate, bitrate and ratio as well as the audio codec, bitrate, number of channels, sample size or volume. These options will come in handy for users that want to get a particular file size, as the application will determine the estimated size of the converted video.
The right part of the interface is reserved to the video preview window and basic playback controls. In addition, the program provides users with the opportunity of taking snapshots of the currently displayed frame in the preview section and quick access to the destination folder for fast viewing. The supported snapshot image file types are BMP, JPEG, GIF or PNG and they can be set from the Options window of the video converter. Just below the video preview section, you can find an option that, by default, will apply your changes to all of your video files. If you want to convert to various formats, all you have to do is uncheck this selection.
iWisoft Free Video Converter comes with basic editing functions that really make a difference when it comes to cropping, trimming or applying effects and watermarks. The Crop tab allows users to select an area of the video stream and quickly preview the new video as the adjustments take place. You will also be able to tweak the gamma, contrast, brightness or saturation and add a video effect such as gray, emboss, negative or old film. Source files can be trimmed into a single, shorter segment and image / text watermarks can be attached.
On the technical side, this application will not make your computer go berserk while the conversion process takes place. The amount of system memory tops around sixty megabytes of RAM and the average processor load is 50% on a quad-core based PC. Sure, if high definition conversion takes place, the CPU will go up reaching upper limits due to the large bitrate and complex algorithm. The memory usage will break the two hundred megabytes barrier to supply the extensive workflow.
The conversion speed is pretty impressive thanks to the well implemented multi-threading technology. The final product provides high image and sound quality, as long as the bitrate is set to optimal values. Besides pure video conversion, iWisoft Free Video Converter will help you extract the audio stream of your movie clips into many formats like MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG, AAC, M4A, RA, APE, AC3, MKA, AIFF, MP2 or even the UNIX SUN AU.
The Converting window is pretty simple and displays both the current file and overall operation percentage, the converted length of the current file, elapsed and remaining time, as well as two very helpful options referring to computer shut down and open output folder on process completion. The remaining time estimation is okay for short movie clips, however it lacks accuracy for lengthy projects, stabilizing at approximately a quarter to a third of the encoding process.
The Good
This video conversion software delivers speed and stability, quality and flexibility. Its available profiles, settings, effects and editing options successfully add up to an enjoyable graphical user interface. iWisoft Free Video Converter supports multi-core CPU and does a hell of a job when it comes to system resources.
The Bad
The automatic checking for updates by launching the Internet browser could have been omitted or replaced by a built-in software window. There is no offline help file and the one hosted on the application’s website is pretty basic. A faster interface, frame-by frame editing capability, more accurate conversion time estimation and implementation of DVD ripping or burning functionality would make it better.
The Truth
iWisoft Free Video Converter is a great freeware video and audio converter. Its strength comes from real speed of job execution, well expressed interaction with the user and vigorous output. It really has the backbone of a truly productive application that inspires confidence and the joy of fulfilling a massive task.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
