https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/ en Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:11:27 +0000 hourly 1 FeedWriter https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108718 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:11:27 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108718 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108716 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:23:32 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108716 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108715 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:04:21 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108715 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108714 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:51:22 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108714 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108713 "Why does one need stuff like this when there are excellent freeware software..." See below... "Also AVC supports threading, it can use all your cores." While today's Wondershare' GOTD can/does use multiple cores, Very often that in & of itself is meaningless. If you time [bench test] converting the same file to the same format using many different apps while watching core usage, you'll see that for yourself. That's just the nature of processing video -- MS struggled with it for multiple CPUs, before there were multi-core CPUs. Don't get me wrong -- using multiple cores is *usually* preferred -- but it DOES NOT by itself determine an app's efficiency or speed. * * * #8: "This seems quite useless, as there are so many free and nice alternatives. How is it there are so many positive ratings ?" Research & use the always free alternatives, try Wondershare's converter(s), & then compare/decide for yourself. I could write a long list of likes/dislikes for several, free-ware/open source alternatives, but since my circumstances are likely different than yours, it would waste my time to write it, & yours reading it. ;-) A few things to consider: Wondershare includes the MainConcept encoder, which free alternatives do not (cannot). Wondershare converters are pretty much self-contained -- Format Factory & Super are not, & may break other software &/or video handling, while many others require a sometimes long list of apps &/or DS filters that have to be installed. Some free-ware/open source converters allow you to set a very large number of conversion & encoding specifics -- this is cool *If* you know how to set them, but overwhelming if you don't.]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:55:36 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108713 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108712 [Note: encoded video should play on any hardware (laptop/PC etc) that will run the free VLC player] The question always comes up: "Why use this GOTD rather than "X" or "Y" software that's always free"? The honest answer is that it's up to you, & whether you like the polished, relatively easy to use interface that comes with Wondershare's current crop of video converters, or if you want more control over every aspect of the conversion, &/or prefer the way the some other app's program window is laid out. No app designed primarily for video conversion is going to always get you the very best quality possible, but if you're outputting 320 X 240 or smaller, most people can't tell the difference anyway, especially on a small or even tiny screen. Some converters will be faster than others, but most all are very close, & none compare to the speed you'll get from a converter that uses your graphics card/chip [GPU]... that includes today's GOTD. That said, Wondershare Video to iPod Converter isn't slow, but it's not greased lightening either. Decoding -> re-sizing -> encoding video takes time, especially if/when you're encoding AVC video. It does use multiple CPU cores, but while that can be used to make things faster, it's nowhere near any sort of guarantee... In fact, the best way to use multiple CPU cores for video conversion is to process 2 - 4 files at once, something Wondershare Video to iPod Converter is happy to do... kudos to the Wondershare development team. Using Wondershare Video to iPod Converter you 1st import your video, & it will import most formats, though you'll want the video & audio in the same file [muxed]. It will import/convert the .VOB files storing content in/on a DVD -- you can either import the VIDEO_TS folder, then check the box to combine videos, or copy the DVD to another folder on your hard drive using the free DVD Shrink, with splitting VOB files *Un*-checked in preferences... this gives you just 1 .VOB file rather than [the usual] several ~1GB files. [use re-author mode in Shrink, so you can skip whatever you don't want/need, making copying faster] In testing it did accept [& work just fine with] Flash video [.flv]. [Shockwave [.swf] files are containers that can hold video along with other stuff, like the player &/or scripts etc. Use another app to strip out the .flv video] Wondershare Video to iPod Converter also lets you import any video you have DS [Direct Show] decoders [filters] installed for... This is a nice touch, especially with all the slightly odd-ball [& sometimes odd-ball] formats out there. The next step is optional, letting you trim, crop, adjust brightness etc, & add a watermark or subs to your video. This limited editing seemed more polished than earlier versions. Imported video's listed in a batch window, with a checkbox on each line to set whether you want to process that file or not. I didn't have any problems importing the same file more than once, so you could import a recording several times, trimming each to go commercial to commercial, then check the box to combine them into one file. Might seem a bit round-a-bout, but no clumsier than most methods of editing out the adverts. Then you set your output format, in this case limited to Apple's handheld products like the iPod. Oddly you can customize the H264 setting, but not plain ol' mp4. As they continue refining their software, Wondershare has added another nice touch: you can easily customize the list of format options or profiles, so you don't have to slog through all those choices you don't want, just to get to the one (or few) you always use. Set your output folder & click the button to start, & a separate window opens showing progress for individual files. Installation adds needed entries to the registry -- otherwise the initial window where you paste [enter] your key closes before you're finished. You may need to run setup.exe as admin to allow it to write where it needs to in the registry. Otherwise the vast majority of registry changes are due to the installer & basic housekeeping, like updating the MUI cache. Wondershare Video to iPod Converter itself takes up ~42MB with 156 files, 8 folders, & includes the MainConcept encoder -- a plus. Unlike very many of the free alternatives, Wondershare Video to iPod Converter doesn't make any difference or changes to what you've already got installed. I consider that a big Plus, because I've got a lot of video/audio software & I don't want it broken -- I don't want to check it all just to see if it broke after adding a new app -- & I definitely don't want to spend time fixing things.]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:11:39 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108712 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108711 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:59:31 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108711 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108710 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:11:04 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108710 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108709 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:14:25 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108709 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108708 http://www.wondershare.com/store/giveaway-of-the-day/10-Feb-07.html.]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:53:17 -0500 https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-video-to-ipod-converter/#comment-108708