Adding subtitles should be allowed

Thanks Fuber #16 and Mike #31. Very helpful.
And thanks GOTD and Aimersoft.

Is it a secret or considered bad form to mention here that during registration you're taken to an aimersoft.com web page that offers 65% discount on Pro and Ultimate ($14.95 and $24.95 respectively)? I know this is a free giveaway site, but... Anyhow, they don't say how long the sale will last.

#15, Sherwood Tucker, this is version 4.0.2.

#35, mike, I've talked about WTV before, your descriptions are completely wrong. WTV has many improvements over DVR-MS, and supports multiple streams and other than MPEG-2 streams, such as H.264. Although I expect video converters to support WTV, I already have a fair amount of WTV conversion support in VideoReDo TVSuite V4, which can output WTV, DVR-MS, various MPEG-2 formats, various H.264 and MP4 formats, WMV, VC-1, etc. I always use the latest beta. I have a license so I can always use the latest betas, but if you don't have a license you can use any version for a limited trial.

#35, mike, one problem with your VC-1 reference is that it's old, only up through Expression Encoder 2. You can use the trial Pro version 4, I've been using the free version. It is oriented toward files and streaming, not optical discs, it supports VC-1 Advanced Profile but doesn't say anything about Blu-Ray compliance.

You're still trying to rewrite ATI's history. Media Expresso always supported CUDA, CUDA was being used long before Stream. You don't get it, CUDA/Stream aren't about HD decoding, they're about making hardware originally designed for graphics available for specific computing applications, primarily parallel high-precision arithmetic operations. nVidia has been selling their products in the supercomputer market for some time, as well as making the arithmetic capabilities of their consumer cards available for those who can't afford even an inexpensive supercomputer. There has been very little interest in Stream because it was so late to the party, without offering any advantages and without the proven ongoing development and track record of CUDA. ATI had their own API to compete with CUDA. It was a flop, so some people started the open-standard OpenCL which is hardware independent. It may take off in the long term, but so far it's also a flop, as almost everyone continues to stick with CUDA.

It's interesting that you continually push ATI while claiming to be neutral. I always thought that ATI had the better hardware designs, but their software efforts have been feeble. I had what at the time was a mid-range version of ATI's newer designs, and after at least a year, there had been practically no improvement in their drivers. When my computer croaked, my new computer came with an nVidia card of a comparable generation and ability. Unlike ATI, nVidia drivers came out on a frequent basis and there was nearly always a noticeable improvement with far fewer bugs than ATI. It was almost like getting a new card every year. I would give both ATI and nVidia an "F" on their drivers, the same as every other video chip developer, but even so, nVidia's drivers were always ten times better than ATI's. nVidia has always out-performed ATI on every type of quality test. ATI's newer designs do have a better power envelope. nVidia's 500 series has better power envelopes than their 400 series, but not as good as ATI's. The two companies are taking different approaches to quality. nVidia is going for tessellation to improve quality, ATI is going for pixel fill rate. My money's on nVidia, as they always do better when it comes to quality. The competition between ATI and nVidia has been good for consumers, just as the competition between AMD and Intel has been. Despite your claims, you show a clear preference for ATI. I'm sticking with nVidia, not because I think that they have the ultimate cards, but because their software and video quality is better than ATI's. I'm not a gamer, as long as the frame rate is adequate, I don't care which brand scores a few percent higher. Power consumption is an issue, I hope that nVidia will continue to improve in that area, where ATI clearly has an advantage at the present time. An argument can be made that ATI also currently has a price/performance advantage, which matters to most of us.

does not work. install is stuck at the very end with a message: runtime error, external exception EEDFADE. Checked on two computers. (win-7-64)

#15: "This is version 4.0 and the latest is 4.0.2 in which they solved the NVIDIA graphics Driver incompatibility. So This version is not compatible with NVIDIA driver???"

I run ATI so I can't comment directly -- however, if you download the pro or ultimate trials they come with a [very slightly] newer version of "wsCUDA.dll" that you might try exchanging for the file in today's GOTD if you have problems [or simply want the latest].

* * *

#16: "...claimed that you can’t encode VC-1, not only has that always been possible, but even the free version of Microsoft Expression Encoder will do it,..."

FWIW & if it helps, Ben Waggoner [ http://goo.gl/MOQu8 ] explains a bit better about what VC-1 is/isn't. In a nutshell, most wmv is technically VC-1, but when someone refers to VC-1 they usually mean something else, something like you'll find on some Blu-Ray discs. Can the latest Microsoft's Expression Encoder encode VC-1 for Blu-Ray?... I didn't/don't see a reference with a definite yes/no -- most of the ad hype says it does VC-1 for *Silverlight*, which I take to mean it can encode ordinary .wmv. My take is that MS originally defined VC-1 based on their wmv format, built on it as nec. for acceptance as a std., was tentatively going to release an encoder but killed the project, & wound up releaseing a free VC-1 SDK -- there are a few products [e.g. Mainconcept http://goo.gl/XYZn5 ], but I'm not aware of any non-pro/studio priced Blu-Ray spec encoders... the Mainconcept Reference VC-1 Pro Plug-in is listed at $ 1.160,00. Beyond nic's encoder [released 06] I haven't seen any interest in the open-source/free software communities, or among video enthusiasts for any VC-1 encoding -- haven't seen an awful lot of enthusiasm for wmv lately either. At any rate, as Ben wrote: "Is VC-1 the same as Windows Media Video 9? Yes, the big picture: VC-1 is the SMPTE standardized version (SMPTE 421M) of Windows Media Video 9." -- & -- "... can you encode a Blu-ray compatible stream in Windows Media Encoder? Nope, sorry."

"... Hardware manufacturers necessarily have to do some software development,..."

FWIW ATI & nVIDIA both offered graphics card/chipset acceleration of video playback back when HD started to become more common, & the average, then current CPUs couldn't handle playback well on their own [ http://goo.gl/8Buc8 ]... ATI came to start naming their cards "HD" with their 2000 series in a marketing move to reflect that. Both companies also started thinking about using the GPU to supplement the CPU, using different approaches/strategies, getting involved in Folding @ home [ http://goo.gl/LSDFm ], & in limited use in labs & on Wall St. etc. ATI's Stream evolved into OpenCL [http://goo.gl/Jzb7q ]. While both nVIDIA & ATI had their own hardware accelerated video encoding tools, AFAIK Cyberlink Media Expresso (now on v. 6) was the 1st 3rd part app to offer GPU encoding acceleration, & it worked only with ATI's stream. Since then, like their competitive market shares, ATI & nVIDIA hardware support seems to seesaw a bit... right now it's tilted to nVIDIA's CUDA, at least re: ffmpeg... maybe because AMD was getting their OpenCL SDK off the ground & out of beta, maybe because CUDA offered some advantage, or maybe just because that's what a developer had to work with? Personally I'm neutral & enjoy watching fans of either brand gripe about driver & hardware shortcomings -- although I could use a nVIDIA space heater 'bout now since it's Cold outside. ;-)

"... it [Aimersoft Video Converter] lacks some things which I would want, like WTV support..."

The .wtv format is a DRM version of the older dvr-ms format MS introduced with Vista. It's used in win7 & with the leaked update to Vista Media Center. Win7 has a built-in converter that can be added to Vista to go .wtv -> dvr-ms with a re-encode. Aimersoft's video converters import .dvr-ms. Basically mpg2 in a different wrapper, you can also use the free graphedit [from Microsoft] or Roxio's Videowave [since at least creator 8 I think] to convert .wtv/.dvr-ms to mpg2 without any encoding, though the embedded CC will not make it [it's embedded differently in the MS format files].

I have tried to register, but even after receiving the email reply from the company, the keycode, as well as the email address are not recognized.

@11 Ronny

If you've the GAOTD offering of Aimersoft HD Video Converter on 16 Nov 2009, don't think you need to try today's offering, which is the Std Version.

Now, as shown on the website, there is the Std, Pro and Ultimate version.

Back in Nov 2009,there was the HD and the Ultimate version. The HD version is not offered anymore. The website does not show this product.

Besides, the HD version can convert both HD and SD. So, you should be pretty much covered, no? Probably, the HD Version is split into Std and Pro, which from the specs on the website, looks like so.

I initially had trouble registering until I read the email comfirmation thouroughly.
I used the licensed email address in my email comfirmation to register the software, which is "giveawayoftheday@aimersoft.com". When I replaced my email address with this email it registered right away.

Aimersoft Video Converter Std., today's GOTD is the base or intro version in their set of 3 converters -- the next step up lets you import DVDs, while the Ultimate version adds video downloading, conversion of video with DRM, & very rudimentary DVD authoring. Like Wondershare video apps, the Aimersoft converters include the Mainconcept encoder -- Mainconcept encoders are included in higher end video apps like Adobe Premiere Pro & Sony Vegas. The main thing I don't like about the Aimersoft converters is they add a partial [perhaps unnecessary] installation of AC3 Filter [ http://goo.gl/UmQfP ] -- this can interfere with whatever you already have to play AC3 audio [e.g. PowerDVD], & without the complete AC3 filter package installed, you don't have AC3 Filter's applet to configure &/or turn it on/off. Otherwise the Aimersoft converters, while capable, don't seem to bring anything new to the table that you haven't seen before with other video converters on GOTD. [Arguably the DVD portion of the Ultimate version is something you don't see everyday, but for authoring DVDs IMHO you'd be much better off with something like the free DVD Styler [ http://goo.gl/8iXOK ] for simple DVDs]

There is one nice feature for adding/importing video into the Aimersoft converters -- the Add Direct Show Files option *May* help importing files that might otherwise give problems. Aimersoft was also able to clean the GUI up a bit, adding audio selection & subtitle edit buttons to the listings in the job window. When you click the link up top for the Aimersoft Video Converter site, they have a nice diagram showing most of the program's features, though *fortunately* the site's version comparison [ http://goo.gl/DZJXm ] appears to be wrong -- while multi CPU cores are shown as only supported with the Ultimate version, today's GOTD uses all 4 cores of an AMD quad. Note that I had to run the app as admin in win7 64 -- otherwise it took Task Mgr to kill the app, which also stopped the never-ending stream of error message windows. Aimersoft's std. Video Converter also works with the VOB files that hold the audio, video, & subs on a DVD -- the free DVD Shrink can easily copy [with no transcoding so no quality loss] a DVD title [without DRM] to a folder on your hard drive using 1 VOB file instead of several [splitting VOBs is a setting in preferences], & to convert a DVD you just import that single VOB.

Installation as mentioned includes that partial AC3 Filter install. In testing Aimersoft Video Converter GOTD/Std. version seems to need 2 registry entries to run & work properly in win7 ult 64 SP1 RC, but the normal install adds 199 [monitored in XP Pro] -- one for uninstall & most of the rest for the partial AC3 Filter setup. The app itself takes up ~70.5 MB in 206 files, 10 folders, with ac3filter.ax, AI_ContextMenu.dll, iconv.dll, & xvid.ax added to Windows' system folder. Note that the file: xvid.ax does not show a version number, so can't tell if it's the latest, though it is much larger than the normal xvid download... they could be the same code with the downloaded file being compacted, or they might be different with Aimersoft's version causing problems with other apps using Xvid -- mentioned in case you have problems, maybe look there 1st. Google/Bing for an idea of potential AC3 Filter problems, or consider a more complete AC3 Filter install -- AC3 Filter's configuration will allow you to *fix* many problems, & you'll get an uninstall as well.

Far as alternatives go, videohelp.com has plenty of conversion or transcoding apps -- there's a new release of Any Video Converter Free some might like [ http://goo.gl/LuyTf ]. Dealnews also lists a WinX double giveaway this morning. The way that Windows handles audio/video software makes conflicts unfortunately easy, causing anything from poor performance to apps crashing. Diagnosing these sorts of problems (which aren't always immediately apparent) can be very difficult -- fixing them may be impossible. Some audio &/or video software tries to be more-or-less self-contained, with little to no chance of interacting with anything else. Other apps take the opposite approach, which can work, but usually only if that's the only audio &/or video app you run. Format Factory & Super are 2 examples of that latter approach -- XMedia Recode, the WinX apps I've seen/tried, & the Any Video Converter Free that I mentioned stick to themselves & don't screw with the neighbors.

Cute but not really accurate.

a) First at all, in comparaison with similar software, the converted movies are bigger (in file size).

b) It does not allow to have custom dimension. Mainly because of this, i have removed the application from my system.

Same problem as #13. Only difference is that I don't need the program desperately. I'm running W7 - 64 bit and the beta version of IE 9.

Today’s “Bad” item in the first comment is an exemplary example of nitpicking to the nth degree; it borders on out-and-out fabrication. Why? There aren’t any programs that allow a user to opt-out remove right-click menu entries...lol

This is a really good video conversion program that I think very few users would regret installing after their first conversion. The output quality is as close to the original as you can get. There’s a huge list of input and output file formats, you can convert multiple videos in the same session, and there are basic editing features which is more than what most alternatives have to offer.

RE: Video Converter Ratings at various sites...

The 1st step I take before a new tech-related purchase (like software), is to Google/Bing using the product name & separately the words "prob" & "problem"... the results can tell you all you need to know. IMHO try to find info etc. at enthusiast sites, since they're not going to be anxious to jeopardize their credibility among the enthusiasts that are their backbone. Magazine sites can be OK *If/When* they all tend to agree on a product or app, but otherwise they often hire freelance or contract writers that may/may not be qualified, & may/may not actually spend any time trying/using whatever it is they're reviewing. Top 10 &/or similar comparison or rating articles can be decent if/when they're on an enthusiast site, but as BuBBy says, when that's part of the site's address [e.g. toptenreviews.com] it's usually to drive traffic to their site &/or collect from sponsors with little if any real or more importantly, accurate information. Finally, also be on the lookout for popular bias... you'll come across products, mostly software in my experience, where it can be very popular to like/dislike something regardless its pluses/minuses.

* * *

#13: "... Everytiime I try to register using the given key and my email, it says invalid username/ registration key...."

Don't use *Your* e-mail... when you register the page says: "Licensed E-mail: giveawayoftheday@aimersoft.com"

* * *

#23: "... most other video converters can convert to Divx, this one cannot. Xvid only."

DivX is a proprietary format, & while a version of the codec is available from the DivX site for download, the pro version with all the settings costs $. DivX the company also may not want to license it to other companies the way they have in the past -- the only current apps I'm aware of that include everything DivX come from DivX. Xvid OTOH is free, & for many (most?) purposes interchangeable with DivX, e.g. a DVD/BR player that handles DivX on CD will normally handle Xvid as well. Some video apps will use non-included codecs you have installed [Direct Show &/or VFW], like DivX -- many don't -- but DivX also has it's own encoding apps that you can use.

..for all those having problems with registration...its not your e-mail..but the one given with serial...======================================= giveawayoftheday@aimersoft.com=====================

a reboot of my PC solved the installation problems

I have problems regarding activating the software. I entered the true email and registration code correctly , but the software refused to accept it. Any solutions to this problems? I really need the software to convert my newly created videos.

I have pro version, and biggest problem for me is that most other video converters can convert to Divx, this one cannot. Xvid only.

Before installing ANY software on your PC, you should actually go out to more than 2 site for reviews and Spamware ratings. I had to remove this software as it hogs resources and suddenly I began getting tons of spam. I am pretty particular about my PC, so it had to only come from this company, sorry to say. I cannot give this one a good rating as I have others that do much more and without Spamming me.

Perfect! I needed a converter that can merge,adjust video size and quality and convert to just about any devise being used today.
Thanks GOTD and Aimersoft
Now, Like others I have noticed comments by other company's or affiliates of company's claiming that this converter can't convert this or can't convert that. To me this says they are so worried about this software doing better then theirs that they must spam, rig votes and so forth.Very sad and pathetic I think.

having the same problem as #13 invalid license code it wont register!

#13 deathly. Please contact with Aimersoft via master[at]aimersoft.com

#6 hebelily. Aimersoft Video Converter do support android phone perfectly.

Please stop spamming here.

#10. Aimersoft Video Convert supports both HD and SD video convertings.

As usual, we have competitors spamming these comments with lies, in addition to pushing their products. Aimersoft Video Converter does support AAC and AC-3 audio, depending upon output format. Supports DVR-MS but not WTV.

Like so many offerings, the installation sucks, installing both Xvid and AC3Filter codecs globally, and it has the same incorrectly spelled context menu registry entry as other Aimersoft offerings.

People have been posting all sorts of nonsense about nVidia CUDA support. Aimersoft indicates which conversions can use CUDA. In general, it's the containers which are using H.264, which is the most commonly used implementation of CUDA transcoding. Netbooks and such are going to have crappy graphics cards which can't do much if anything with CUDA. The newest cards (nVidia Fermi line) have the best CUDA hardware.

For the people constantly whining and lying about ATI, tough. Hardware manufacturers necessarily have to do some software development, and nVidia has always done much better on that front. CUDA was available almost two years before Stream (beta CUDA SDK in February 2007 vs. Stream in December 2008). Three of the top five supercomputers in the world are using nVidia processors, none are using ATI. nVidia has had PhysX available for years. In a few months, high-performance tablet computers will be available using nVidia chips (purportedly much higher performance than iPads). The next version of Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 Pro for realtime encoding will use MainConcept H.264 CUDA-enabled encoders, not the version that also supports Stream. Oh, and the self-proclaimed video expert reviewer who's constantly posting completely false information and claimed that you can't encode VC-1, not only has that always been possible, but even the free version of Microsoft Expression Encoder will do it, along with capturing screen video, editing, etc. Nothing like the Pro version, but it's not bad for free.

I'm not going to say much else about Aimersoft Video Converter. A converter is a converter, it has a reasonable selection of formats with adjustable parameters, but it lacks some things which I would want, like WTV support, and installing AC3Filter is a deal-breaker for me.

Some general software-related things which may interest GOTD viewers:

Agnitum, a previous GOTD vendor, now has a free version of Outpost Security Suite which lacks some features of the Pro version.

WinAutomation has been posting updates.

StorageCraft ShadowProtect, my only recommended backup solution, has posted version 4.0.5 (ShadowProtect, ImageManager, and the ISO).

Microsoft says that all features of IE8 are still available in IE9, but that's only true under Windows 7, not Vista.

Intel Rapid Storage Technology 9.6 doesn't install correctly under Windows 7, at least the 64-bit version. You need to change the service to Automatic from Automatic (Delayed). Version 10.1 has so far only posted the drivers, which you need to manually install (Update Drivers, pointing to the extracted folder). All of the documentation everywhere says that my hardware supports RAID 5, but Rapid Storage Technology only offers me RAID 0, 1, and 10. Creating RAID volumes larger than the Intel RAID Option ROM supports works, you simply can't do anything from the ROM at startup.

There's a huge problem with S.M.A.R.T., which many people have run into. S.M.A.R.T. can incorrectly attribute an external condition, like high temperature, bad interface chips, bad data cables, etc., with the drive, and there's nothing you can do. I'm probably going to have to replace one of my new internal drives and use it as an external drive due to incorrect S.M.A.R.T. error codes from a bad data cable.

This is version 4.0 and the latest is 4.0.2 in which they solved the NVIDIA graphics Driver incompatibility.

So This version is not compatible with NVIDIA driver???

I am curious to try out this version. I must agree that the former version of Aimersoft HD Video Converter I used (GAOTD of nov. 2009) is one of the best video converters, with an outstanding output quality. I have used it for a long time as my favorite converter.

But this old version did not allow good conversions from Mpeg-TS-files (DVB-T recordings with my Hauppauge TV-card). In particular, the Audio/Video synchronisation of the resulting file was bad, and conversion speed was in thís case also very low(!). So I'll give this a new try to see if it now can handle also this files.

Hey GAOTD and publishers...
I have registered using the URL given in the text file along with the setup package.
I have also got they registration key code from the site. but the program isn't recognising the key.
Everytiime I try to register using the given key and my email, it says invalid username/ registration key.
Please fix the error asap!!!
need the software desperately

This version is 4.0.2...
24 July version was 4.0.0

What is the different between this and GAOTD's Aimersoft HD Video Converter given a few months ago?

Great software! The fastest and easiest in trimming MP4 format! Thanks.

#8 Naxilo - You may notice that all the products they review and award they are also selling. They seem to have an affiliate relationship with all the products they review. If that is how they pay the bills then that is their choice, but for a review site, it has to raise questions about the 10 selected products, and the lack of impartiality considering they have financial considerations in selecting the 10 best. It's not the best "in the world", but the best "we can sell you".

Rated as the #5 video converter in the world by Top Ten Reviews.
Link: http://video-converter-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
Though I would have given it a better rating, considering it's capabilities and functions.

good share for me and thanks for GOTD. i have download this video converter, and that is ok. but it do not support android phone. i want to put some video on android phone like Moto Droid. so i personally use pchand video converter. it can help me.

Good one, it would be nice if "adding sub titles to the video" function is included. That alone is missing

it works ok, it also support most video files but ouput video quality is badly for my ipad, ipod, iphone. so i like to use PCHand Video Converter, it is special designed for ipad, ipod, iphone and output good video.

Please read the information from Aimersoft Studio before installation:

Installation Guide:
1. Unzip the package you've downloaded and install the software;
2. Run the software you installed;
3. Click "Get Keycode" button, enter your e-mail address on the popup page to get keycode;
(Note: After entering your e-mail address, the licensed e-mail and registration code will be directly listed on the webpage)
4. Type the licensed e-mail and the keycode to register the software;
5. Then you can use all the functions of the software now.

To get information on how to use Aimersoft Video Converter, please refer to:
http://www.aimersoft.com/tutorial/video-converter.html

If you have any questions about this Video Converter, please feel free to contact our technical support directly at: support@aimersoft.com

The Good
* Straightforward and easy to use.
* Does HD and SD video conversions.
* Does audio conversions.
* Can rip audio from videos.
* Supports many input and output formats.
* Has many predefined output "profiles" for electronic gadgets, such as the mobile phones, the PSP, and the XBox 360.
* Allows users to do some basic video editing, such as crop, trim, add watermark, add effect, and add subtitles.
* Can automatically split output files based on size or time.
* Supports batch processing.
* Supports drag + drop.
* Users can merge videos together.
* Allows users to automatically shutdown the computer after conversion.
* Adds an entry into the right-click context menu for easy conversions.
* Supports DirectShow files.
* Supports NVIDIA CUDA technology.
* Supports multi-core CPUs.

The Bad
* Does not allow users the option to opt-out/remove the right-click context menu entry.

Free Alternatives
FormatFactory
iWisoft Video Converter

For final verdict, recommendations, and full review please click here.