What is the current easiest and free video file conversion software

[episodic]

Problem: Older computer I don't have any authority to update. Newer panasonic camera. I need something that will take the video clips saved by the newer camera and convert them to a file format readable by the older Windows Movie Maker. Bonus points for super easy. Needs to be free, as well.

 

[MontyAC]

What are the formats?

 

[Bubbaleone]

STOIK Video Converter Free Edition

 

[gsaldivar]

http://handbrake.fr/details.php

 

[smitbret]

Ripbot264

 

[Diogenes2]

I was going to say Handbrake , but I don't think for Moviemaker ..

That Stoik looks promising..

 

[zokudu]

What is the camera saving the movies as? I tend to find handbrake overkill because whenever I use it it reencodes the video which takes forever (I am willing to admit I might be doing something wrong here).

If it is just a container format you cannot open then remuxing it is a better option. The issue is that I have not really found a great 1 step remuxing setup. For instance to go h.264 mp4 to h.264 avi it takes 3 programs, which is a pain but you don't lose any quality from having to reencode.

So what container and video format is the camera recording in and what is the older pc setup? XP? Any installed codecs?

 

[Diogenes2]

The OP said old " Moviemaker ".. It is very limited in the codecs it supports..

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308464

While there are a lot of formats listed, there are a lot of caveats, like:

Note The MPEG2 format has several codecs that are not supported by Windows Movie Maker. Even if you have downloaded and installed these codecs on your computer, files in the MPEG2 format may not work in Windows Movie Maker or may cause other problems. Converting the MPEG2 format to another compatible format may work for most MPEG2 files. However, some MPEG2 codecs include copy protection schemes that will prevent you from converting the file.

That's just one example of limitations.

A modern camera is probably not going record in any supported format.. It will probably be some kind of HD, which will have to be converted to .wma to assure you can use it in Moviemaker...

 

[Iron Woode]

just get http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

easy and simple.

 

[Diogenes2]

just get http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

easy and simple.

Seems to work OK in Win7, but a converted .mts file from a HD camera would not work in XP with Moviemaker..

Converted to .AVI, .MPG & .WMV ..