HandBrake is a video converter for Windows, adopted from MacOS. Distributed under the GPL license, so anyone can use the program for free.
HandBrake features
Unlike conditionally free video converters that leave a watermark on videos or convert videos up to 30 seconds long, HandBrake will never ask users to upgrade to a paid version. Donation to developers is a voluntary thing, and you can do without it if you use the program for several years.
Despite the simple interface, the program works with the most popular video formats - MPEG, FLV, AVI and OGV. You can also use rare codecs, such as X.264, introduced by the video hosting site YouTube.
Main features of the program
- Convert video between popular video formats with no loss of quality;
- Full work with multicore processors (parallel encoding);
- Loss of quality compression for smaller files (e.g. for uploading video to the Internet if you have a slow connection);
- Separate settings for Web-optimized clips;
- Support for 32- and 64-bit OS;
- High stream processing speed.
Undocumented capability
Video bloggers who run their channels on the increasingly popular Viuly hosting service, face the problem that videos in MP4 format created in Sony Vegas can't be added to the site due to the mismatch between the codecs. The problem is solved quite easy: you just render the clip in AVI format and convert it to MP4 with HandBrake (if the uploading speed allows it, without losing quality).
The only "disadvantage" of the program is its English-language interface. However, this is not an obstacle for an experienced user: HandBrake interface is intuitive, so it is enough to correctly convert a clip once to memorize the sequence of actions.
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