Media Converter for Mac?

[EMILinator]

I am looking for a media converter (specifically .avi to .mp4) that simply changes the type of file (.avi , .mp4) WITHOUT drastically changing the file itself.

For instance, I used iSquint to convert a 700mb .avi file. I used the "Standard" option. The end result was a 900mb .mp4 file. Why the extra 200mb? I don't want it to change the quality of the file, I want it to be the same as it was before, just converted to .mp4.

I understand that the two (.avi and .mp4) are different, so i don't mind a minor difference in file size, but 200mb?! c'mon!

I simply want to change the file type, not the quality of the file itself.

 

[TheStu]

I am looking for a media converter (specifically .avi to .mp4) that simply changes the type of file (.avi , .mp4) WITHOUT drastically changing the file itself.

For instance, I used iSquint to convert a 700mb .avi file. I used the "Standard" option. The end result was a 900mb .mp4 file. Why the extra 200mb? I don't want it to change the quality of the file, I want it to be the same as it was before, just converted to .mp4.

I understand that the two (.avi and .mp4) are different, so i don't mind a minor difference in file size, but 200mb?! c'mon!

I simply want to change the file type, not the quality of the file itself.

Well, bearing in mind that anytime you convert it, you can expect to lose quality, if the only way to preserve the current quality level was to increase the file size with .mp4, then that is what it had to do.

 

[EMILinator]

ahhhh. okay.

what if i selected the Advanced option in iSquint,

what would the ideal settings be for a movie?

 

[TheStu]

ahhhh. okay.

what if i selected the Advanced option in iSquint,

what would the ideal settings be for a movie?

I honestly couldn't say since I do not usually convert my media once i have it. I find it easier to just adapt the player. So I installed Flip4Mac and Perian, and now Quicktime can play almost anything. Then, for the off one that it can't play, i installed VLC

 

[FuzzMop]

Have you tried FFMPEGX? It converts stuff and it's free! :O

I'm not sure if there is a drastic change between the size of the videos, but when I did with mine, in some cases, their sizes got smaller.

Here's a link: http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

 

[EMILinator]

I honestly couldn't say since I do not usually convert my media once i have it. I find it easier to just adapt the player. So I installed Flip4Mac and Perian, and now Quicktime can play almost anything. Then, for the off one that it can't play, i installed VLC

good idea.. i installed perian. im not sure i will need flip4mac just yet, but it'll be ready to download when i do need it.

thanks stu

 

[wordy]

.avi could be any number of encoding methods, some more optimized than others. When choosing your encoding method, you can set the bitrates (amount of data that's used to store each frame of video and sound) such that the resulting file will be your desired size.

Every encoding method differs though, so going by bitrates are your safest bet, because it's simply (bitrates per second) x (#of seconds) = filesize.