Any Video Converter 6.1.9

After using it somehow regularly for a few years now, I still find Any Video Converter one of the best free video re-encoding tools available out there. If you’re looking for an ultra-comprehensive video editor, converter, downloader, ripper, etc., you should try the Ultimate edition or simply try somewhere else. However, if all you need is fast, reliable, and customizable video conversions with support for nearly all known video and audio formats and a set of interesting extra features, AVC won’t disappoint you.

If only it would allow you to assign a different output profile to each item on the conversion list, this conversion tool would be close to perfection. Other than this, AVC comes with all the bells and whistles of more sophisticated commercial converters and – most importantly – it has never failed me yet. It offers you some basic yet interesting video editing features, the option to download and convert videos from YouTube and hundreds of other sites, a simple yet efficient DVD authoring tool to burn your converted videos to disc, a built-in media player, an impressive collection of codec- and device-based output profiles, subtitle support, and even the option to tweak the default settings so that the converted files fit all your requirements.

I’ve used it to extract the audio from existing video files in lossy (MP3) and lossless formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, etc.) and – of course – to shrink large video files into more portable formats or into a format that allows me to create my custom DVDs. The possibility of downloading video files from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Dailymotion, or Metacafe is an extra I really appreciate. It works like a charm, and I like combining this task with a bulk audio extraction process that will allow me to listen to my favorite videos while on the move. The conversions processes are usually very fast regardless of the number of items on the list, and the resulting files are always as expected. You can apply a few edits to your videos before converting them to the desired format, such as clipping out the parts you don’t need, correcting the contrast, brightness, and saturation levels, or adding some creative video effects to your home videos. You can preview them using either the small reference screen on the program’s main interface or its built-in media player, which will allow you to watch your videos even in full-screen mode if you wish.

If you don’t like surprises when it comes to transcoding media, Any Video Converter is probably the safest free conversion tool you’ll ever use. Except for some hints in the shape of ads that appear every now and then to lure you to upgrade to the app’s Ultimate edition and a pale try to make you install some unwanted software tool, AVC will stay quietly on your desktop and will perform always as expected – sometimes, even above your expectations. You will find no annoying limitations in the amount of minutes or files you can convert – the main difference between this free tool and the Ultimate edition refers to new functionality that only becomes available when your purchase the corresponding license, such as a more sophisticated DVD authoring tool, direct DVD, BD ripping and conversion, or video recording. I can wholeheartedly recommend its free companion to anyone looking for a video transcoder that is totally free, fully functional, and 100% reliable.