Avidemux helps get video files into the right format

movie thingyIt's a sad fact of life than not all video formats are created equal. You can't even be sure a video will play on your computer or portable device by checking its file type, because video files consist of two parts: container (which determines the file type) and codec. Both need to be supported by your media player in order for the video to play.

How can you fix problems with video so it will play on a specific device? The answer lies with Avidemux. It's a simple, yet very powerful, video processing program that you can use to fix problems with movies that need to be resized, re-encoded or have sound-related issues.

To fix a video file, launch Avidemux and choose File > Open. Browse to the video file that you want to convert. If it's an MPEG or DVD file, the program may need to index it first. Once open, Select the codec that you want to convert the file to from the drop down list. Xvid is a good format as the resulting video will play in many media players and has a good level of compression. Now do the same for the audio. If in doubt, choose MP3 (lame) because it plays back in a wide range of players.

A good way to reduce the size of the video file is to reduce its resolution by shrinking it. Click Filters under Video and choose MPlayer resize. Click the add button. Enter the picture dimensions you want and click OK. You can add other filters at this stage. Use the A and B markers on the timeline to select the bit of video you want to convert or leave it clear to change the whole file. Choose File > Save > Save video and provide the full file name including the extension that you want click Ok to start converting.

You can also use Avidemux, along with an audio editing program like Audacity to fix audio problems on a video. Start by stripping the audio. You'll need the video file available on your hard drive before you can tweak its audio. Now launch Avidemux, open the video file and choose Audio > Save.

Once saved open Audacity and import your audio. Select the part you want to alter and apply an effect like Effect > Normalize. Export the sound from Audacity using File > Export as MP3. Back in Avidemux choose Audio > Main Track > External MP3 and browse to your fixed audio. Save the resulting video file and, hey presto, you've got a working video file.

Avidemux is an open-source download for Windows, Mac and Linux. A separate 64-bit build is also available for Windows 64-bit users.

6 Responses to Avidemux helps get video files into the right format

  1. Pingback: Convertir formatos de vídeo | Malavida Blog

© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.