Best free(?) audio/video conversion software?

[grebgonebad]

Hi all,

As the title suggests, I'm looking for the best (preferably free) audio and video conversion software, that supports a wide variety of formats. I'm currently doing some work for a client and they're trying to send some of their customers some audio files that exceed the 25mb limit for sending via email. Therefore I'm looking to convert/compress said files. Currently they're in the .m4a file format and I want to convert them into .mp3 or .wav? Obviously I could simply use an online converter, but by the sounds of it this is going to become a pretty regular thing so I'd like a dedicated piece of software instead?

Thanks in advance for any replies guys!

 

[DookieDraws]

Why can't they simply upload those files to one of the many free cloud hosting services, then share a link for you to download them? And I say no to converting to .wav files. Those files can be very large, so .mp3 is the way to go for smaller file size.

I have used these programs in the past, and they work really well. http://www.freemake.com Just pay attention when installing any of the Freemake software, it will try to install other programs.

UPDATE: Freemake places a watermark on your videos when using the free version of their video converter. I haven't used this program in a long time, so I guess things have changed since then. Sorry about that.

 

[grebgonebad]

Why can't they simply upload those files to one of the many free cloud hosting services, then share a link for you to download them? And I say no to converting to .wav files. Those files can be very large, so .mp3 is the way to go for smaller file size.

I have used these programs in the past, and they work really well. http://www.freemake.com Just pay attention when installing any of the Freemake software, it will try to install other programs.

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately at this time uploading to an online hosting service is nonviable (for reasons too numerous to list), but this is definitely a future solution I'm working to implement.

I'll give Freemake a try as suggested, and thanks for the heads up about third party installations. I can't tell you how sick I am of trying to dodge those.

 

[DookieDraws]

Well, after reading their website, it appears that Freemake now includes a watermark on videos that you convert with their free version- so I do not recommend that anymore. Sorry about that, but things have changed since I last used it. Here's a link that you may find helpful: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/499-audio-video-conversion-tool-free-download.html Looks like a good start. And Handbrake would be the one I'd give a try. It's been around for years and pretty popular.

And yes, pay close attention when installing any software, especially "free" software.

 

[grebgonebad]

Ahh, okie dokie. No worries. I'll take a read through that page you linked, many thanks.

I think failing that I'll just speak to my client about rolling out an online hosting service sooner rather than later. It looks like a temporary solution may simply be too time consuming.

 

[DookieDraws]

You're welcome! Glad to help, bud.

 

[cryoburner]

Handbrake can be great for video conversion, but it's not really for audio formats.

I'll often just use VLC Media Player's "Convert / Save" tool for converting audio files, but the interface isn't particularly straightforward. Both tools are free and open source though.

Just keep in mind that when converting to another compressed audio format like MP3, AAC or OGG, there will be some amount of quality loss, though that should be nearly unnoticeable if you keep the bit-rate set high enough. The larger the bit-rate, the larger the file, so you might have to experiment a bit with how high you can set the bit-rate while keeping the resulting file under the limit. Of course, if your work requires the file to not lose any quality, then you'll probably need to leave the file in its original format, or convert it to a lossless format like FLAC or wav, though that probably won't result in a smaller file size. In that case, you would have to find another way to host the file online, and just provide a link to where it can be downloaded in the email.

 

[grebgonebad]

Hey, just wanted to make an update. After a conference with my current customer they've agreed to simply share audio and video via an online hosting service. With that in mind I'm going to select DookieDraws' first comment as best the solution, but I thank everyone who contributed. This is why I come here. =)

 

[DookieDraws]

Hey, just wanted to make an update. After a conference with my current customer they've agreed to simply share audio and video via an online hosting service. With that in mind I'm going to select DookieDraws' first comment as best the solution, but I thank everyone who contributed. This is why I come here. =)

Thanks for the update. And yes, that seems like the best option for y'all. Much less trouble doing it that way.

Best of luck.

 

[grebgonebad]

Thanks very much! By the sounds of things my client is going to be investing in a server before long, so a permanent (possibly) Linux based hosting service will be available soon. In the mean time they've agreed to use One Drive (much to my personal objection, but that's neither here nor there). Anyway, I really do appreciate your help and advice. =)

 

[DookieDraws]

Thanks very much! By the sounds of things my client is going to be investing in a server before long, so a permanent (possibly) Linux based hosting service will be available soon. In the mean time they've agreed to use One Drive (much to my personal objection, but that's neither here nor there). Anyway, I really do appreciate your help and advice. =)

I sent you a PM before reading your last post. I didn't know if you had already found a cloud service or not to use. OneDrive is also great. I use it as well. I use several free services for multiple backups, just in case a service were to shut down.

Again, best of luck with everything.