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{rw_text}Giveaway of the day for November 20, 2008 is Daniusoft Media Converter.
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Vista users must run Activate.exe as Administrator for it to register properly!
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- Very easy to use.
- You can convert to almost any format.
- Program can shut down computer automatically if you want to leave conversion over night.
- Can strip aways DRMs
- You can extract audio from videos.
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- Way too few input formats supported.
- Must restart computer after installation.
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When I first downloaded this program, I expected it to be a full video converter, being able to convert .3gp, .flv, .avi, etc. files. When I actually used the program, I found out the input formats that are supported are very limited:
To get more support input formats, you have the purchase the professional version of this program for $9. It may actually be worth getting the professional version because they only major complaint I have against this program is the limited support of input formats.
Anyway, if you are a Vista user, be sure to run Activate.exe as Administrator if you want to register the software properly. After you are down installing DMC, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Honestly, I find this to be very primitive, but what can you do?
The program itself is very easy to use. When you open the program for the first time, you will see that the instructions on how to use it are written right onto the program. You will see this screen:
To add a video or audio file, click “Add”. Browse to the file, and click “Open”. Once you have your audio or video file added, you can chose what output format you want. Although the directions on the program say go to “Settings”, you do not have to. All you have to do is chose your desired output format from the little tabs at the bottom. If you are converting an audio file, you will need to mess with the “Convert Audio to:” tab. If you are converting a Video file, you only need to mess with the “Convert Video to:” tab. Don’t worry, the program will automatically detect what you are converting and use those settings.
The supported output formats are vast:
Audio – .m4a, .mp3., ac3, .aac, .wma, .wav, .oog, .ape, .mka.
Video – Too many to list. Literally any format you can think of. There are also predefined formats for iPod, iPhone, PSP, Cell Phones, etc.
One interesting feature I liked about this software is that you can rip the audio off video files. To add this, just “Add” the video you want the audio from. Then, do not go to the “Convert Audio to:” tab, because that is for audio files, go to the “Convert Video to:” tab, Common Audio -> Your desired output format. Hit “Start”, wait, profit.
Another good feature I liked with this program is the ability to Shutdown the computer after you are done converting a file. What this means is that if you have a really big audio/video file that you do not want to convert while you are using the computer, you can leave it to convert overnight, and if you check the little box near the bottom that says “Shutdown computer…”, the program will shutdown your computer after your files are done converting, thus saving you energy.
If you are savvy with these type of things, you can mess around with specific audio/video settings. If you are not, do not worry; just choose your desired output format and convert – the default settings should be sufficient for most people.
These are what the setting windows look like (view image to see what options you can mess around with):
Video Settings
Audio Settings
The most interesting feature of this software to people is probably the DRM ripping. Unfortunately, I do not have any DRM files that I know of (no I do not pirate them either =P) so I cannot really test this out for you. But just know that the program claims to be able to rip DRMs off files.
I tested this program out with one .wmv video (if you cannot view these files, Right Click -> Save Location/Link As):
Converted to .MP4 (MPEG-4) Format.
Audio from .WMV ripped to .MP3 format.
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The last thing I would like to point out is that when you are converting from one format to another (audio or video), the size of the original file and the size of the end output file may vary by a significant amount. Just be sure to note that.
Free Alternatives:
With Super, you can literally convert any audio/video file to any audio/video file. The interface is a bit overwhelming at first, but if you learn to navigate it, Super will be your best friend. The only problem is, I do not think Super works properly on Vista. I keep getting continual errors.
You will have to navigate a few pages from the link above to get the the actual download link (keep looking at the bottom of the pages). The pages you have to navigate are actually pretty informative, but if you do not feel like going through all that, this is the direct link to the download.
You can convert your files via this online website. They will convert your files then email you a link to them.
This video converter supports multiple input/output formats. It works well and is really easy to use but the only problem is I think it is buggy. There are quite a few input formats it claims to support, but they do not work properly.
Any Audio Converter easily extracts audio from video and converts audio between popular formats, such as wma to mp3, mp4 to mp3, mp3 to aac , wma to mp3, with lossless sound quality in super fast conversion speed. Any Audio Converter is designed for extracting audio from video and converting audio between popular formats, such as WMV, MP4, WAV, WMA, OGG, AAC, MP3, M4A, and MP2.
-Download.com
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(if you cannot view these files, Right Click -> Save Location/Link As)
Audio from .WMV ripped to .MP3 format.
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Any Video Converter is an all-in-one video converting freeware with easy-to-use graphical interface, fast converting speed, and excellent video quality. It can convert almost all video formats including DivX, XviD, MOV, RM, RMVB, MPEG, VOB, DVD, WMV, and AVI to MPEG-4 movie format for PSP or other portable video device, MP4 player, or Smartphones.
-Download.com
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*Does not have .3gp output format =(
(if you cannot view these files, Right Click -> Save Location/Link As)
FormatFactory is a multifunctional media converter. Provides functions below: all to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF; all to MP3//WMA/MMF/AMR/OGG/M4A/WAV; all to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO; rip DVD to video file, Rip Music CD to audio file; MP4 files support; Pod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format; Source files support RMVB. FormatFactory’s features: support converting all popular video,audio,picture formats to others; repair damaged video and audio file; reducing Multimedia file size; support iphone, ipod multimedia file formats; picture converting supports Zoom, Rotate/Flip, tags; DVD Ripper; supports 35 languages.
-Download.com
PMnet Verdict: DMC is an excellent converter. I honestly would suggest buying the professional version for $9 while you can, especially if you have lots of DRM, if you need the extra format support. Otherwise, Any Audio Converter + Any Video Converter or FormatFactory will do everything DMC does without the DRM stripping – they are excellent programs and they are always free. I personally suggest FormatFactory since it is accomplishes it all in one program as opposed to two.
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