Converting mp4 to avi.??

[lozziloz]

I have an mp4 file which I wish to convert to .avi. I have no idea and am pretty simple, technically. So, please spoon feed me.

[linyx]

To achieve the most quality, you should use the original source. Either way staxrip will work to convert your file.

[komarovsky]

yes, you shouldn't encode files many times like this. you should encode from the original file. this will mean a better quality video and it probably won't take any longer.

if you can't encode the original, i can see where this might be going. it's best to look at the top of the page... second line. click the link and read it to avoid any trouble :)

[lozziloz]

Thank you both for your suggestions, but I am not left-brained enough to get what to do. I had hours of home videos shrank by a friend so that I could play them at my son's 21st on one disc. They won't play on my stand-alone player. He put them in mp4 but I know it took a long time and I thought rather than appear ungrateful I could find a quick easy magic way to make them playable. Alas, this is not to happen and I don't really want them to be of poor quality so I will go back to trying to figure out how to do it the long way. Thanks anyway.

[linyx]

They won't play on my stand-alone player. He put them in mp4 but I know it took a long time and I thought rather than appear ungrateful I could find a quick easy magic way to make them playable
Well try dvdflick (coz avi files arent exactly playable in most standalone players either), it will very easily convert the mp4 files to a dvd structure which will play in standalones and the quality won't be bad. When we say to use your original source, we mean that because if you are say converting a dvd, you want the best possible quality and it is usually far easier to just use the original; but in your case i don't think you will notice much loss of quality and this seems to be the easiest way.

[komarovsky]

Alas, this is not to happen and I don't really want them to be of poor quality so I will go back to trying to figure out how to do it the long way. Thanks anyway.

if you encode it at a high bitrate, the quality might be good enough for you, but it is still the not as good as encoding the originals. it depends on how much you care about quality and how high trhe quality of the MP4s is.

[setarip_old]

@lozziloz

Hi!

1) What is the format of your original home videos?

2) Please load the .MP4 into GSpot and post a screen capture back here.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Avidemux (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=126164) should be able to do what you want.
However MP4 and AVI are just Containers. You must decide on a Video and an Audio format too.
If you don't need to change the audio/video format, you can just re-mux from MP4 to AVI without any quality loss.
Not all A/V formats that can be stored in MP4 are suitable for AVI though...

[MMCauthor]

Message Deleted as Spam

If this is all you have to offer the forum, then go away.

[Buggle]

I am wondering if the question by the TS has been answered enough. Personally I think, if he really is a technically simpleton as he puts it, this is not the case.
Let me shed my light on this, as there are a few things you need to consider:

1. As I understand it, you want to have AVI files to play them on your standalone. That probably means you own a MPEG4 ASP capable device, aka DivX or Xvid capable. There can be many things those players accept and don't accept. You could look in to this (device manual). When you know what formats you can use, you will know what to do with the MP4 file.

2. As was put, MP4 is just a container: see it as the wrapping of the gift. AVI, or MKV for that matter, are as well. MP4 is a newer format and can hold all different kinds of formats, MPEG4 ASP (Xvid and DivX being the most widely known) and MPEG4 AVC (x264 and Nero Digital AVC for instance) for instance, whereas avi most of the time only contains MPEG4 ASP.
You will need to find out what the MP4 file contains. You can use MediaInfo for that: http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en , it gives more detailed information than Gspot in some cases (plus it is actively being maintained, which cannot be said about Gspot).

a. If it says Xvid or Divx for video and MP3 for audio is being used, you are good to go and can 'convert' the stuff directly through VirtualDubMod or AviDemux. If you need any help with that just let us know.

b. If however the contents are different (for instance MPEG4 AVC and AAC audo) you will have to re-encode the files. This is the tricky part. From a theoretical point of view, this will not be advised, since you will lose quality. From a practical point of view, it will be acceptable when you use higher quality settings. This means, for instance using a 160 bitrate for MP3 when the AAC file is around 100-120, and using a much larger bitrate for Xvid for the video.
The preferred way however in this case the way I see it is re-encode to DVD format (MPEG2), since (1) this is easier, (2) quality will be optimal (3) possible compatibility problems with the standalone are resolved. Of course this depends on the total length of the files (as a bitrate lower than ~2500 cannot be considered good enough in my eyes).

3. If the MP4 file was created with Nero Recode and the source contained subtitles, it might contain subtitles that cannot be read with any other application than Recode. As you probably do not have those this is not important, but for future reference, it's nice to know :).


I hope this helps. Cheers!

[ignes]

U can google Video converter, most of them can easily meet your needs.