At a Glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
Extremely versatileCan convert from and to any video format, fastAlso pulls video from the Web
Cons
Drilling down to more complicated conversions isn’t easy.
Our Verdict
Free Video Converter to AVI, WMV, MP4, MKV, SWF, 3GP, DVD, MP3, iPod, YouTube
Freemake Video Converter (and its sister product, Freemake Video Downloader) are products I use regularly, because they do specific things very well. In the case of Freemake Video Converter, that thing is converting videos from one format to another quickly and easily. The fact that it’s free doesn’t hurt, either. There aren’t even any ads, popups or watermarks.
Freemake Video Converter’s specialties are converting to many formats, including AVI, MKV, and mobile formats like 3GP and MP4. It can also make files suitable for burning to a DVD or Blu-Ray, and even burn the files itself.
Even since version 2.2, Freemake claims greater accuracy, speed and stability, thanks to DirectX video acceleration technology. An eleven-minute MP4 home video, converted to MKV, took 8 minutes–it’s difficult to tell if this was noticeably faster than the last version.
Freemake Video Converter also shares some features with the aforementioned Freemake Video Downloader, which is the ability to paste a URL from numerous sources, such as YouTube. The app will then automatically pull the video from there and convert it into any offline format. Handy, that. (Note that although previous versions, reviewed here, supported downloading from popular video site Hulu, new security on Hulu’s site currently disables video downloaders from accessing its content.)
Freemake Video Converter also includes rudimentary tools for editing video prior to conversion, such as cutting scenes and so on. These features aren’t as extensive as professional video editing software like Final Cut Pro, but FVC will get the job done in a pinch.
Free, fast, converts to and from almost any video content known to man and burns DVDs and Blu-Ray. Freemake Video Converter is highly recommended, and only gets better with each new version.
