Converting AVI to MPEG2 - download software or buy??

[jonford]

Hi.
I have bought a Muvi HD PRo Gumball 3000 which films in 1080' but output is AVI. I am using Sony Vegas 8.0 and Adobe Premiere Pro to edit movies - both really struggle with the AVI (probably the computer!)
I have downloaded free shareware to convert to MPEG-2 (as soon as I use MPEG-2, the software edits with ease!) the shareware used is GUIFFMPEG. It converts the AVI very quickly and without adding watermark, however, as expected, the quality has changed a little - sends to 720 from original 1080i quality. Would I get better quality from an AVI-MPEG2 Convertor that I pay for? if so, can someone recommend one - dont mind paying as long as I know it will give better results (quality from GUIFFMPEG is still good for internet, but noticed a couple of small marks that arent on the original). One negative thing about GUIFFMPEG is that I can only convert one file at a time. When I use Panasonic's Photofun 5.1 to convert the videos from AVHD Lite to MPEG2, it converts all the selected at once

thanks for any advice

[lancecarr]

You could try Super (just Google it) and see how it converts the files.

Problem here really is that AVI is a wrapper file and is used for about 800 different file types!
Most likely the real designation of the files you have is MP4 or H.264.
You can download a free utility called G-spot (no, I am NOT joking!) and it will identify exactly what codec was used to create the file.

[kosmodamien]

Try VideoLobster!

Its main advantages are:
- Absolutely free;
- Supporting almost all known video and audio formats;
- There is an ability to set any options for all supported formats that makes the application a completely professional tool;
- There is an ability to apply different filters to video, perform crop and resize;
- Application has a wizard like interface; you only need to successively perform all steps for your project; Besides you always can return to any previous step;
- The application can be maximized filling the entire screen, so the whole screen area is used completely; the video player can be resized directly;
- The application interface can be translated to any language. Now translations for several languages are ready;
- The professional version of the application has an ability to overlay video with any watermarks such as text, images, pictures, geometric figures, etc.
http://www.videolobster.com