200GB of avi's to convert :(

lumpeh · 10 Feb 2011 at 18:35

Well mostly avi's anyway! They need changing into wmv's for a streaming server at work. Any ideas what would be the most practical tool to do this in bulk?

kidloco · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:39

Handbrake allows you to queue files up. That might be worth a look. It's free to.

kae2 · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:56

Handbrake is great at this

PhillyDee · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:00

+1 for Handbrake!
I did all my movies to ipod format with this.
You do have to select every single title you want to convert though. I wish you could drag and drop, or just do a whole folder. The output file naming is handy too!

GSXRMovistar · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:04

+1 for handbrake (assuming it does WMV)

PhillyDee said:
+1 for Handbrake!
I did all my movies to ipod format with this.
You do have to select every single title you want to convert though. I wish you could drag and drop, or just do a whole folder. The output file naming is handy too!

You need this:- http://handbrakebatchencode.codeplex.com/releases/view/36793

Saved me so much time/hassle.

theheyes · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:20

I don't think handbrake will output wmv. What server software is it?

lumpeh · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:39

Going by the details at least, Handbrake doesn't appear to do wmvs. Not surprising really as most folk don't want this format

Its 'windows media services 2008' apparently. Its not me doing it - we have an intern having a go and hes not quite sure how besides doing them one at a time.

I've found some software called 'Prism' that should do the job. I'm not expecting super quality but then a lot of these were originally vhs sources done by the reprographics dept long ago.

Thanks for all your replies!

mdb08 · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:53

You can use WinAVI which is also excellent at doing this kind of stuff, it also allows you to queue files and the auto shut-down when complete

Sirrel Squirrel · 11 Feb 2011 at 07:32

Give this a go, it's the new version of Windows Media Encoder, I have no idea if it does batches though; http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Encoder4_Overview.aspx

mothermachine · 11 Feb 2011 at 08:36

Adobe Media Encoder comes free with anything CS5 so you might already have it

works great and can batch.

El_Watcher · 11 Feb 2011 at 10:50

Super should do what you need.

Simian · 11 Feb 2011 at 13:19

El_Watcher said:
Super should do what you need.

Yep it does... and you can Drag n Drop files!!.. :cool:

TheGedi · 11 Feb 2011 at 17:11

mothermachine said:
Adobe Media Encoder comes free with anything CS5 so you might already have it works great and can batch.

Really efficient renderer as well! Even on my Sub £300 build for every 5 minutes of 720p video it renders in 4 minutes

K.C. Leblanc · 11 Feb 2011 at 17:58

Simian said:
Yep it does... and you can Drag n Drop files!!..

The only problem is the truly awful web site.

Dunks · 12 Feb 2011 at 12:53

K.C. Leblanc said:
The only problem is the truly awful web site.

Yeah, because when choosing a batch encoder, one of the main priorities is how good their website is, right?

K.C. Leblanc · 12 Feb 2011 at 13:05

Dunks said:
Yeah, because when choosing a batch encoder, one of the main priorities is how good their website is, right?

Nope, but I don't bother recommending the software to n00bs. Because I know they'll end up downloading the AVS junk instead.

Craig321 · 12 Feb 2011 at 13:55

El_Watcher said:
Super should do what you need.

That looks really good. Am I the only one struggling to find the download link though? Found one by clicking through about 5 pages from the link above, but when I try install it says it's obsolete.

I downloaded the one that it shows you in the download guide, but it's obsolete and won't install!

You know you need to re-do your website when you need a guide to show people how to find the link

ReaVerUK · 12 Feb 2011 at 14:16

Format Factory may be worth a mention. Does everything i need it to anyway

ecksmen · 13 Feb 2011 at 00:17

lumpeh said:
Going by the details at least, Handbrake doesn't appear to do wmvs. Not surprising really as most folk don't want this format

Its 'windows media services 2008' apparently. Its not me doing it - we have an intern having a go and hes not quite sure how besides doing them one at a time.

I've found some software called 'Prism' that should do the job. I'm not expecting super quality but then a lot of these were originally vhs sources done by the reprographics dept long ago.

Thanks for all your replies!

I've not done it, but I'd be shocked if it didn't natively support .avi files. FWIW