Introduction

When I first got my PC it only had Windows Media Player which made it impossible to play any downloaded media files because Windows Media Player has such a limited amount of file formats that it supports. I used RealPlayer to play videos downloaded from YouTube in flv format and for other formats I downloaded VLC and GOM player. Recently I covered Apple’s new MacBook launch and I needed to download QuickTime so I could play Steve Jobs’ keynote address live from the Apple website. So I have five players on my PC!!

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There are just so many different video file formats out there. Not only are there different file formats, there are codecs, support for different players, portable media devices and gaming consoles to worry about.

I desperately wanted to streamline the whole thing so I went looking for an all-in-one video converter which is capable of converting video files between a wide range of formats.

Overview

Any Video Converter is a free, easy to use, all-in-one video converter, which specializes in converting video files to almost any format assigned by the user.

Any Video Converter is made by AnvSoft Inc., a multimedia software company better known for its multipurpose media tools and products such as DVD Slideshow Maker, Photo Flash Creator, DVD/video tools and Audio Converter programs.

Any Video Converter has a pro and a free version and is available for Microsoft Windows. It can be downloaded from AnvSoft’s website or from the Any Video Converter website itself. They have very recently upgraded to version 2.7 and the setup file is 13.6MB. The minimum requirement is a system that supports Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista. For MacBooks, AnvSoft has released a Mac version of Any Video Converter which is available at the price of US$39.95.

Input formats

AVI, ASF, MOV, RM, RMVB, FLV, MKV, MPG, 3GP, M4V, VOB, YouTube videos

Output formats

MP4, WMV, FLV, AVI, WAV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, 3GP, MPG (PAL or NTSC)

Any Video Converter can download videos directly from YouTube, Google Videos and Nico Video. Videos can also be captured from digital video cameras and saved on your computer. Any Video Converter can directly convert video from a digital camera into your selected output. You can of course convert video files on your hard drive as well, which is its primary purpose.

Interface

Any Video Converter has an easy to use graphical interface which is divided into four parts.
The window on the left side is the file panel which has three folders

• Source files: All files you have added for conversion are visible here.

• Converted files: In this section all the outputted files will be arranged in subfolders as per their output extension.

• Downloaded files: This folder will show any videos you have downloaded from YouTube, Google or Nico Video.

The middle window shows all videos added for format adjustment, those that have finished their conversion, plus the current stage of conversions or file downloads.

The upper left section is where you can play the video file before and after the conversion. It also has trimming options to trim the video (to get rid of credits or advertisements for example).