Take, for example, ffmpeg. It’s pretty much the top of the heap when it comes to video and audio conversion. But it’s a command line tool that requires you to remember a number of options. Even WinFF, a graphical front end for ffmpeg, isn’t all that user friendly.

But what can you do if you want to convert a video to, say, upload to a video sharing site or to fit on to a mobile device? And do it quickly and easily? Give Arista a look.

Installing Arista

Before you do anything, check in your package manager to make sure that you have the packages that Arista needs installed on your computer. You can view a list here. If you have a relatively recent Linux distribution, you should have all of the dependencies installed.

Then, download the archive containing the latest release of the software. Extract the contents of the archive that you downloaded, and then open a terminal window. Navigate to the folder in which you extracted the archive and then run the following command:

sudo python setup.py install

Once Arista is installed, you can launch it either by selecting it from a menu (in Ubuntu, for example, select Applications -> Sound & Video -> Arista Transcoder) or by running the command arista-gtk from the command line.

Converting Your First Video

Doing that is a simple, four-step process. On the right side of the Arista window, click Source. Navigate to the directory containing the video that you want to convert then click Open.

Next, select an output type from the Devices list. The output is usually a device or a platform or a type of software – for example, a Web browser, an iPod, or a video sharing site. Arista comes with a few devices that you can choose, but you can also download others. More on this in a moment.

After that, select an option from the Preset menu. A preset is the video format to which you want to convert the video — like Flash video, WebM, or H.264. Presets are linked to devices, as you’ll see in a moment.

Finally, click Add to Queue. You’ll be asked for a file name for the converted video and a folder in which to save it. You can keep the default (which is the name of the original video, but with a new extension) or change the name and folder. Click Save. Once you do that, the conversion begins.

Depending on the size of the source file, the conversion can take a few seconds to several minutes.

Expanding Arista’s Capabilities

As mentioned a few paragraphs ago, Arista comes with a handful of output settings called presets. Each preset encompasses a device or platform and the video formats that the device or platform support. You can get 40+ presets that really give you a lot of flexibility. Like what? high definition video for YouTube or Vimeo, Android and BlackBerry phones, various handheld devices, and DVD players.

So, how do you add those presets? Got here and download the ones you want – say, the preset for Vimeo HD. Then, in Arista, select File -> Install Device Preset. Find the file that you downloaded, then click Open.

You can now select the preset from the Device list in the Arista window.

If you want to create your own presets, you can do it online. You don’t need to be a programmer to do it, but you will need a basic knowledge of video to do the job.

Conclusion

Compared to other video conversion tools for the Linux desktop, Arista is easy to use and does a great job. It’s fast, flexible, and is easy to extend with a growing number of presets. If you need to quickly convert video files, then Arista is a great choice.

Photo credit: bury-osiol

Imagine that you are going to convert an avi video files to mp4 format so that you can sync it with your iPhone and watch it on the go. Now, if you have the subtitles files, wouldn’t it be great if you can embed it in the converted video as well?

XviD4PSP is a video encoder/decoder that allows you to convert your video files from one format to another. Originally created to convert video for PSP, now it is able to convert video for a wide variety of devices, include iPhone, PS 3, Xbox 360, Blackberry, DVD player etc. There is also a subtitles feature where you can embed your subtitle file in the video.

Let’s get started.

Download XviD4PSP here

Windows XP users need to install the Micosoft .Net framework 3.0. Vista users need to turn the UAC off or set it to run in quiet mode. Here are some ways that you can turn UAC off without compromising your security.

Once you have installed the framework, run the Xvid4PSP installer. When it comes to the Choose Components page, make sure you select all the components.

Launch Xvid4PSP

Open your video files (Click on the Open button in the menubar)

The left pane is where all the configuration options are situated. If you are proficient enough, you can click the ‘E‘ button beside the dropdown to configure your own setting. For the rest, the preset options are good enough.

Under the Format dropdown bar, select MP4 iPhone or Touch.

Under the Video encoding dropdown bar, you can choose between Turbo, Extreme or Ultra. If you want to have a fast encoding process, pick Turbo. If the video quality matters a lot to you and you don’t mind to wait double the time for the encoding to finish, select Extreme or Ultra.

Next, you have to prepare your subtitle file. Subtitle files usually come with a .srt file extension. There are always numerous version of subtitle files for a particular movie, so you may want to check first before you start the encoding. If you are looking for a subtitle file, there are plenty of websites that offer free subtitle files for download. You just need to google for it.

On the menubar of Xvid4PSP, click on Subtitles-> Add. Navigate to the directory where your subtitle file is kept and select it.

To check if the subtitle file is correct for your movie, click on the Play button to start playback the video. You will be able to see if the subtitle matches the timeline of the show.

When you are done, click on the Encode button on the menubar. A window will prompt you to select the location to save your file. Navigate to the folder you want to save the file and click Save. The conversion will now start.

The conversion process will take a few hours. You might want to sit back and relax or go for a coffee break. When you are back, you should see your newly converted video at the folder you have specified.