Need to convert AVI, MPG, MOV video files to FLV or SWF format – but don’t want to pay for a utility? I was recently asked by a client to upload a number of Quicktime (.mov) videos to his website. In order to do this I needed to convert the Quicktime files to the Flash FLV format. I’m pleased to say that I was able to find a free utility that did an excellent job.

During my search for a suitable utility, I came across a number of programs that cost between US$20 to US$50, and then I came across Free Video to Flash Convertor from DVDVideoSoft.com. In addition to Quicktime files, the program also supports AVI, MPEG, WMV, mobile files, DVR-MS, and AMV formats, and will output to both FLV and SWF formats.

So what was the catch?

Well, there is a catch, but not really. Let me explain what I mean.

The publisher of this software is very keen for you to install the Ask search toolbar. It’s so keen for you to install the toolbar that during the installation process it asks you to tick the following:

“I accept the license agreement and want to install and enable the Ask toolbar.”

The interesting thing is that even if you don’t tick this box, you can still install and use the software – so the program really is free, as claimed by the publisher.

According to the publisher, the Ask Toolbar is offered by default because:

“DVDVideoSoft is sure that its users will enjoy and benefit from such a great value-added bonus. The Ask Toolbar makes searching the web easier and even includes links to DVDVideoSoft’s web pages, which always have useful information and tutorials for DVDVideoSoft users.”

That may be the case, but I suspect a second reason may be that there is a commercial relationship between  DVDVideoSoft and Ask. But that’s fine, because you don’t need to install the Ask Toolbar, even though it appears that you do.

The actual program itself is excellent. It ran very quickly on my elderly Pentium 4 computer, and it did the conversions flawlessly. It’s also very easy to use as you can see in the screen shot, below:

There are a number of different preset settings for output quality, but you can edit these settings if you have special requirements.

One thing though, when I tried to run the program for the first time, I got a “Class not registered” error. Fortunately I was quickly able to find a solution on the DVDVideoSoft website. I didn’t experience this problem on a second computer that I installed this software on.

The publisher also offers a number of other free video and audio conversion utilities, YouTube software, and DVD burning and ripping software.

Overall, I’m really impressed by this software (given it was free), and will be checking out some of the other titles available when the need arises.

Related:

Entry was posted on Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 4:20 pm under Online video, Software.

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
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