Idiot Proof Video Converter

This is a video converter specifically designed for people who want to deal with as few details as possible.  I don’t want to add too many advanced options to this program, even at the cost of flexibility.  I will do my best to keep the GUI as simple and stream-lined as possible, without any advertisements.

The project is hosted in Google Code as an open source project.  I could really use the help adding support for more devices or more input types.  If you’re willing to help me add features to this application, shoot me an email to anthony.mason1@gmail.com (you’ll need a gmail account I believe to use Google Code) I can add you as a contributor.

First super-early-beta is out!

NOTE:  You need the .Net 3.5 framework for the application to work.  You can download it here.

Basic Features:

  • Browse your folder hierachy for video files
  • Choose your subtitle track(for soft-subs in an MKV file)
  • Choose your audio track
  • Choose your default Audio and Subtitle Language in the Settings menu
  • Choose your default Target Device in the Settings menu
  • Choose to show network folders or not in the Settings menu
  • Change the output file name
  • Delete or Move rows Up or Down in the queue

Supported Input:

  • MKV (Matroska)
  • AVI
  • MP4

Supported Output Devices:

  • iPhone (MP4)
  • iPod Touch (MP4)

Latest Changes:

  • Move a file up or down in the queue
  • Delete a file from the queue
  • Added iPod Touch as a target Device (since its the same as an iPhone)
  • Fixed several bugs
  • Updated Installer
  • Added “Converted Videos” folder to Install Directory if no Output Directory is chosen
  • Added support for AVI and MP4 input files
  • Changed the application icon
  • Couple of bug fixes that helped H264 MKV files convert accurately
  • Added saving of jobs if you close IPVC

Planned Features:

  • Add support for OGG files
  • Add support for Xbox 360 and PS3 as output devices
  • Add support for PSP as an output device
  • Allow for custom subtitles (.srt)
  • Have files for iPod or iPhone automatically register with iTunes
  • Add Video Quality setting (Good, Better, and Best — hiding things like bitrate from the user)

Features I would like, but may not necessary get to:

  • Support for iPod and iPod Nano (I don’t have these, so can’t test them)
  • Support for Zune (again, don’t have one)
  • Support for DS and Wii (I need to figure out how video works on these devices)
  • Add option to encode to H264 for iPhone instead of MPEG4
  • Automatically extract and use the font contained in an MKV file
  • Include multiple fonts, let the user choose for subtitles
  • Support DVD ripping / conversion (not sure how much work is involved here)

Download:

For 32-bit Windows:

http://ipvconverter.googlecode.com/files/IPVConverterSetupx86.exe

For 64-bit Windows:

http://ipvconverter.googlecode.com/files/IPVConverterSetupx64.exe

Source Code:

http://code.google.com/p/ipvconverter/source/browse/

18 Responses

  1. LonelyTV, on October 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 pm Said:

    I’m having some issues getting “Idiot Proof Video Converter” to start. So far on three machines the program has failed to start. I get an error box saying “ipconverter has encountered a problem” … any idea what could be causing this? I’m running it on XP Sp 2 and 3 with the .net 3.5 framework installed.

  2. abmason, on October 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 pm Said:

    You made me realize I never tested the app on a virgin (non-development) machine. I got ahold of a machine with no development tools on it and am trying it out now, and I’m also building a new machine Monday, so I should have the issue fixed by the middle of next week, if not much sooner.

  3. abmason, on October 24th, 2008 at 12:36 am Said:

    Ok, the issue seems to be dependency hell. This app uses SQL Server CE 3.5, and virgin machines don’t have the dll’s the app needs, so its crashing. I tried installing the SQL Server CE 3.5 Runtime on a fresh machine, but that hasn’t worked. Soon as I figure out the best way to include the missing dll’s and get it working, I’ll make a new installer.

  4. abmason, on October 24th, 2008 at 12:41 am Said:

    Nevermind! I’m an idiot. I installed the mobile version, not the desktop version, thats the problem. Until I get a new installer made, download either SSCERuntime-ENU-x64.msi or SSCERuntime-ENU-x86.msi (most likely the x86) for now to get you up and running from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DC614AEE-7E1C-4881-9C32-3A6CE53384D9&displaylang=en#filelist

  5. abmason, on October 27th, 2008 at 4:51 pm Said:

    Ok, there are now two installers. Would you mind trying it on your machine and letting me know if its working for you? Use x86 if you’re running 32 bit Vista / XP and x64 if you’re using 64 bit Vista / XP

    http://ipvconverter.googlecode.com/files/IPVConverterSetupx86.exe

    http://ipvconverter.googlecode.com/files/IPVConverterSetupx64.exe

  6. LonelyTV, on November 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 am Said:

    Thanks for the updates. However, I still haven’t had any luck with getting the program to run. It ran _once_ on Windows XP Pro after I installed the SQL Server CE 3.5 Runtime since then I can’t get it to run. I tried it on Vista Home as well as a virtualization of XP Pro. With the virtualization the program doesn’t even attempt to start while under Vista it immediately gives me a window stating that “ipconverter has stopped working”.

  7. LonelyTV, on November 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 am Said:

    Okay, I got it working on Windows XP Professional again. Apparently, it reverted back to before I had installed the SQL runtimes.

    So to recap, it runs on Windows XP Professional (and I assume Home) only. It does not run on Vista Home Premium or virtualized XP under Parallels. All of these operating systems are the 32-bit versions.

    I’ll see how the program actually holds up over the evening. I will let you know if I run into anything else.

  8. LonelyTV, on November 3rd, 2008 at 4:20 pm Said:

    I’ve got a question about how IPVC handles subtitles inside the MKV. It seems that it uses a default sub font is there any way to change that. And also, this might be a mencoder issue, how do I get it to format the subtitles the way the MKV has them formatted (colors, position, and size)?

    Thanks again for a great program. Looking forward for a new version and perhaps a cross platform or Os X version!

  9. abmason, on November 3rd, 2008 at 5:07 pm Said:

    Hm, I ran it on my virgin Vista Ultimate x64 and it ran fine…I think I just need to create some virtual machines for testing this on to figure out whats going on. Unless you know somebody willing to donate a Mac to me, I wouldn’t count on a Os X release :)

    As far as swapping fonts, until I make a more user friendly feature, you could go into the installation directory, find the one font thats there, and replace it with whatever font you want for now.

    I don’t see a way with mencoder how to mimick the exact position and color of the original softsubs, but if you have suggestions on how to, I’m all ears, but I don’t *think* its possible. It is possible to extract the original font and use it, but that really wasn’t a priority feature when I made the app.

  10. abmason, on November 3rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm Said:

    Right now I’m really interested in getting Xbox 360, PS3, and PSP scripts working. I had some luck with PSP scripts last week, but I’m not having much luck in the PS3 / 360 department.

  11. plastic_avatar, on January 5th, 2009 at 11:01 pm Said:

    Kudos!

    You just saved my sanity.

    Works like a charm on the Gundam MKVs I have!

    Thank you =)

  12. James Nelson, on January 7th, 2009 at 1:54 am Said:

    Hi there

    Just letting you know after installing the SQL Server runtime its working fine on my XP Pro 32bit computer. It’d probably not be a bad idea to link to the SQL Server runtime up the top though, took me a while to dig through the comments and find what needed to be done.

    Nevertheless, nice work!

  13. plastic_avatar, on January 11th, 2009 at 7:50 pm Said:

    I hit an odd snare.

    I can’t figure out why, but (all of the sudden, after working like gangbusters on 30+ files) no file hierarchy shows up in the left column. It’s totally blank, nada, nothing visible.

    I updated to Service Pack 3, uninstalled the 3.5 Net, the SSCER package, and your IPVC- then reinstalled everything.

    Still no dice =(

    Any suggestions on what I may have messed up?

  14. abmason, on January 12th, 2009 at 2:39 pm Said:

    I wish I had a suggestion, but I really have no idea. So no error message, no popups, nothing?

    Have you rebooted your machine lately (just a stab in the dark…).

    How about what kind of system are you running (XP…Vista…?)

  15. plastic_avatar, on January 25th, 2009 at 11:38 pm Said:

    No error message. No pop-ups. It loads like everything is just fine. No file list on the left, and can’t drag-and-drop anything from outside the program in.

    Rebooted, upgraded to SP3, reinstalled (what I thought) were the necessary components, uninstalled and reinstalled your app. No joy.

    Running XP on my MacBook Pro. Same problem whether I boot natively or use a Virtual Machine.

    Could you, just so I can make sure I’ve got it all down, link to everything we need in one post or comment in the thread- again =P

    Or just list it for me? Or something? I’m pretty sure it’s either a) my bad, or b) something with my XP install that’ll require a re-load of the OS =(

  16. abmason, on January 26th, 2009 at 3:11 pm Said:

    Thats strange, I’ll give you that. If you’re running a Mac, you’re never truly running it “natively”, its always somewhat dependent on boot camp if I’m not mistaken. Keep in mind I’ve never owned a Mac in my life.

    I really wish I had some ideas for you to try, as far as I’m aware there shouldn’t be any sort of issues with the .Net framework on XP running on boot camp.

    Its ran fine on my XP SP2 and SP3 machines without issues, as well as 32/64 vista machines.

    The ability to look at the filesystem and list its contents is a basic feature, so I’m not sure what could interfere with it.

    If I get some ideas, I’ll post again.

  17. plastic_avatar, on January 26th, 2009 at 7:59 pm Said:

    I’m reinstalling the XP the next few days. Odd, odd, odd. Worked like absolute gangbusters for 40 or so conversions… Then poof.

    I’ll report back when I reinstall.

  18. plastic_avatar, on January 27th, 2009 at 4:25 pm Said:

    I reinstalled the Apple Boot Camp drivers in XP this morning. Thought *maybe* the SP3 update mucked things up a bit with the Apple-specific software. No joy.

    The XP reinstall is next.

    Like I said, it worked like a champ for a good while. I think I’ll Ghost the partition once I reinstall. That way, if this happens again, I can do a compare and report.

Leave a Reply