HandBrake

Media files come in various formats, which are not supported by all players. Converting the files is the best solution, especially if you don't want to keep multiple media players on your Mac. HandBrake is capable of converting almost any kind of video and audio files to popular media formats, which are supported by nearly all players. The software places many configuration options at your disposal, but they are well organized and easy to understand. What's more, HandBrake is offered free of charge, it is open source and it is supported by several operating systems.

All important conversion settings can be done on the same user interface. Once you load a source file, the program's controls will be unlocked, so you can start using them, to decide how to convert the file, where to store it and so on. As previously suggested, the source file can be in almost any media format and this includes video DVDs as well. If you load a video DVD, you can target specific titles. When it comes to standard media files, you can choose to convert the whole file or part of it, by defining a certain range, in seconds or in frames.

Media files can be converted to MP4 or MKV and you can also choose from different codecs, like H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 or VP3. Also, HandBrake allows you to make a wide range of settings, for each video codec, on the lower half of the interface. Other settings can be made in the same area, but on different tabs. It is possible to make a series of tweaks to a video's soundtrack, like changing the codec, sample rate, bit rate and more. Additionally, you can change the subtitles, create chapter markers and make advanced encoding psychovisual and analysis settings.

The aforementioned configurations can be made to individual media files. You can start converting the loaded media file right away, by clicking a Start button, located on a toolbar. Alternatively, you may add the file to a queue, load another one and make new configurations. Files can be queued with different settings and they can be converted in a single run.