Download.com también está disponible en Español Visitar Sitio

FormatFactory

CNET Editors' review

There are file converters for all kinds of different files, whether you're converting between different video, audio, or image formats. This might be the first time, however, that we've encountered a program that does all of the above. FormatFactory is an ambitious program that's capable of converting images, videos, and audio files between a number of different formats. Unfortunately, it's not exactly capable of delivering everything it promises.

FormatFactory has a straightforward, intuitive interface; a menu on the left lets users select video, audio, picture, or ROM Device\DVD\CD\ISO. The Advanced menu option even lets users join files together. To use FormatFactory, simply select the kind of file you want to work with, browse to your source folder, confirm the files you want to convert, and click Start. FormatFactory made pretty quick work of most of our files, but its performance wasn't flawless. At one point it inexplicably crashed as we were selecting the files we wanted to convert. When we attempted to convert an MPG to a GIF, something that FormatFactory allegedly permits, it went through the motions of processing but then revealed no actual change in the file. The program comes with a built-in Help file that's not particularly detailed but does contain screenshots to help new users navigate FormatFactory's features. If you need to convert, split, and merge files in a variety of formats, we definitely think FormatFactory is worth checking out. Just be aware that it doesn't always perform as expected.

FormatFactor installs a desktop icon without asking and leaves a folder behind upon removal.

FormatFactory - Convert popular video and audio - Download Video Previews:

Publisher's Description

More Products to Consider

  • VLC Media Player
    Play audio and video files in real-time and streaming modes.
    Download Or, Learn More About VLC Media Player

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • GOM Media Player
    Play video files of multiple video formats.
    Download Or, Learn More About GOM Media Player

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • KMPlayer
    Play digital media of various formats with 3D and WiDi support.
    Download Or, Learn More About KMPlayer

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • UMPlayer
    Play virtually any media file in open-source cross-platform mul...
    Download Or, Learn More About UMPlayer

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Full Player
    Play all the most popular video and audio formats.
    Download Or, Learn More About Full Player

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Media Player Codec ...
    Play various types of video, audio, movie, music files in Media...
    Download Or, Learn More About Media Player Codec Pack

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Windows 7 Codec Pac...
    Play 99.9 percent of files with a collection of codecs for Wind...
    Download Or, Learn More About Windows 7 Codec Pack

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • RealPlayer
    Discover and play online videos, download, save, organize, and ...
    Download Or, Learn More About RealPlayer

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Free CUDA Video Con...
    Convert, edit video and audio files for multimedia devices.
    Download Or, Learn More About Free CUDA Video Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Windows Essentials ...
    Add audio/video codecs and filters to playback any video file.
    Download Or, Learn More About Windows Essentials Media Codec Pack

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • FormatFactory
    Convert your videos, audios, and pictures to preferable file fo...
    Download Or, Learn More About FormatFactory

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Audials Tunebite
    Convert, record and copy Music, Audiobooks, Videos, HD-Movies a...
    Download Or, Learn More About Audials Tunebite

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Odin Blu-ray to HD ...
    Convert your Blu-ray DVD videos into HD format.
    Download Or, Learn More About Odin Blu-ray to HD Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Odin Blu-ray DVD to...
    Convert Blu-ray DVD movies into PSP format.
    Download Or, Learn More About Odin Blu-ray DVD to PSP Ripper

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Any Video Converter
    Convert video and YouTube to AVI, WMV, MP4, FLV, MP3, burn vide...
    Download Or, Learn More About Any Video Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Aiseesoft Blu-ray P...
    Play Blu-ray disc, Blu-ray folder, ISO files, and all popular v...
    Download Or, Learn More About Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • IP Video Transcodin...
    Stream multi-channel live media over The internet.
    Download Or, Learn More About IP Video Transcoding Live

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Free Hulu Downloade...
    Download Hulu, YouTube, Facebook Web videos to your PC in any d...
    Download Or, Learn More About Free Hulu Downloader

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • CyberLink PowerDVD
    Enjoy movies and all your media on your PC, notebook, smartphon...
    Download Or, Learn More About CyberLink PowerDVD

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Aiseesoft iPad 2 Vi...
    Convert any popular video files to iPad 2 compatible video/audi...
    Download Or, Learn More About Aiseesoft iPad 2 Video Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Total Video Convert...
    Convert any formats video to iPad, iPhone, AVCHD, Blu-Ray, DVD.
    Download Or, Learn More About Total Video Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • Free YouTube Downlo...
    Download and convert videos from YouTube to your computer with ...
    Download Or, Learn More About Free YouTube Downloader Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • VLC Media Player Po...
    Play audio and video files on the go.
    Download Or, Learn More About VLC Media Player Portable

    Installed

    Smart Install
  • ZC Video Converter
    Convert your videos to iPod, iPhone, 3GP, PSP, MP4, H264, AVI, ...
    Download Or, Learn More About ZC Video Converter

    Installed

    Smart Install
All User Reviews
  • All versions:

    3.8 stars

    out of 269 votes

    • 5 star: 134
    • 4 star: 54
    • 3 star: 15
    • 2 star: 13
    • 1 star: 53
  • Current version:

    2.6 stars

    out of 28 votes

    • 5 star: 7
    • 4 star: 5
    • 3 star: 1
    • 2 star: 1
    • 1 star: 14
  • My rating:

    0 stars

    Write review

Results 1-10 of 28

  • 1.0 stars

    "I Use To Trust This Program"

    October 10, 2012  |   By Wordman1

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    It works now but I won't be uning it.

    Cons

    Installed unwanted software on my computer without asking or offering an opt-out. This is unforgivable.

    Summary

    Have updated copies of this for years. When the last update omitted a file the website instructed me to do a fresh install of version 2.96. The frest install changed my homepage, added toolbars and added items to my startup without notification or permission. I cannot trust a company that pulls this kind of stuff and won't use their products, free or otherwise.

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (1) (0)

  • 1.0 stars

    "Didn't work at all"

    September 24, 2012  |   By mudharan

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    Application didn't work at all.

    Cons

    I tried to convert MOV to MP4, MPG, WMV it converted only less than one second of video. The application crashed few times.

    Summary

    Would not prefer installing this again.

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (1) (0)

  • 4.0 stars

    "Gets some of the work done"

    September 21, 2012  |   By king_glen

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    Converts videos nicely, very easy to use, and doesn't allow for video-audio lag

    Cons

    Some files cannot be converted even though the format factory says the can; in this case the files are converted partially - an hour long video is converted to a 13 minute long video. Irritating, this

    Summary

    It will do most of the things you expect from a video converter. It's certainly beats shelling out the extra quid on those other converters out there

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

  • 1.0 stars

    "Creates garbled videos"

    September 18, 2012  |   By pavelgutsa

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    Nice installer, nice interface

    Cons

    Converting MOV files. Tried to convert to WMV and AVI.
    In both cases finishes conversion prematurely, output video is garbled.

    Summary

    Waste of time

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (1) (0)

  • 4.0 stars

    "easy to use, effective"

    September 16, 2012  |   By ztemplarz

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    This was very simple to install and set up, and most importantly, it was free. It was relatively quick, and easy to track the progress it made with the conversions.

    Cons

    It seems like some of the conversions didn't function properly. I didn't try to redo them, so maybe it was a couple simple copying errors, or maybe the qualities didn't match up properly for the two different formats.

    Summary

    Quick and easy to use, but might have to check your files and rerun it on a few after failed conversions.

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

  • 1.0 stars

    "Installs Ask Toolbars and makes Ask.com homepage"

    September 11, 2012  |   By frag8

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    Convert an MP3 to another format I wanted.

    Cons

    I didn't notice any warnings when installing that it would install Ask software on my computer. I usually notice those readily and uncheck them. After installing this program, when I opened Firefox it had replaced both my home pages with ask.com, as well as changed the default search engine to ask.com. When I opened Chrome, it did leave my home pages alone but installed an Ask toolbar. When I opened Internet Explorer it had replaced both my homes pages and installed the Ask toolbar.

    Uninstalling FormatFactory does not appear to remove or revert any of this. I have multiple homes pages and use multiple browsers because I am logged into more than a single account for the same web applications, and have multiple browsers open all day across multiple monitors. What was just supposed to be a quick conversion of a single MP3 file has now turned into a pretty annoying headache. DO NOT INSTALL THIS PROGRAM.

    Summary

    This program installs Ask software in all of your browsers and changes your browser settings. DO NOT INSTALL. There are better programs that do not do this.

    Reply to this review Read reply (1)

    Was this review helpful? (2) (0)

  • 5.0 stars

    "It has the most common formats available for converting"

    September 10, 2012  |   By AlanGalds

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    I can convert and even customize the parameters of the output file

    Cons

    Some file formats are missing

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

  • 5.0 stars

    "great product"

    September 6, 2012  |   By flyingbull

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    take 1 minute to convert 500mb avi video to 7mb flv youtube video.

    Cons

    none at all

    Summary

    get this, great free stuff.

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (0) (1)

  • 5.0 stars

    "Very Good, DVD ripping needs extra software."

    August 31, 2012  |   By dafolzey

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    Converts every useful format.
    Completely free.
    Utilizes all four cores of my processor.
    Can shutdown the computer when done.
    Perfect for YouTube video downloads.
    Filter audio out from video files.

    Cons

    Sometimes there is no audio if it is used to convert a DVD.
    Can't convert audio only formats.

    Summary

    This software is the best, period. It is free, converts every format, and is fast. It faster than NERO, and produces fewer errors than AnyVideo Converter (and doesn't disable features for the free version) There is no paid version so you know your getting everything forever. The only problem is that it sometimes forgets about the audio when ripping a DVD, so I use DVD Decrypter to rip the DVD then use FormatFactory to convert them to .mpg, .mp4, .m4v, .avi, .wmv, .aac, m4a, .mp3, .wma, etc. There are paid software available for ripping DVDs that support more protection systems, but the free one is good for me.

    Updated on Aug 31, 2012

    There is word about a browser hijack that is difficult to remove. That is bull ****. The browser toolbar is optional, just uncheck the boxes during installation and it isn't installed. If you miss that, just uninstall it from the control panel just like any other software and it is gone.

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (0) (1)

  • 5.0 stars

    "Actually one of the software i use most"

    August 24, 2012  |   By alandofislands

    Version: FormatFactory 2.96

    Pros

    Converts almost all formats and easy to use

    Cons

    DVD convertion is kid of bad and i would not recommend to use that function

    Summary

    A god free software with many options not perfect but it's free so you cant expect everything from it but it almost have everything anyway ;)

    Reply to this review

    Was this review helpful? (0) (1)

Results 1-10 of 28

Add Your Review

or Log in or create an account to post a review.
You are logged in as . Please submit your review for FormatFactory 2.96
Add Your Review

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited.
Click here to review our site terms of use.

Submit your reply

Submit

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited.
Click here to review our site terms of use.

cancel

E-mail this review

Submit cancel

Report offensive content

If you believe this comment is offensive or violates the CNET's Site Terms of Use, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the comment). Once reported, our staff will be notified and the comment will be reviewed.

Select type of offense:

Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language
Spam: Advertisements or commercial links
Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users
Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content
Submit cancel

Previous Versions:

Error

close

ERROR MESSAGE

If you think this is an error, please contact CNET TechTracker Support for further assistance.

Ok

Running Request

close

loading

Smart Install Software

close

CNET TechTracker will now automatically install software without requiring further action by you. (Note: This feature automatically accepts associated EULAs and third party applications on your behalf.)

You have selected the following software to Smart Install:

CNET TechTracker will attempt to install this software without interrupting you again. If an application requires manual installation, CNET TechTracker will download the installer and prompt you to take further action.

Proceed with Smart Install?

Confirm Standard Install Cancel

Submit a problem report for FormatFactory

close

Please describe the problem you have with this software. This information will be sent to our editors for review.

Problem:

The CNET Installer isn't working as expected

The download link does not work

The software has a newer version

The software contains malware

Other

Description:

Please select a feedback type.

Please enter a description.

Submit Problem Report

Problem Report submitted

close

Thank you for submitting a problem report! The Download team is committed to providing you with accurate software information.

OK

Or, Learn More About FormatFactory

Installed

Smart Install
FormatFactory