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27 out of 27 people found this review helpful
4 stars
Version: Riva FLV Encoder 2
"An excellent video encoder that converts avi, dv, mpg, mov, wmv to flv."
Pros: This is the only free stand-alone FLV Encoder that I know of. It works well but it's not perfect, particularly in its support of newer codec versions.
The product has gained a lot of overly negative responses from users. The central theme seems to be "freezing" issues. Most of those issues are codec based. For starters, Riva FLV Encoder 2.0 won't convert WMV (version 9). One workaround is to use Windows Movie Maker and convert the WMV to AVI (Microsoft confuses users by calling the resulting file an AVI but it's not. AVI is not a codec, it's a file format. The AVI from WMM is actually a DV). Rename the extension to .dv and Riva will encode it.
Keep in mind that Riva FLV won't convert the underlying file (any format) if you don't have the supporting audio or video codec or if the codec was released in 2005 or later.
In addition to "codec" issues, it is important to pay attention to the video and audio settings within the program. You can't simply accept the defaults. The settings should be based on the settings of the underlying file and may need to be slightly reduced for quality considerations. Also, limit any disk intensive activity (foreground or background) while encoding.
Personally, I assist on an animation blog at GoQuake and have been pleased with the quality and size of the encoded results.
Cons: This program suffers from poor documentation and limited support for file formats and newer codec versions.
- 1 reply to this review
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Your review should have a permanent spot below the Cnet Editor's! This is thorough, professional, and you explain why everyone seems to have issues; you offer simple remedies. I'm going to download Riva FLV Encoder 2 and I'm going to come back and read this review again if I get 'stuck'-- I hope you are still around! Thanks a million.
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