Media conversion with SUPER

In this tutorial we will show you how to convert various video and audio files using a free converter called SUPER that is available for Windows. We will also demonstrate how it can be used to convert video files for our great Union Media Gallery.

Today many different media formats are used. Some of them provide better quality, while others are free to use or are just common. Being able to convert freely from one format to another gives us the power to match source files with our player wherever possible. SUPER is free software and provides many advanced options with an easy-to-use user interface. It is based on fast and well-developed open-source products such as ffmpeg¹ which use the command line interface. Fortunately, you don't have to know the exact requirements for each container or codec with SUPER.

Getting it

The easiest way to get the software is from Softpedia. Go to the Softpedia download page and download the executable (it is around 30MB). If the link is not working anymore try the official (forum-like) website although this can be a bit tricky. First point your browser to the Official Homepage and scroll all the way down. There you will find a link titled "Start Downloading SUPER". Clicking on it will take you to the current release. Find the "download and use" link and on the newly opened page scroll down through the program description. Look for "Download SUPER setup file" at the bottom (it looks like a Google ad) as it is the link. Store the file and proceed to the installation section.

Installation

The installation is very straightforward. You will be asked to pick a preferred language, then hit next a couple of times and let the program install. Run the program and we can start exploring.

Converting video files for Union Gallery

A web gallery is one of the places where media conversion comes in useful. This is because most media files are not normally playable inside your web browser. Up until now only two formats have become common on the web: Mov² from Apple and Flash Video as a part of the Flash³ technology currently managed by Adobe. If we want a video to be generally playable within the web page we will have to use one of them. In addition they provide streaming functionality, which means that the video will begin playing as soon as possible and will be downloaded simultaneously in the background (as is the case with videos on Youtube or Metacafe).

Let us say that we have recorded a very inspiring video from our mini-term abroad in Mexico and would like others to enjoy beauty of Palenque. The source format of our camera can be almost anything, but most probably it is one of the following: mpeg, mpg, avi, mov,3gp, divx, mp4, or wmv. For the media gallery we decide to use Flash Video as the output format because most browsers already have the Flash plug-in installed.

Optimal settings

For every situation a different set of settings is required. We are usually limited to some extent in considering the properties of the final file. The size is probably the first thing on our mind. How big will the final video be? Computing the video size isn't all that difficult and this works on all media files with a specified bit rate:

Calculating an estimated final filesize in Kbytes

We must add both video and audios streams and multiply them by time. Be careful about units here. 1 Byte (B) equals 8 bits (b). Because bit rate is usually specified in kilobits per second⁴ (kbps) which means 1000 bits per second we must divide this by 8 to get kilobytes

(((video_bitrate + audio_bitrate) * time_in_seconds) / 8

Example: one minute of mp3 audio file at 128kbps

128*60/8 = 960kB

That was easy, so let's try another example: a two hour movie with 620kbps video and 112kbps audio streams

(620+112)*(2*60*60)/8 = 658800kB

So this will need 1CD to store the movie

Our suggestion for videos being streamed over the Internet is to use flv or mov, resolution of 320x240 pixels and bit rate around 520kbps for video and 80kbps for audio. This will require roughly 4.5MB each minute. Use double the video bit rate for videos with a resolution of 640x480.

Working with SUPER

Main window

The main window is neatly organized and provides useful default settings. In this example we will encode an avi video file to flv (Flash)

Set the output video format to "swf or flv (Flash)" and the audio codec to MP3
Select the desired resolution (there are more options when you click on the checkbox)
Use frame rate 25 or 29.97 for smooth motion
Set video bit rate and leave other options unchanged
Use 22050 audio sampling frequency
96kbps is enough for general video streaming (Youtube uses 56 kbps)
Files dragged&dropped onto the application or added using the menu are displayed here
When you are ready to transcode your selected media files hit Encode!

Right-click Menu

Super uses a popup menu that is displayed when user right-clicks inside the main window. No matter where you click the menu is the same.

Use this option to add media files
Default output directory is in "Program Files" directory, you can change it here

For importing media files you can use either the local menu (right-click) or you can drag&drop files from Windows Explorer directly. The media type will automatically be recognized.

Supported Formats

SUPER supports conversion of ALL the listed below

3gp/3g2 (Nokia,Siemens,Sony,Ericsson)
asf
avi (DivX,H263,H263+,H264,XviD,MPEG4,MSmpeg4...)
flv
mpg (MPEG--I,MPEG-II,VCD,SVCD)
mov (H263,H264,MPEG4,SVQ..)
mp4 (H263,H264,MPEG4..)
ogg
qt
rm
ram
swf(Flash)
ts(HDTV)
vob
wmv

For the full list see official website