Video Converter Ultimate Review

Detailed Reviews

Well, in our daily usage through tons of products over the Internet, we have come across situations where we need to convert files from one format to another. Apart from usual documents files, we also need ways to convert the media files which we use across many devices.

For that, we use several types of converters, be it online or offline. One advantage of online converters is that they can work for smaller file size instantly and you need not to carry any setup. However, we cannot expect to convert 1 GB files online, unless we have ultra-fast Internet.

For that, we need a robust setup inside our machine for more reliable offline conversion. And so, we use the tools known as Video Converters. With video converters, you can not only modify the format of our videos, but also edit these video with various effects. They also have a video-audio converters so that your favorite video songs can be now on your Walkman.

Pros:

• Can convert Video and audio files to tons of other formats with ease.
• Comprehensive setup for advanced video properties.
• Support for plethora of devices and file formats for conversion.
• Batch conversion and file merger available in it.
• Convert videos along with some video editing features like rotate, clip, crop, etc.
• Use video enhancer and video effects to improve your videos.
• Incredible 2D to 3D video conversion in either anaglyph or split-screen
• Tons of preset profiles for one-click video conversion.

Cons:

• Needs better UI for device and format selection.
• Partially locked editing features for individual device settings. Limited parameters can be edited in the advanced setup.
• No DVD writer, or formatting feature.
• Conversion speed is among average compared to other top products.
• Costly License compared to other products.
• Needs better and detailed video enhancement
• No chapter addition settings for video files.
• No proper preview in the video enhancement. Need to add a preview video for the imported video in it.
• Lacks video effects options, especially ones like photo editors i.e., sepia, negative, mirror, watery effects, etc.
• Needs more detailed settings in video shake reducer.
• Mediocre resolution upscale

Overview

Amidst such video converters, we saw Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. Aiseesoft Studio was launched in 2008, to provide good software for multimedia conversions. Not only videos, but they have support for audio, doc files, PDFs, data recovery, DVD maker, and many such related products.

Grown over all these years, they have acquired millions of satisfied customer base for themselves. Amongst so many products, we are now inspecting the Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate.

Evaluating it from top to bottom will be our priority, with emphasis on video conversion, quality and time of conversion, amount of formats for conversion, and such things. With that, let’s start our inspection.

Exploring the Setup

Well, like always, whenever we get new shinny toy, our first instinct is to turn it around and inspect it. Similar to that, we can have a quick preview of the tool before we actually start our comprehensive testing.

For that, Aiseesoft has been liberal enough to give us a free version of the video converter. Download the video converter ultimate software from their page. The given version is restricted to only 5 minutes for conversion. Other than that, there are no feature restrictions it; at least that’s what the setup tells us.

From there, you can see several settings for the video conversion on the main panel. The top menu has a number of picks like loading disks, adding files for conversion, video enhancer, clipper, 3D settings, and general editor.

The bottom panel has options to add import/output folder. From here, you can begin altering media files from one format to another. Click the add files button and add an audio or video file you want to convert.

It supports tons of video and audio formats for many devices, and so you can import almost any type of media file. After that, convert the chosen file to the format you desire. As the conversion finishes, the output folder will be opened automatically.

Check the conversion video for the quality. After all of these, you can use any of the previously mentioned options to work your way through the videos.

So, this was the most basic tour to given software. The process is amazingly smooth on paper, but the real test begins once you have to convert more videos, merge them, test performance for large files, and do multiple editing features. So, without time-pass, let us check these functions one by one.

Using the Video Converter

As mentioned in the steps above, take the files you need to change the format of. Use the add video/audio button to import it into Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. After that, users need to set up the ideal properties they want for the video.

For all these, there might be quite a confusion between the masses on how does this works? But before that, we need to elaborate on the files we used for our testing and how they affect the entire review process.

In our quanta, we had a couple of files with qualities ranging from old feature phone 3GP files to modern SD, HD, 2k, and 4k quality media files. These files were large in size, but the media length was short.

Files larger than 5 minutes are chopped off while files smaller than 5 minutes would be cut into half. This might not be beneficial for some tests. This restraint is for the free version only. Such restrictions are lifted off in premium version.

And so, our test begins now. We used a smaller sample file to check it out. The file was merely 3 minutes long and in SD quality. The conversion we tried was for regular HD MP4 file, with preset settings.

The conversion took around 40 minutes for our machine. Our system was like a typical office system with latest Windows OS, 8 GB RAM, desktop intel processor Intel core2duo.

We believe that with higher specs, the conversion rate will be much faster and smoother. It can be further enhanced by using a graphics card. After the conversion, there are options to either open the output folder or shut down the computer. They must add play media, hibernate, and sleep options too.

The file in the output was decent. The conversion seemed successfully executed. Since the quality was already mediocre, we won't expect them to revamp the pixels magically. But they did quite a decent job. The pixels were not torn apart with stretched sections.

After the video conversion, the size of the file was ok. Compared to other similar tools, the video conversion was a bit long shot. With Movavi Video Converter, it took us around 25 minutes to convert the video with nothing in background. While for Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate, it took us around 40 minutes.

This shows that with same file and similar process rate, it took more time in here. The quality had only a few ups and downs. Other than that, we say that Aiseesoft has done decent work.

This was the video conversion in it. Now, it is time for us to see if the settings for a video can be changed further or not!

What are manual/advanced settings in the video converter?

Well, apart from the list of the file formats and devices given by Aiseesoft, we also need to check if we can manually assign some properties to the files.

For that, go to bottom panel where the file location is displayed. On the profile panel, click the advanced settings choice. From here, fill the details in the new pop-up here. Aiseesoft has given options to edit video settings, audio settings, and 3D settings in it.

The first step is to check media formats. Users can pick any of the video formats from manual selection mode. After that, pick the desired value for video settings below it.

In the first mode, pick the encoders for video conversion. In here, the encoder selection is quite restricted. When you select file format from above, you can only pick the available codec for it. The most common ones are H264, H265, Mpeg-4, AMV, etc.

This shows they do have some healthy codec stock. With nothing, the issue we felt was that they are restricted. Unlike other tools viz., Video Converter Factory, AVC, Movavi, etc., which provide choice to pick separate codec regardless of the format picked.

Same must be employed by Aiseesoft here. Next was setting frame rates, where users can manipulate it from lower 10, 15, etc. to higher frame rates up to 30 FPS. Select the resolution and aspect ratio after that.

The final settings for videos are bitrates, from auto bitrate to 8000 kbps. There were no advanced video settings for VBR mode, lossless mode, quality settings, encoding passes, tune in settings, etc. This can be one of the cons of Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate.

Next was to manage the audio section. The audio settings were also mediocre, to be honest. Users had limited options to select audio type like encoders, channels, sample rate, audio bitrate. Some more settings regarding channels are required to be added.

Currently, they have options only for mono, 2.0, and 5.1 channels. They can input more like 4.0, 5.0, 7.0, 7.1 here. The audio bitrate is limited to 192 kbps for many formats, which must be up to 320 kbps. Many tools like Video Converter Factory allows to input manual bitrate up to 10k kbps.

This shows that advanced settings were average here. There are 3D settings too in it which we will elaborate later on. Apart from that, volume control was also not here. We hope that Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate employ detailed setup for advanced users.

For now, we can check several types of devices and formats available for video conversion. This we discuss in the below section.

Formats and Devices Supported

For any kind of program with an aim to convert files from one format to another, one of the prime tasks is to cover as many formats as possible and devices under its garb.

For example, a simple online YouTube converter has a list of varied formats like MP4, MKV, MP3, WAV, AAC, M4A, etc. All these are standard formats and playable by almost every modern device.

However, what to do if you are not sure if the device supports given format? What to do in case you only know of device name and not the details of the media files it support?

In such cases, video converters have given facility to select a device directly. When you select the device, there are some preset settings as per those device standards. With that, users can directly convert files into desired format without need of learning about the file properties.

Similar to this, Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate has been endowed with a separate section to filter out both, individual devices, and media file formats. The main thing for comparison with other tools is the ease of accessing these file types.

The file formats are not given separately in Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. When you import a file for conversion, only then you can access the format menu below it.

In the Profile section in bottom panel, there is a big drop-down menu. When clicked, it will display a pop-up with full list of formats and devices. Under this, they have listed them altogether as recently used, user-defined formats, 4k video, HD video, lossless audio, 3D videos, and general audio/video format.

When it comes to devices, they have included Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Sony, LG, Xiaomi, Nokia, Xbox, PS3/4, Video streams, PowerPoint, and many such devices.

For each type above, the editing properties are kind of partially locked. There are some constrained settings in this section. This restriction hurts advanced users. Unlike tools viz., Video Converter Factory, AVC, etc., they haven’t given this free to edit feature.

Apart from that, this section had some UI issues too. Although it is easier to access the system via drop-down interface, but the fonts and device symbols need to be designed better. Also, the menu just disappears again and again due to its design.

Therefore, they must give a pin button to hold this menu as a separate window. Other than that, we’d say they must adjust the settings to allow us to edit all parameters while using advanced options.

Additional Video Editing Features

Since we have dealt with two main features that typical video converters must have, we can now head on to check more advanced setup across the board.

So, is it necessary to evaluate them? Will they be useful to us? Well, for every video converter we have encountered so far, the best ones indeed have top editing features. Apart from general video conversion, we need some sort of video editing feature too.

With that, some minor changes like cropping, giving any effects in the video, watermarks, enhancing video pixels, etc. can be done with a single setup.

To access them here, Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate has given edit features on the main dashboard itself. When you add a video file up for conversion, there are a couple of options given on the top of main interface.

These are Rotate, 3D, Crop, Effects, Enhance, Watermark And Clipper. If you have used video converters previously, these options are typically standard in them. The 3D settings surprised us. Till now, for any video converter we have used, Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate is one of the few to have it. So, we now begin to weigh them one by one.

Rotate Function

This feature must be familiar to all of you. You must have used it many times with various photos. With Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate, users can also do some primary rotation effects. For that, they have options like clockwise, anti-clockwise, horizontal flip, and vertical flip.

You must be aware of most of these features. There are two windows here. One for original video preview and other for output preview. With that, users can do these operations with ease. But, one thing is lacking in it. In the rotate functions, only preset angle rotation is available.

Some video converters also provide rotation effects for any degree. Users can manually use the rotate icon and turn the video frame around till they find a suitable angle.

This must be added by Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. Other than that, these standard features did not aid us with any unexpected features.

Video Clipping and Cropping

After the rotate function, we can now check video clipping and cropping. Like in photo-editors, where you clip a picture or crop them for desired aspect ratios, you can do something similar in these videos too.

Crop Button is on the top in same window. Use it to open crop interface. In the cropping panel, there are several options to edit crop functions. Among them, the main setup options are crop area size, aspect ratio, position of crop area, and zoom mode.

Unlike what we think, this crop button is different than the one we use in media players. In typical media players, using the crop function will just trim the video area as per defined region. Unless you switch to wider aspect ratios, there won’t be any pixel distortion.

Not only the area except rectangle box will be cropped, but also be zoomed based on the screen fittings. The crop rectangle can be restricted based on the aspect ratio. You can also drag it across to select the area to be zoomed.

Other than that, these tools have decent choices for such crop functions. Many advanced setups can be added into this section, but that may clutter it too much.

Time for clipping things now! For that, Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate has given a separate button on the main screen with the clipping features. Hit that button, and you can move on to the Clip Window.

From here, you have access to multiple features in it. The top section shows video preview, with navigation bar below the video, and then you have buttons to play, fast forward, stop, clip time, new clips, and split videos.

So, what exactly these mean? Well, as usual, the points for clipping is to remove sections from a video. These time-stamp consist of video parts you want to clip. Other than that, users can choose multiple time-clips.

You can also combine these clips into one using merge button. This multiple clip feature is not given in every other video converter. Overall, it is quite a novice process. Since they have given almost all main functions for crop and clip feature, they have passed here. The output files had decent quality even after the zoom during crop.

Enhance Videos, Add Effects and Watermark to it

Now, that we have done every minute editing in our video, we can proceed to do some significant changes using some preset effects given by Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. All these choices are given distinctly after accessing the edit button. Let us start from the Effects Button.

In the effect section, Aiseesoft has some elementary functions like audio effect and video effect. In the audio effects, users can only increase volume rate. It is limited to 200% compared to 400% given in many other similar tools.

Also, there are no audio effects like bass, echo, hall effect, normalization, removing background noises, etc. in it. These all can be added in it without any issues. Only single audio effect seems very underwhelming.

Now for video effects, users can alter the graphics of video files. These visual features control brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue. There is an option for deinterlacing too.

Compared to other equivalent products, these are quite average. First of all, there are no choices like auto-enhance, auto-color, and auto-whiten types of auto video color balancing features. There is no noise removal in it too.

All these missing features are given in tools like Movavi Video Converter, Video Converter Factory, etc. They must add more such feature in later updates.

Apart from this, there is a section for video enhancement features too. With that tool, users can do multiple enhancement effects like upscale resolution, optimize brightness & contrast, remove video noise, and reduce video shaking.

Among these effects, each one has a separate use. The first one, upscale resolution, is used for improving pixels of a video when we convert it from lower resolution to higher. We checked it while converting one of the SD quality videos to HD ones.

The results were not so outstanding; more like average. No matter how powerful these video converters claim, they can barely manage to improve lower resolution videos. There are many such video converters which claim to transform a 3GP video to 2k UHD, which probably are hoaxes.

After this, users have to see optimize brightness tab. Now, these options were supposed to be in effects section and not here. In the above part, we have already mentioned their use and other options that can be added.

After that, Noise Removal is used to remove clutters and blurry pixels from the video. A similar function is given in Movavi Video Converter. Although in their version, things are more advanced or at least there are more manual controls in it.

In other tool, Reduce Video Shaking, you have more customization buttons like video accuracy, shaking levels, radius and smoothing effect, and edge cropping. All these manual options are not here. Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate must integrate such sophisticated settings in this tool too.

Apart from that, there is no video preview for all of these effects. Nevertheless, there are some small description texts given below each of them to get a brief idea of that function.

Lastly, we have the Watermark Button. As usual, these watermarks are used to stop content theft or plagiarism. They are mostly used to copyright things. There are two main setups for watermarks, viz., text-based watermark or image watermark. All users need to do is input the text or image for the watermark and click apply to convert the video.

In this way, users can easily copyright their video content. Users have a small rectangular area for the watermark. You can drag it anywhere on the screen or input exact coordinates from there. You can select from a plethora of formatting options like font types, sizes, colors, and other like bold, italics, etc. There is a button to set the transparency of the text or image watermark.

Just click apply all and then convert the file. Now, your video has been watermarked. We do not expect any prominent changes to be added in this feature.

Create 3D Videos with Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate

We have evaluated the core functionalities of the video converter. Now, in this section, we have one more thing left to be elaborated. This is a very unique function in this tool.

General TV, phones and other such devices are made for the 2D display. They are not enhanced for 3D display. We cannot see the depth of images in them. In real life, we see 3D display all the time. We can gauge depth of an object along with the height and width.

That is why, the new resolution for modern movies in theatres is mostly 3D. Hardly we find any movies not running 3D nowadays. With that, if you remember, we use 3D glasses to rectify these images. Now, we are not going to discuss too much about 3D technology here. We aim to show how this video converter helps in making 3D videos.

For that, use the 3D Button on main panel. In the 3D settings, users can mainly use two types of 3D conversion. One is Anaglyph mode & another one is Split-Screen mode. Both have distinct types of 3D visuals.

We won’t elaborate them too much as readers can google them and search both these terms easily. For general terms, anaglyph mode uses a combination of colors like red-cyan, green-magenta, amber-blue, etc. to generate depth into a 2D object. When you see them via 3D glasses, a 3D view of the objects is generated.

Similarly, split-screen mode will mirror the videos in either horizontal or vertical section giving 3D effect. Users can once again choose a suitable setting here.

Overall, this is a rare feature in Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate and worth an applause. The converted video was perfect. However, for some larger resolution files, time taken may range to more than 3 hours. However, in the end we felt that such a wait was worth it for a 3D view experience.

Conclusion

With this, we have settled the features in Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. As mentioned before, the features have managed to get better than average ratings. This makes them still fall under the regular product umbrella.

Only thing that out-spotted it from other related products was the 3D conversion. With that, they get some extra points in their bag. The suggestion from our side will be an improvement in the UI. The format selection can be made a bit accessible and be allowed to add more advanced options without restriction.

With that, the pricing of this video converter is really costly with $42 for a lifetime license. Compared to Video Converter Factory, AVC, Movavi Video Converter, this is quite high. With very little difference in UI and performance of file conversion quality and speed, such high price seems absurd.

Nevertheless, we would still advice to look for discounts before its purchase. With that, you can choose to take a test drive of this tool and decide for yourself if you really want it or not!