Internet is like Ocean. It may have something near but often we start looking very far. Google search engine does not make it any easy. A fortnight ago a friend handed me a DVD with .flv video files. His DVD player was unable to play .flv files. On further investigation it was discovered that DVD player was able to play .avi format without problems. Now this friend knows about computer as much as we do about Saturn. Obviously it fell upon me to convert the files.
As a Linux user I never had to bother about file formats. It plays and runs all files. Generally my recommendation is to try Linux side by side with windows. But this guy is living example of sweet seventies. I had to do it.
Searching for right program
When I searched with google for video converter, the first choice it gave was for ‘ffmpeg’, a command line converter. After installation of ffmpeg on Ubuntu, the first message broadcasted was that it was obsolete. It was suggested that ‘avconv’ is better option. Again the command line options were too complicated. I could not convert a single file due to some unknown error.
Another suggestion was to install and use ‘avidemux’. This also did not work. Now next suggestion was to install a GUI program called ‘ConvertMe’. After installation, clicking the shortcut from menu was futile. It simply did not work. Starting ‘convertme’ from Terminal did fire it up and after giving details of file to be converted, it simply hanged. It remained in that state for over 14 hour when it was to be killed. (I am a patient person.)
Transmageddon
Next choice of program was ‘transmageddon’. An impressive name for an impressive application. It was installed with following command:
sudo apt-get install transmageddon
It worked fine from the program menu. ‘Transmagddon’ appears to be suitable for all basic needs of conversion of video file. We can change not only the file type (i.e. .avi, .mov, .ogg, .flv etc) but can also choose the right codec for compression.
While .avi with mp3 for voice and xvid codec proved right for DVD player of the friend; .ogg with preset of ‘Generic Linux Computer’ reduced the file size unbelievably. This format seems most suitable for storing files on Linux.
It also has preset for Iphone, Nokia and Android etc. It appears to be an ultimate GUI video converter for any kind of user but best for rookie like me.
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© Sandeep Bhalla
Sandeep Bhalla's Blog 
I wanted to know if I can run this program on Ubuntu headless vps which has only ssh access.if yes please elaborate steps even i am new to this conversion type of field,I am looking for script which can be accessed via browser so I can fit my encoding filters when and where needed,I am using headless server please make a note about it.
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I doubt. It uses a GUI interface. Do let me know if you can run it headless.
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I have been using avidemux with few problems. however if you try to add/remove video (not just transcode) avidemux sometimes gets the sound wrong – then I use kdenlive. Planning to try winFF.
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