FormatFactory 3.2.0

Overview

Everybody knows that it is not very productive to have a separate tool for converting each media format. This is where FormatFactory comes in. It is an excellent free media converter, and what is more, you will be able to convert your files, including all popular images, audio and video formats. It is a great “all-in-one” media converter that you will learn to love thanks to its many useful features and ease of use. Let’s analyze its features in this quick article and see if you agree.

Installation

The installation process of FormatFactory is fast and smooth due to its small setup kit of just 40MB. You should be happy to learn that after a fairly quick download, the installation will not pose you any problems and you will be thrown right into the business! In terms of hardware specs, FormatFactory doesn’t have any special requirements and supports all of the available versions of the Windows operating systems from Window 2000 onwards. There are links to eBay and BrotherSoft displayed by the program, thus making it “adware”. However, it troubles no one and in my opinion, the interface actually looks cooler.

Interface

There are a total of 4 skins, plus a bunch of new age icons and color combinations provided by FormatFactory. The “Obsidian” skin is my favorite. FormatFactory incorporates a sidebar menu for the converting of audio, video and images, whilst the separate expandable menus allow you to burn it. Despite the fact that it packs plenty of features, the interface of FormatFactory is intuitive, as all the icons are supported with text below, and in just a few clicks you will get the job done. On the other hand, the occasional weird blurring of the header ‘effect’ isn’t to my liking.

Pros

All of the features you are looking for in a media converter are present in FormatFactory, as a massive inventory of file formats in all forms of media (audio, video, images) is supported. You can also burn from a CD or DVD and there are plenty of tiny useful features that go a long way, such as tray conversion (it reduces clutter), pausing of conversion, shutdown after completion, and many more. The files obtained can be merged, and the addition of subtitles to converted video files is supported as well. Another aspect worth taking into consideration is the fact that FormatFactory is a very efficient tool in terms of memory usage. Compared to its competitors, it doesn’t consume much of the CPU’s resources and only takes about 25MB of RAM. In addition, the tool is very stable during the conversion process.

Cons

The only thing that stops FormatFactory from being the ultimate media converter is that it doesn’t have the option to burn to CD/DVD. Any appending of effects to a converted video, image or audio file is also not supported.

Alternatives

Alternatives to FormatFactory include the following tools: Handbrake, MediaMonkey, Avidemux, VirtualDub, Exact Audio Copy and many more.

Conclusion

FormatFactory is one of the best converter tools on the market so we certainly recommend that you give it a try!