In order to watch a movie or video on our smartphone, without using streaming services, we must first of all convert it to MP4, a format universally accepted by all portable devices, be they Android, iPhone or iPad. Unfortunately it can happen that you have videos in AVI formats or saved directly to DVD or Blu-ray and you don't know how to convert them effectively. In this guide we will show you all the best free programs that we can use to convert videos to MP4 and to transfer the videos on a DVD or Blu-ray to a video file, easy to move and transfer. Obviously we will also dedicate a chapter to the programs necessary to remove the protection of the optical disks (only for personal backup purposes).
READ ALSO: Best apps to convert audio and video on Android
Programs to convert DVD and Blu-ray to MP4
In this part of the guide we will show you the free programs that we can use to convert a DVD or Blu-ray to an MP4 file. If the optical disks are protected, later on we will find the chapter with the programs able to overcome this limitation.
HandBrake
HandBrake is one of the best programs for converting DVD and Blu-ray videos to MP4 on your computer and is open source, therefore without any advertising inside.
HandBrake is a program for Windows, Linux and Mac that converts any video, DVD, Divx, AVI, MPeg, FLV in our possession.
This very powerful program offers many options, but we can use it even if we are not very expert thanks to the presence of predefined profiles in the right sidebar (where to choose the quality of the final movie). To be sure of generating an MP4 file, we will have to select MP4 from the Container or Container entry.
To learn more about the use of this program, we recommend reading our guide on how to Convert video and DVD to MP4 or MKV on PC and Mac with Handbrake .
VidCoder
VidCoder is a Windows application very simple to use, even for inexperienced users of video coding; among its advantages, the possibility of using it as a portable program stands out, without necessarily having to install it on the system.
VidCoder can convert both original DVDs to specific formats for iPhone, iPad and for any Android device; to be sure to create a compatible MP4 file, click on the Encoding Profile menu, expand the Devices menu and choose the device where we will play the file.
If instead we want to create a generic MP4, click on the encoding Profile icon and make sure that the container chosen is MP4 .
Xmedia Recode
Xmedia Recode is a light and free program, which can also be used in portable mode (i.e. without installation on the system).
Although the site is in German, the program is available in Italian and is very easy to use, thanks to the predefined profiles useful for converting a video for all Apple and Android device models.
At the time of conversion, we will only have to set the MP4 entry as Format and Extension, in order to have the certainty of generating a compatible file.
Programs to convert generic videos to MP4
If instead we have to convert AVI video files to MP4, below we have collected the best free converters that we can try on our computer.
WinFF
The first video converter that we recommend you try is WinFF: free, open source and available in a portable version (no installation required).
We load the files to be converted within the program and make sure that MPEG-4 is selected in the Convert to field, choosing the quality of the conversion from the profiles available in the Default field.
When ready, just press Convert to start converting the old video to MP4; all converted files will be saved in the folder in the Destination folder field.
File Converter
One of the fastest and most immediate programs to convert videos from one format to another is File Converter.
It integrates into the context menu of the right mouse button, so as to immediately provide a quick conversion of any file. To convert one of our AVI videos (or other formats) to MP4, we right-click on the file, select File Converter and, in the drop-down menu that will open, click on To Mp4 .
The file will be converted on the fly and saved in the same folder as the original file.
Format Factory
One of the most popular programs to convert videos is Format Factory, available for free for Windows.
To use the program, simply load the videos to be converted, go to the Video section and select the MP4 button, then press Start .
All uploaded videos will be quickly converted to the desired format and saved in the default program folder (we can find its path below).
How to remove copy protection from DVD and Blu-ray
DVD Video and Blu-ray Video have advanced encryption systems, which effectively make it impossible for most DVD ripping applications to do their job.
In order to remedy this, we can use one of the programs listed below.
Note : we remind you that personal copying is allowed, while copying and distributing copyright protected films is a criminal offense.
AnyDVD
With AnyDVD we will have a program capable of bypassing all security systems "on the fly", without having to click on anything.
To use it, simply open the program, reduce it to an icon and insert the optical disc to be copied: the program acts completely automatically, offering a disc without protections and usable without problems with the programs already mentioned in this guide.
Unfortunately, the program is available for a fee, but we can use all its functions for free for 21 days.
DVDFab Passkey for DVD
A viable alternative to AnyDVD is DVDFab Passkey for DVD.
The program works in a completely similar way: just start the program, reduce it to an icon and insert the protected optical disc in the reader, so as to immediately get access to the disc without protections.
This program is also paid, but offers a 30-day free trial and a tool to convert the optical disc to an ISO file or a data folder (this functionality is always accessible, even at the end of the test).
To learn more, we can read our guide to programs to decrypt a DVD and copy it .
Conclusions
Converting videos to MP4 is a very simple operation and within everyone's reach, also given the abundance of programs with which it is possible to convert both optical discs and other videos stored in the memory of our computer.To try other programs similar to those already mentioned, we can continue reading in our guide to free video converter programs for Windows .
If we are looking for other programs to copy DVDs or Blu-ray on the computer, we can take a look at our guide on the 10 Programs to copy DVD (Ripping) on PC .
