Although video content stored in DVD format is high quality, it is saved uncompressed and bloated in size. Additionally, a single DVD movie will typically be saved in a number of files that require the device playing the content to be capable of direct DVD playback. A common task that arises for end-users is converting DVD to MPEG format in order to save hard drive space and support play-back on portable multi-media devices. The conversion task can be accomplished using commercial or open source software such as the DVDx project. Read More

A VOB (DVD Video Object) file is a file container format that DVDs use. A VOB file contains the actual movie from a DVD and its audio and streaming data that allows a user to scroll through the video. VOB files are essential to DVDs and can be taken from a disk in order to place a copy of a movie on a user’s computer. In order to do this, the user should simply open a DVD in Windows Explorer rather than play it through a media player. The VOB Read More

Many people in the multimedia industry informally refer to the Windows Media File format as the VC-1 format. Its formal name is the SMPTE 421 M standard. Microsoft initially released it in the spring of 2006 and it is widely supported on DVD players, Windows Media Player 9 and newer, and Blu-ray. WVC1 is the Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile that is Microsoft’s implementation of the advanced profile in the VC-1 standard definition. WVC1 offers support for interlaced or combined content and is an alternative option to the MPEG-4 Read More

The M4A music or track file extension is the default Apple file extension used for music stored in MP4 format on the iTunes multimedia player. Apple deployed the file extension in order to allow iDevices to more quickly recognize what type of MP4 file was being loaded (video or audio) in order to create a faster load time and better end-user experience when playing music stored in this format. For users who have one or many songs store in the legacy MP3 format, a common task that arises is converting Read More

The problem with traditional 2D graphics image types such as JPG, GIF, and PNG is that image quality is lost when zooming inward on the picture. A vector image is created using equations that describe the respective image as objects. As a result, they scale more gracefully when enlarged. There are two methods to convert JPG to vector in common use in industry: 1 – Manually converting the image to vector using a tool, and 2 – Automatic conversion to vector format. Steps to Convert JPG to Vector Using Inkscape Read More

RM or RealMedia is a multimedia format container designed by Real Media Player and is primarily used as a streaming format by consumers. Unfortunately, the RM format is not supported across all software or hardware platforms and requires conversion. A common task that arises for end users is to convert RM to DVD format. Steps to Convert RM to DVD Using Easy RM RMVB to DVD Burner The Easy RM RMVB to DVD burner is a DVD authoring and burning software application that supports RM to DVD conversion and can Read More

Blender is a free, open source 3D creation and animation software. Blender uses powerful features and creative design options to allow users to create a wide variety of realistic art. While Blender is a free software, it is ranked among some of the most powerful 3D creation programs in the world and is used by home users and film makers alike to create everything from simple animations to full-length movies. Blender is a small program that can be downloaded to the user’s computer and is supported by all major operating Read More

In order to burn an AVI file to a DVD, the file must often be converted to a proper DVD format. This can be done with the use of file converters and/or DVD burning software. File converters are often able to convert many different formats into any of the other formats that they support. Some DVD burners have built-in file converters while others are designed to encode all files in the same manner so that file format is irrelevant. AVI is a very popular format, however, and most DVD burners Read More

CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) animation is the use of computers to generate motion based imagery. CGI animation is a sub-division of the animation and graphics domain. CGI animation is employed in a number of varied areas such as movies, web animation, amateur movies, architecture and so on. CGI animation is created through 3D and 2D computer graphics; 3D being used for more complex and time-consuming output and 2D for stylish yet simple output. CGI animation uses the concept of frames to achieve the impression of motion. Multiple frames of the Read More

When the MP4 multimedia standard was first adopted by industry, a common issue that arose (and still exists today) for software and hardware developers was determining if the file was an audio or video format. As a result, Apple created the .M4A file extension to allow iDevices to determine what type of MP4 file was. This resulted in efficiency increases for end-users when choosing a file to playback in iTunes, iPods, and iPhones. In order to play .M4A files on non-Apple devices; however, consumers find it necessary to convert M4A Read More