Easy way to convert video to webm format without a converter!

[Mr Deuce]

Lots of people been asking about how to convert to webm, and/or complaining about not using a more common format. But worry and whine no more, there is a VERY easy way to do this.

1) Get video in any format
2) Upload to youtube
3) Head to http://www.genyoutube.net/ and download the video from Youtube, selecting webm format. (Several others are also available).

The neat thing is that there is no waiting either, as YouTube has already done the conversion behind the scenes as soon as the video is uploaded in the first place (It's a little known fact that YouTube transcodes all videos, since 2011, into webm).

Of course, this also means that almost every video on YouTube is also available to download as webm, so pretty much anything you might need, already likely exists.

And as a final HUGE benefit, YouTube also automatically transcodes videos to the most common resolutions, 480p/720p/1080p and higher. You can select whichever suits your needs best when you download.

 

[inspectorgadget1]

Thanks Deuce, certainly makes it far easier to get Webm videos from Youtube [up]

 

[redrum]

There's still a converter involved, it's called "youtube".... and you lose all control over quality. Youtube is quite aggressive with compression, particularly if you upload videos smaller than 1080p.

True it's handy if you see something on Youtube you want to use, the best way then to grab it is with a youtube downloader browser extension. If you have Firefox, there's a few extensions which place a button on the page and simply press it to download the video.

 

[breezerHOG1]

I would recommend Any Video Converter, its pretty common as its free and not filled with malware

 

[Mr Deuce]

There's still a converter involved, it's called "youtube".... and you lose all control over quality. Youtube is quite aggressive with compression, particularly if you upload videos smaller than 1080p.

True it's handy if you see something on Youtube you want to use, the best way then to grab it is with a youtube downloader browser extension. If you have Firefox, there's a few extensions which place a button on the page and simply press it to download the video.

Ok, so obviously it's still a converter.. But a lot of people don't want the hassle of finding and using a converter, and realistically the YT quality drop is probably less than most people would get from a converter unless they understand all the settings. And given the video is to be re-rendered in game anyway, the small quality drop imposed by YT is not really relevant imo. It's so much easier and quicker to upload to YT than it is to transcode yourself. I have a fast workstation but honestly, on a large 1080p video file YT is actually quicker these days. It's really impressive actually.

Any decent YT extensions you can recommend for Chrome? Or has Google shut the door on that one..?

I would recommend Any Video Converter, its pretty common as its free and not filled with malware

For those that want to do it themselves and also edit, that is a very good tool for free - I used to use it before going on to Adobe

 

[Slasher1]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

Edit: Is there a limit to the file size? Or to the video length?

 

[redrum]

It's so much easier and quicker to upload to YT than it is to transcode yourself.

LOL, not a chance. If you know how to use your converter software, it will be quicker and easier than uploading to youtube.

Click "open file", choose "webm profile" then choose destination folder, then click "convert". Very quick. Tweaking the quality settings is optional. It's nice having the option to crop of change resolution before converting. I use Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate which is fast, easy, flexible. I paid for it years ago, get lifetime updates, all good.

But hey, your tip is worthwhile. Like I said youtube quality is fine if the source video is 1080p, but if your video is less than 1080, the resulting quality is bad (Maybe I'm fussy about quality.)