Simple Video Converter

How to build a simple video converter in C#.

Video Input

As video input we use the Wildlife.wmv HD movie from the Internet Archive. The original video format is WMV 720p, 16:9, 1280 x 720.

Code

In just under 50 lines of code this snippet is a fully functional video converter. It will take any input supported by AVBlocks and will convert it to an iPad HD 720p H.264 video in MP4 container.

using PrimoSoftware.AVBlocks;

namespace SimpleConverter
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Library.Initialize();

            var inputInfo = new MediaInfo() {
                InputFile = "Wildlife.wmv"
            };

            if (inputInfo.Load()) {
                var inputSocket = MediaSocket.FromMediaInfo(inputInfo);
                var outputSocket = MediaSocket.FromPreset(Preset.Video.Generic.MP4.Base_H264_AAC);
                outputSocket.File = "Wildlife.mp4";

                using (var transcoder = new Transcoder()) {
                    transcoder.Inputs.Add(inputSocket);
                    transcoder.Outputs.Add(outputSocket);

                    if (transcoder.Open())
                    {
                        transcoder.Run();
                        transcoder.Close();
                    }
                }
            }

            Library.Shutdown();
        }
    }
}

How to run

Follow the steps to create a C# console application in Visual Studio but in Program.cs use the code from this article.

Download the Wildlife.wmv HD movie from the Internet Archive and save it in bin/x64/Debug/net6.0 under the project’s directory.

Run the application in Visual Studio. Wait a few seconds for the Transcoder to finish. The converted file Wildlife.mp4 will be in the bin/x64/Debug/net6.0 directory.