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.