Reframe For Windows

Introduction
About Reframe
Working with Reframe
Pricing and Support
Conclusion

Introduction

There are several scenarios in which you might get stuck with video file formats. Maybe a video clip is not in the right format to be used within a PowerPoint slide. Or what do you do if you want to create some video for display on a website or mobile application, and you don't want to go into technical terms like frame rates or aspect ratios that most normal mortals don't understand too well.

Well, whatever you opine about this state of affairs. But you should be aware that there's still the need to convert videos between formats and other definitions all the time. Luckily, Reframe from Miraizon is one application that keeps things simple. We already reviewed the Mac version of the product a while ago, and now Miraizon has released a brand new Windows version as well.

About Reframe

Reframe is from Miraizon, a company based in California, USA. Other than Reframe, Miraizon's other product is Cinematize. You can learn more about their products at their site.

Reframe for Windows is a video and audio converter which allows you to convert from one standard or format to another. The application provides pre-defined converting settings, with which even new users can easily convert between PAL and NTSC video, between SD (Standard Definition) and HD (High Definition) video, or from film to video. Reframe supports various input and output file formats such as AVI, MOV, MP4, M4V, MPG, 3GP, AIF, and MP3. The converted movie clips can be used in presentations, can be viewed on iPods or iPhones, or can be uploaded on YouTube.

Our contact at Miraizon for this review was Naoko Miyazaki. Thank you, Naoko.

Working with Reframe

Download the installer, run the setup routine, and follow the instructions. When installed, follow these steps to convert video/audio files using Reframe.

1. Go to your Windows Start menu, and choose All Programs | Miraizon Reframe | Reframe.
2. Doing so opens the Reframe interface, as shown in Figure 1, below.
3. 
   Figure 1: Reframe interface
3. Reframe uses a tabbed interface. The first tab is called Input, where you can import one or multiple video and audio clips. As you can see in Figure 2, below, multiple video files were added.
4. 
   Figure 2: Reframe interface with video files added
5. Click the Edit button to choose an output file name for each of the individual clips. You can also then save the Input List and load it again later for reuse.
4. Now, move on the Video tab, as shown in Figure 3, below.
5. 
   Figure 3: Video tab
5. Under the Video tab, you can select any of the pre-defined video operations, or you can even customize them as you require. Click the Advanced Settings button to access options that allow you to tweak further as required.
6. You can now visit the Audio tab for tweaking audio settings, as shown in Figure 4, below.
7. 
   Figure 4: Audio tab
7. The Audio tab works similarly to the Video tab and also has pre-defined audio operations, so choose these based on your requirements. In addition, there's also the Advanced Settings button to tweak further.
8. To select output options, choose the Output tab, as shown in Figure 5, below.
9. 
   Figure 5: Output tab
9. The Output tab provides several output types and file formats. When you have made your choices, click the Start Processing button, as shown in Figure 5, above, to process all the items of your input list. Depending upon the size of the input files and the complexity involved, processing can take a while.
10. Reframe is optimized to deliver high-performance conversion, but the overall performance (speed) depends on the type of media files you are processing, the machine you are using, and the settings applied. Miraizon does recommend using a machine with multiple CPUs if available for a noticeable increase in performance.

Pricing and Support

Reframe costs $129.95.

Support options include e-mail, phone support, and an online FAQ. The product also includes a User Guide PDF and online Help that can be accessed from within the program.

Conclusion

Reframe is one of those small programs that work indispensably to do the tasks that matter the most to you. You can probably achieve these conversions using a more expensive video editor but that would be terribly cumbersome, and unless you don't need to edit the videos themselves, Reframe may be all you need.