Advances in video technology have led to some stunning entertainment experiences, and the good thing is that the internet widely supports video transportation these days. However, if videos were to be transported in their raw form, bandwidth consumption would be huge. For this reason, video compression is very important as it makes video distribution a lot easier over the internet.

Part 1: About MPEG and H.264

MPEG which stands for (Moving Picture Experts Group) is one kind of a video format that compresses them by using either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compression. For this reason, MPEG video is popular with online video distribution. The MPEG video format can hold data compressed at such a high rate because it stores only changes that occur between each frame, instead of keeping every frame of the video. H.264 video is also an open and licensed standard technology for video compression, which makes it one type of WebM video. H.264 video seems more ideal as it has several advantages over MPEG video. Typically, H.264 video is compressed as it transmits itself over the internet and then it decompresses itself when it reaches its final destination. H.264 video is also a newer standard for video compression which has more advanced, faster and efficient compression technologies than MPEG video. The image quality is also better and playback is more fluent than MPEG. Let us discuss how to convert the MPEG video to H.264 Video by using some popular video converters in this guide.

Part 2: Convert MPEG to H.264 with Leawo Video Converter

According to TopTenReviews, “Leawo Video Converter excels at converting video to a wide range of file formats that are viewable on anything from televisions to mobile devices. This video converter software can read and write nearly all file types we looked for.” This is because this professional converter supports an impressive 180+ video and audio formats. This program also has a useful array of customization tools for video editing and customization, which will allow you to trim, crop, watermark, convert from 2D videos to 3D videos and adjust the picture values of a video before you convert it. To start with Leawo Video Converter, download and install it on your computer (available for Windows and Mac OS). Here I'm going to use Leawo Video Converter for Mac to show Mac users how to convert MPEG to H.264

Step 1: Import your MPEG video file(s). Leawo Video Converter is integrated into Leawo Prof. Media which has 8 modules. Click “Video Converter” from the main interface, and when you launch the module, click “Add Video”. For your convenience, you can also drag your video file(s) right into the application.

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Step 2: Subtitles and audio tracks. As soon as you import your video file(s), you will instantly see the drop down menus of the subtitle, audio track and angle (if available). Click the corresponding drop down menu, all of which have tick boxes if you wish to make any changes before moving to the next step.

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Step 3: Selecting H.264 from the profile menu. Just before the green “Convert” button, you will see a button (by default its labeled as “MP4 Video) which changes depending on the profile selection. Click it and from the drop down menu, select “Change”. Next you click “Format”, then under “Common Video” find and click “H.264 MP4”.

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Step 4: Video editing (optional). You can fiddle around with the advanced video editor, which is also very easy to use. As said earlier, there are a handful of tools you can use, like cropping, trimming, watermarking, conversion of 2D videos to 3D videos and much more. To enter this menu, click the video editing icon on the video you wish to edit, choose your settings and click “OK” when you are done with this menu.

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Step 5: Start conversion. Click the green “Convert” button. Once clicked, a small sidebar will pop up. Please set a directory under “Save to” box for containing the output files. Click the “Convert” button at the bottom of sidebar, which is shown above, to start conversion process.

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Part 3: Convert MPEG to H.264 with Totally Free Converter

This software tool is totally free as the name suggests, but the down side is there is only support for the Windows operating system. You will spend a little time installing this program, and the main application launches in a pretty compact window that poses no accommodation problems. However, you have no buttons to import your MPEG video files, and you will have to stick to dragging. It supports about 45 video and audio formats including H.264. There are no quality settings whatsoever, and only one task is done at a time. To start, download and install this software.

Step 1: Launch the program. The main interface has two buttons. Click “Video” to start, then drag your MPEG video file, since it can only do one job at a time.
Step 2: Choose the output format. A dialog pops up requiring you to select the location to save, the name, as well as the format from a drop-down menu, in this case H.264 video.
Step 3: Totally Free Converter will do the rest. Wait for it to finish encoding your video, and when it has finished locate it to the saved location.

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Part 4: Convert MPEG to H.264 with DivX Converter

DivX Converter is another software program that can support MPEG video and convert it to H.264. It has a lot of useful, built-in options for inputs and outputs, along with editing tools for tweaking the videos you want to convert. However, this software is not free and you will have to pay for more features. For instance, the MPEG codec and a few others are only available as free trials that you have to pay to use after a certain amount of time. This software does not include a video editor whatsoever. To start with DivX converter, download and install it on your Windows or Mac OS computer.

Step 1: Drag and drop your MPEG video file(s) from any folder on your computer onto DivX Converter or click on the “Add files” button and select your videos there.
Step 2: Choose a video profile from the drop-down menu. Select the High Definition options, either “720p” or “1080p” which combine H.264 in them. Other HD options are not free of use and you will have to pay.
Step 3: Click the “Start” button once you have chosen your profile, and the software will begin the download. Once finished, it will show you the location of the converted video.

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Part 5: Convert MPEG to H.264 with Miro Video Converter

This software program is free and open source and you can convert to most videos to MP4, Ogg Theora, WebM and for custom mobile devices. Unfortunately, you cannot adjust any settings like file size, resolution, and you also cannot change some of the presets which produce poor video quality. This software program also lacks a video editor, which is a big disadvantage if you would like to edit your videos. It is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. Download, install, and launch it.

Step 1: Import your MPEG video file(s) by drag and drop from any folder on your computer onto Miro Video Converter or click on the “Add files” button and select your videos from its saved location.
Step 2: Once you have imported your video file(s), click the “Format” drop down menu and select WebM.
Step 3: When you have finished, click the green “Convert Now” button to start the process. Once finished, the application will let you know.

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Conclusion

Although Miro Video Converter and Totally Free Converter are free and open source programs, they lack a lot of features like the video editor and they also support way fewer video formats. DivX Converter is also a good converting program, but it lacks a video editor and is not as advanced as Leawo Video converter. Leawo Video Converter clearly stands out as the best converting program in this case because it has a useful array of advanced customization tools for video editing and customization, which will allow you to trim, crop, watermark, convert from 2D videos to 3D videos and adjust the picture values of a video before you convert it. As said earlier, this software program also supports more than 180 video and audio types, and you are guaranteed 100% of the video quality whenever you do a conversion job. When starting a job, we all want to finish it at the fastest time possible, and this professional video converter software is capable of converting video and audio files at 6X faster speed. Leawo Video Converter has a lot more to offer!