“I have been using Format Factory to handle media encoding for a long time. But it has an obvious shortcoming that Format Factory can’t handle encrypted Blu-ray and DVD movies. This is a big disadvantage since nowadays most HD movies are in Blu-ray and DVD format. Do you know any alternatives to Format Factory? What are the best Format Factory alternatives 2020?”

Format Factory is particularly good for people using photos, music or video files. You can convert music files to or from MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, WAV and more, video to or from MP4, 3GP, AVI, WMV, SWF and others, and convert images from or to JPG, BMP, PNG, TIF and even Google’s WebP format.

You can rip music directly to an audio file, and rip unprotected Blu-ray/DVDs to video. It’s particularly useful if you want to convert files to run on phones and other mobile devices, with support for 3GP and various other mobile video formats. What’s more, it’s free.

However, there are various disadvantages of Format Factory. It downloads and installs extra tools, has no support for encrypted Blu-ray/DVD movies, etc. Therefore, many people have been looking for alternatives to Format Factory. Well, here we would like to show you some best Format Factory alternatives.

Part 1: Features of Format Factory

Format Factory is a wonderful and free media converter tool that provides a nice balance between useful features without being overwhelming. You could use Format Factory to freely convert media files and even burn DVD movies for totally free. There's no need to download multiple programs to convert files, or rely on slow online tools. Format Factory is powerful, customizable, and completely free. The below are the features of Format Factory we have summarized for you:

  1. Convert music CD to MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC....
  2. Convert video to MP4, 3GP, AVI, WMV....
  3. Even convert Blu-ray/DVD movies to video files in various formats.
  4. Adjust the output profile parameters like video codec, audio codec, bit rate, aspect ratio, frame rate, channel, etc.
  5. Join multiple video files together into one big file.
  6. Convert media files in batch.
  7. Edit media files with various media editing features available.

With all these wonderful features, Format Factory has been one of the top media converter tools to help you handle media conversion issues.

Part 2. How to Convert Video with Format Factory

As mentioned above, Format Factory could convert video files to various formats, rip and convert DVD movies, and even burn DVD movies. Let’s firstly learn how to convert video with Format Factory.

Follow the below steps to learn how to use Format Factory to convert video files between various formats.

  1. Download and install Format Factory on your computer. Meanwhile, get source video files ready for converting.
  2. Launch Format Factory and then from the left panel, select one video format you want to convert source video files to, say MP4 video, from the “Video” tab.
  3. On the next screen, you will need to import your video files to Format Factory. Click on “Add File” button to browse and add source video files for converting.
  4. From the “Profile” drop-down list, you can select video quality and size. You can also set Video Stream, Audio Stream, Additional Subtitle, Watermark, Bitrate, and more. Basically, the default setting should work fine.
  5. From the top tool bar, click on “Start” button to start convert video files to the file format you have selected.

Then you only need to wait for the video conversion to complete. It will be quite easy and quick. Actually, you could also use Format Factory to convert DVD and even Blu-ray movies to video files in the steps mentioned above. But keep in mind that Format Factory only handles non-protected Blu-ray/DVD movies. If you want to convert copy-protected Blu-ray/DVD movies, you could turn to Leawo Blu-ray Ripper, a comprehensive Blu-ray/DVD converter tool that could handle both copy-protected and protection-free Blu-ray/DVD movies.

Part 3. Best Format Factory Alternative 2020 - Leawo Prof. Media

Is there any alternative to Format Factory that could do all Format Factory could and couldn’t do? What is the best Format Factory alternative? Leawo Prof. Media is the answer.

As an all-inclusive media converter suite, Leawo Prof. Media includes all the features Format Factory has and provides you those Format Factory doesn’t have. As the best Format Factory alternative, Leawo Prof. Media could:

  1. Convert Blu-ray/DVD/video files to videos/audios in 200+ file formats like MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, etc.
  2. Burn video/photos to Blu-ray/DVD disc, folder and/or ISO image file according to your own needs.
  3. Download online videos rom 1000+ video sharing sites like YouTube, Veoh, Vevo, Facebook, etc.
  4. Copy and back Blu-ray/DVD movies to computer hard drive or blank drive in 1:1, movie-only or custom mode.
  5. Turn photos into photo slideshow video and save in various formats.
  6. Remove Cinavia protection upon Blu-ray discs and help you get Cinavia-free Blu-ray copies.
  7. Convert 2D to 3D, edit Blu-ray/DVD/video files, select subtitles and audio tracks, etc.
  8. Adjust output video and audio parameters like video codec, audio codec, bit rate, aspect ratio, frame rate, etc.
  9. Burn Blu-ray/DVD content with desired disc menu templates.

Follow the below guide to learn how to use Leawo Prof. Media to convert Blu-ray/DVD/video files. Firstly, download and install Leawo Prof. Media on your computer.

Step 1: Launch Leawo Prof. Media

On Leawo Prof. Media program interface, open “Convert” menu to enter the “Convert” module.

Step 2: Add source video files

Under the “Convert” module, you could directly drag and drop source media files, or click “Add Video” button to browse and load video files from your computer.

Attention: If you are going to load Blu-ray/DVD files, Leawo Prof. Media offers 3 different content loading modes: Full Movie, Main Movie and Custom Mode. Full Movie allows you to import all titles, and Main Movie only imports the longest title by default but allows you to switch, while under Custom Mode you could freely choose any title(s) for loading. Choose the one according to your needs and load source Blu-ray movies.

Step 3: Set output format

Hit the button next to the “Add Photo” button and then click “Change” option to enter the “Profile” panel. Choose output format from “Format” or “Device” group according to your needs.

Click the “Edit” option on the drop-down panel next to the “Add Photo” button and then you can adjust the output video and audio parameters like video codec, video bit rate, aspect ratio, resolution, audio codec, sample rate, bit rate, channel, etc.

Step 4: Edit media files (optional)

Now, let’s focus on how to trim and crop video files within the best VLC media player alliterative for file size reduction. In each loaded video title, click the “edit” icon to enter the editing panel for trimming and cropping. You could then trim video length, crop video size, add image/text watermark, adjust effect, apply 3D, remove noise, etc.

Step 5: Set output directory and start converting

On the main interface, click the big green “Convert” button and then save output directory in the “Save to” option. After that, click the “Convert” option to start converting.

See, Leawo Prof. Media does what Format Factory can do for you. It even does this much better. You get more other features from Leawo Prof. Media.

Part 4. Other Format Factory Alternatives

Besides Leawo Prof. Media, you could still get other Format Factory alternatives to help you convert video files. There are free tools and also paid tools as Format Factory alternatives.

1. Freemake Video Converter

Freemake Video Converter provides a good selection of output options, including AVI, WMV, MPG and MP4. It can also burn videos to DVD or Blu-ray, and has preset profile for games consoles, smartphones and tablets. You can even export the video straight to YouTube.

2. HandBrake

HandBrake is one of the most popular video transcoder tools available in the market that help you to encode videos, DVDs and even Blu-ray movies to MP4/MKV files for various media devices and players. You could even cut media files within HandBrake. HandBrake is the only completely free piece of video conversion software on the list. It’s open source and available for download on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. However, HandBrake alone doesn’t handle encrypted DVD and Blu-ray movies. you need to install 3rd-party disc decryption tools like libdvdcss for HandBrake to do this.

3. MakeMKV

MakeMKV is your one-click solution to convert video that you own into free and patents-unencumbered format that can be played everywhere. It converts the video clips from proprietary (and usually encrypted) disc into a set of MKV files, preserving most information but not changing it in any way. Additionally, MakeMKV can instantly stream decrypted video without intermediate conversion to wide range of players, so you may watch Blu-ray and DVD discs with your favorite player on your favorite OS or on your favorite device.

Part 5. Conclusion

If you are looking for an effective alternative to Format Factory, the 4 tools mentioned above would be enough for you. Among these 4 Format Factory alternatives, Leawo Prof. Media provides you all-inclusive solutions covering Blu-ray, DVD, video, image, audio, online video, ISO file, etc. MakeMKV and HandBrake are free tools, but they have very limited output profiles, and HandBrake couldn’t even handle encrypted Blu-ray/DVD content alone. Without doubt, Leawo Prof. Media is the best Format Factory alternative.