SUPER v2011.build.49

SUPER stands for Simplified Universal Player Encoder and Renderer. This handy software utility is a GUI (graphical user interface) for most of the players and encoders that are in widespread use today, making it much easier for the layperson to use them.

Encoding (converting) video and other media files can be a complex task, potentially involving a lot of study and hunting through manuals to find out exactly how to accomplish the things you want to do with your multimedia files. Software utilities for wrangling media files also tend to be expensive. SUPER lets you encode, convert or play virtually any media file without needing specialist knowledge. As well as converting files from one format to another, you can also use SUPER to join files together.

Operating SUPER is easy. You just launch the program, open up the folder containing the files you want to work on, then drag and drop them into the program's interface. Once the file is loaded, you can select the format that you want to convert it to. SUPER does the rest. You can even instruct SUPER to output the audio track as one file type and the video track as another. SUPER supports an enormous range of audio and video file types without the need for extra third-party software to be installed. These include formats used by Nokia, Siemens and Sony. Multimedia formats such as Shockwave (.swf) are also supported.

SUPER is not without a few flaws. It's very processor-heavy, and sometimes gauges file sizes wrongly, estimating them as larger than they really are. The advantages outweigh the drawbacks, however.

Pro's: Free, intuitive, easy to install.

Con's: Requires a lot of processing power; overestimates some file sizes.

Conclusion: SUPER is an efficient, simple and free video conversion utility that's perfect for non-experts.