HandBrake is a free and open source transcoding software. It is also available for GNU / Linux and will allow you to convert both audio and video in order to reduce the size of the resulting files.
Furthermore, it has been designed to be simple to use and make life easier for users. Its graphical interface is very intuitive, you only have to add the audio or video files that you want to convert, select the parameters you want in your case (type of output container format, resolution, codec, if you want to optimize it for the web, the destination , ...), and press Start Encode to start ...
The term transcoder differs from encoder. The first is not as well known as the second. It is true that both refer to the same thing in objective terms, that is, the ability to convert or switch from one format to another. But, the difference is in:
- Encode: defines the act of converting an analog source from a digital format. For example, when music is passed from an analog medium such as a cassette to a digital medium such as MP3.
- Transcode: they are conversions from a digital format to another digital format. For example, when you want to go from an AVI format to an MP4.
However, most people use the term "code as generic" to call both situations.
Well, going back to HandBrake, it will allow you to choose the video and audio codecs output and it will decode the input file to re-record the media using the new codec to which you want to convert it (some codecs will allow you to compress data to reduce the size of the final file, even at the cost of losing some final quality ).
Of course, HandBrake supports the most popular video and audio codecs, such as those of the formats MP4 (mpeg4, H264, x264,…), MOV (DivX, WMV, Mpeg2,…), AVI (Divx, Xvid,…), MKV (DivX, Xvid, H264, x264, H265, HEVC,…), FLV ( VP6 and H264 variants), etc.