I am VERY new to linux, so I apologize ahead of time. I am trying to find a simple to use program that will convert avi files to a format I can use on my PS3. Most avi files will play, but these won't. I know divx works, and most avi's work. I would like a program where I don't have to use a command line if possible. Thanks in advance.

i use Prism Video Converter. Yea, its for Windows, but it runs PERFECTLY in Wine. That seems to be your best choice as most converters do require the command line. You can find Wine here:[HTML]http://www.winehq.org/[/HTML] and Prism here:[HTML]http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html[/HTML]

Thanks, giving this a try now.

hopefully you enjoy it! i used it for converting stuff for my ps3 too. there should a preset for it all.

I really see no reason why anyone would run wine just to recode a video, unless it's some extremely esoteric codec (not the case) or it's out of laziness.

We have very good encoders which are command lines tools, yes. But we have also graphical frontends for all of them, and besides that, I can't see what's the problem with command lines tools, though I guess that's about tastes.

Just look around a bit and you will see dozens of them. For example, in the site of mplayer you can see frontends for mplayer and mencoder:

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/projects.html

And that's just for mplayer. You have ffmpeg, xine and some others, which their respective frontends as well. I can't advise you to use one or another, just look around and google a bit. Converting videos to divx is not a mysterious operation, millions of persons do it, so it shouldn't be something difficult to do.

I can't advise you about frontends just because I use mencoder in command line. If you are not scared about the command line, you might find this useful for dvds:

http://www.bunkus.org/dvdripping4lin..._mencoder.html

There are lots of howtos and wikis around with examples, a random one:

http://wiki.qwdrama.com/Mencoder_howto

Try avidemux is has nice GUI and presets for ipod and PS3.

@ soppy
Please don't recommend running Window$ programs through wine unless an equivalent native program does not exist. Linux is not Window$, if you want to run all Window$ programs go use Window$, wouldn't that be the best option ?