Works on WIndows as well as on the Mac platform. Go and download the free MPEG StreamClip software. There are a ton of applications out there, you can pay for, that can convert video but you will not get better results at all, just because some money changed hands.

Download the MPEG StreamClip from the web site of Squared5 and install on your system. Get the application fired up on your computer and we will convert some video for free.

Easiest way to start is to drag and drop a video file on the MPEG StreamClip application. Use the scroll bar to see your video, you can scrub through the whole thing if you want. The start and stop points of your conversion can be set to if you like. Choose to remove a section from the start and from the end easily.

IPad video conversion needs to have proper settings

Setting it with a preset setting for quick set up

Keyboard shortcut of Ctrl-Cmd-E or with the file menu and choose Export to MPEG-4. Hit the button in the window for iTunes. This setting is not optimal but still good – Apple TV at 1280 by 720 HD. Use the slider to increase the quality, just know the conversion will take longer to complete.

Set a smaller data rate if you want a smaller file. You could use 2 or 3 and the maximum is 5. With the settings for the audio have a maximum of 160Kbps for it to play on the iPad. Only check the box to de-interlace if your video is not progressive. Movies tend to be progressive I have seen a camcorder that puts out interlaced video, it is much better quality when de-interlaced. You will have you video in a while after you have clicked on the button that says Make Movie.

Best to take the time to set it right

Choose the other radio button and put in the frame size of 1024 by 576. The iPad doesn’t have to do any down scaling with a 16 by 9 video. To use the same settings again without having to remember them, save the settings before hitting the Make Movie button. You can also check out video monkey iPad.