Free Studio is a
freeware
Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...
set of
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
programs developed by DVDVideoSoft. The programs are available in one integrated package and also as separate downloads ("Free Studio Manager" is included in both).
Overview
The Free Studio software bundle consists of about 48 programs, grouped into several sections: "
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
", "MP3 & Audio", "CD-DVD-BD", "DVD & Video", "Photo & Images", "Mobiles", "Apple Devices", and "
3D".
The largest group is the DVD & Video section containing 14 different applications. Mobiles section is the second largest group with 13 programs. However, the YouTube section, particularly YouTube downloading programs, has gained more popularity among users.
The programs have been tested and endorsed by a dozen of software portals and have won awards from these sites.
As far as
demographics
Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration.
Demographic analysis examin ...
is concerned, Free Studio has the highest popularity in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is also popular in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Some of the programs in the package are
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
.
History
DVDVideoSoft project was launched in 2006 by company Digital Wave Ltd. for
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped
* Photographic development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
* Development hell, when a proje ...
to produce
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
application. The founders distributed paid software as an affiliate at the beginning, later their own products appeared on the site. Free YouTube Download was the first successful program, then DVDVideoSoft created and launched several other 'Free YouTube' applications. Later on upon users' requests DVDVideoSoft started developing other kinds of applications including media converters etc. Today DVDVideoSoft offers up to 49 different programs for
video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
,
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
and
image processing
An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a pr ...
individually or integrated into the ''Free Studio''
package.
Features
DVDVideoSoft YouTube programs can be used to download YouTube videos in their original format and convert them to
AVI,
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
,
MP4,
WMV etc. or different audio formats.
YouTube section contains Free Video Call Recorder for Skype button, but the program itself is not included into FS installation (it has to be downloaded and installed separately).
The "
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...
& Audio" section consists of the programs which convert
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
files between different
formats, convert audio files to Flash for web, extract audio from video files, edit audio files (Free Audio Dub), rip and burn
CDs.
Enclosed in the CD-DVD-BD section are the applications that enable users to burn files and folders to discs, to convert videos to a DVD format and vice versa, to burn CDs, and to copy music from audio CDs into files.
The "DVD and Video" section contains several desktop video and DVD converters. Some of the programs can flip, rotate and cut (Free Video Dub) videos.
One of the most popular programs from the section is Free Video Dub. Converted videos are now, contrary to previous versions, watermarked if no paid membership is present.
Free Studio includes several applications for
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
phones,
iPod
The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
s and other devices.
The Mobiles section contains a dozen video converters for various mobile devices such as
cell phones
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive Telephone call, calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phone ...
,
Tablets and
Game consoles
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connect ...
. They convert videos to play them on (
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
,
HTC
HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...
,
LG phones,
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
/
Sony Ericsson
Sony Mobile Communications Inc., originally Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, was a Multinational corporation, multinational consumer electronics and telecommunications company, best known for its Mobile phones, mobile phone products. The ...
,
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
,
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
,
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
phones, etc.)
The "Photo & Images" section incorporates the programs for image conversion and resizing, extracting
JPEG
JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...
frames from videos (Free Video To JPEG Converter), recording screen activities, making
screenshot
A screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is an analog or digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by a (film) camera shooting the screen or the operating system
An operating sys ...
s (Free Screen Recorder).
The 3D section is composed of the programs to make
3D videos and 3D images. There are several algorithms which allow to create different types of 3D images.
Supported formats
Video formats
Input: .avi; .ivf; .div;
.divx;
.mpg;
.mpeg; .mpe; .mp4;
.m4v; .wmv;
.asf;
.webm;
.mkv;
.mov;
.qt;
.ts;
.mts; .m2t;
.m2ts;
.mod; .tod; .vro;
.dat; .3gp2;
.3gpp;
.3gp;
.3g2;
.dvr-ms
DVR-MS (''Microsoft Digital Video Recording'') is a proprietary video and audio file container format, developed by Microsoft used for storing TV content recorded by Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Multiple data s ...
;
.flv; .f4v;
.amv;
.rm; .rmm; .rv;
.rmvb;
.ogv;
DVD video
Output: .mp4; .wmv; .avi; .mkv; .webm; .flv;
.swf; .mov; .3gp;
.m2ts;
DVD video
Audio formats
Input: .mp3
.wav;
.aac;
.m4a;
.m4b;
.wma;
.ogg;
.flac;
.ra;
.ram;
.amr;
.ape;
.mka;
.tta;
.aiff;
.au
.au is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Australia. It was created on 5March 1986. Domain name policy is managed by .au Domain Administration (auDA). As of July 2018, the registry is operated by Afilias.
History
The dom ...
;
.mpc;
.spx;
.ac3;
audio cd
Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...
Output: .mp3;
.m4a;
.aac; .wav;
.wma; .ogg; .flac; .ape; audio CD
Image formats
Input: .jpg,
.png,
.bmp,
.gif,
.tga
Truevision TGA, often referred to as TARGA, is a raster graphics file format created by Truevision Inc. (now part of Avid Technology). It was the native format of TARGA and VISTA boards, which were the first graphic cards for IBM-compatible ...
Output: .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .tga,
.pdf
Reception
The programs have been tested and endorsed by
Chip Online,
Tucows
Tucows Inc. is an American-Canadian publicly traded Internet services and telecommunications company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and incorporated in Pennsylvania, United States. The company is composed of three independent business ...
, SnapFiles, Brothersoft and
Softonic
Softonic is a Spanish software download platform that distributes, categorizes, and evaluates programs for Windows, Android, and Mac. The platform was founded in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in June 1997.
History
Softonic started in 1997 as a ...
and have won awards from these sites.
As far as demographics is concerned, Free Studio has the highest popularity in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
It is also popular in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
The most popular applications, according to
CNET statistics, include Free YouTube to MP3 Converter, Free Video to MP3 Converter, Free MP4 Video Converter and Free YouTube Download. Other programs with high rank:
Free AVI Video Converter, Free Video Editor, Free Audio Converter and Free Studio in a whole.
Criticism
Free Studio (as can be common for freeware packages
[) is criticized for ]toolbar
The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon), is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...
and Web search engine
A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...
installation. Older versions have also included OpenCandy, which is loaded in automatically, without any request for user approval. There can be difficulties installing only the programs needed without installing bundled extra programs.
In March 2017 DVDVideoSoft announced that it had stopped showing other products' ads during the installation and all the toolbars, search engine installations and OpenCandy were removed.
See also
* Comparison of YouTube downloaders
* List of audio conversion software
References
{{Download managers
Windows multimedia software
Video conversion software
Editing software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supp ...
Editing software
Video editing software
C++ software
Proprietary software that uses Qt
C Sharp software
2008 software
Download managers