With the multitude of audio and video formats floating around chances are you are bound to come across a certain file type now and then which isn't supported by your ipod, media/dvd player etc. Either that or you may just want the file in a different format or a smaller more compressed version. If this is the case then look no further as Media Coder will cater to all your needs. Media Coder is a audio/video batch transcoder for windows. Supporting almost every digital audio/video format known to man, Media coder allows you to easily transcode one audio or video format to another. All the settings are completely customisable too, so any file size/compression ratio, resolution, bit rate etc is possible. You can also transcode multiple files at once. There are many programs that perform similar functions, but this one has to be one of the best I have come across. Being open source it is also free, so click the link to check it out.

Media Coder - Download Page

These days trying to navigate your way through the video compression format mine field can prove pretty difficult at the best of times. With a severe lack of any universal video compression standard you could end up spending hours searching for the appropriate application or plug in to play your obscure .TXZFN video file you have just downloaded from your favourite Ukrainian self tanning tutorial website. But never fear VLC player has the answer to all your problems. While you won't be getting the slick interface you find on the likes of windows media player or itunes, what you do get is support for just about every audio and video format under the sun. If VLC can't play it the likely hood is nothing can. They also include support for uncompressed DVD video files (.VOB) which is a nice touch and rumour has it some industrious hackers have also started porting the player to Apples 'Jesus Phone'. With over 96 million downloads under it's belt already, the masses appear to be pretty chuffed with this one. It's free to download too, so get clicking.