Free Studio is a “complete multimedia package” developed by DVDVideoSoft.
This is what the manufacturer says about it …
“Free Studio gives you the tools to: – download and convert YouTube video to MP4 and MP3 for any computer, Apple, Android or Windows gadget;
– convert video and audio files between different formats or for iPhone, iPad, iPod, Windows and Android devices;
– edit video and audio with minimum time and efforts;
– make screen captures and record videos from the desktop;
– record video and audio from Skype;
– upload video and music to YouTube and Facebook;
– download files from YouTube, Instagram, Dailymotion, … “
So if you want to download a Youtube video in flash format, or convert it to mp4 or wmv for some reason, or you are not interested in the video but to directly convert a Youtube video clip to mp3 audio format, go to “Downloaders” & select the appropriate tool. Go to www.youtube.com, copy the web address of the video you want, paste it in the selected downloader program & go. The other tools are equally easy to use.
To merely download a Youtube video, simply select Free Youtube Download. To get Michael Jackson song from Youtube, not as a video BUT in mp3 format, select => free youtube to mp3 converter. Under “Tools” => Options => Output, you can find out where the output is being saved or you can change this.
Take sometime to look at the settings and the other programs. The other day, a friend had a video he had recorded with his cellphone, which was however not upright. We used the Editors => “free video flip and rotate” to rotate it, etc
Download Free Studio
You can get this in one package (ca. 70Mb) or download individual programs from http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm Supported OS: Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP SP3. I think it makes much more sense to look for “Freestudio” which has all these other programs & install it. It seems DVDVideoSoft now uses its own downloader manager, meaning the download file is small one (3.4mb), which when you execute, you need to be connected to the internet to download the rest of the components. This makes downloading & later installing offline not possible.
Installation
After accepting the license & setting the installation path (using the suggested one in C:\Program Files …) , you are offered one or more unconnected programs, usually JUNK, supposedly recommended by DVDVideoSoft. Select the custom installation method & unselect the “offered junk”. Make sure you DO NOT select them & do NOT just click “Next”. I had 3 offers! At the end, it makes sense to accept the desktop shortcut in the window which comes af.
Alternatives
I cannot quickly think of any program that has such a combination of tools, so a comparison is hard. What you can compare is with alternatives to the individual programs, such as the Youtube downloader, or free video converter, or audio editor, etc. with so much functionality, but a simple Google search will lead you to many results. As far as converting is concerned, iWisoft Free Video Converter from http://www.easy-video-converter.com … It’s simple to use, you can even install it on a USB/flash drive, it’s fast and if I remember well, it does not limit the size of the video you convert. Some free versions limit you to 320 x 240 pixels and so on. The manufacturer’s description:
iWisoft Free Video Converter can fast convert videos between all popular formats like AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, XviD, MP4, H.264/AVC, AVCHD, FLV, MKV, RM, MOV, 3GP, and audio MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, AAC, AC3, OGG. Directly convert video for playback on your PSP, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PS3, Xbox, Zune, Creative Zen, Archos and other digital multimedia devices.
For more & the rest, just have a look at the other programs highlighted on this site.