The CatConverter is a simple application for converting video files, this will help with the following:

• Films can be targeted at specific audience types. The sliding bar states what the final output will be like.(Technical information; the files are converted to the Audio-Visual Interleave format using the free and open-source Xvid codec).
• Sharing and viewing films made by the CatConvertor will be easier as they will all have been made to similar specifications (they will play on the free and open-source media player, VLC Media Player, which will come bundled with CatBot ).

You can install the application by installing the catconverter.exe file.

To do this, right click on the link below and choose Save Link as (Firefox) or Save Target as (IE)

Once the CatConverter is installed in the location of your choice, running catconverter.exe will open the following window:

Using the top input box (File to convert), click on the button marked 'Browse' and select the location of the file you wish to convert. Accepted file formats include Windows Media Player (.WMA), QuickTime (.MOV), MPEG,(.MPG & .MP4) and Audio-Video Interleave (.AVI).

In the second input box, (Output file) use the browse button to choose the output location and enter a filename. You don't need to add a file extension as all outputted files are done so as Audio-Video Interleave (.AVI with the Xvid Codec). This will place the files in a standard format and make it easer for users to play and use the files.

Next you will see a slider bar with which you can choose the compression rate of your output file. Pushing the slider to the far-left will result in lower quality video with a smaller file size, and pushing it to the far-right will result in higher quality video, but with a larger file size. Smaller files are quicker to download, but are of lower quality, larger files are slower to download but good for re-use.

As you make adjustments using this slider-bar, the CatConverter will display the Estimated Size of the output file and make recommendations using the boxes entitled Advantages and Disadvantages to help you make the choice that is most appropriate for your file and how you wish people to use it.

Once you have chosen the compression rate, press the start button to begin the conversion. You will see the progress bar at the bottom of the screen begin to move. Once it has filled, the file is converted and you will see it appear in the output folder you have chosen. You can now use the CatConverter to convert another video file or close the application.