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Idea #17201: One/Two click - All-in-one file converter from Nautilus

bug This idea is a duplicate of Idea #8316: A media converter for Ubuntu.
Written by Umang the 11 Jan 09 at 14:32. Related project: Nautilus. Status: New
Rationale
Converting file formats is something everyone has to do. Whether making it into a format that those that aren't on Ubuntu can access, or to upload different versions on a website. Right now, we need to open files in editing softwares and convert them. I have two ideas that could simplify this process.

Aim: We should be able to convert file formats (.gif to .png, .jpg, etc OR .doc to .odf, .pdf, .rtc, .txt, etc OR .tar.gz to .zip OR .wav to .ogg, .mp3, etc)

IDEA #1: (Will be a little harder to make and manage)
A sub-menu for the right-click menu for files that says "Convert to..." and gives a list of appropriate file formats. Click the correct file format and get a dialogue box asking for new name and a few options.



IDEA #2: (Should be easier to make, but will require more clicking for users):
Right-click a file -> "Convert file format"
Get list of appropriate formats available. If conversion libraries/codecs are not available, prompt the user to install them with instructions.
Once format is chosen, give a similar dialogue box to that in IDEA #1 (name and options).


This can make Ubuntu easier to move to also, as you can convert your files to different formats easily. Features such as multiple file convert and a summary of format features before conversion can also be added later.

Let us look forward to an All-in-one file format converter for Ubuntu!

Edit: Some details that I missed out (and some that were pointed out in the first comment):
- The integration in Nautilus, I expect, would be restricted to being a script or plugin.
- Though this feature could just be a GUI that would load, or prompt you to install, the program that will convert the file/files, I would love it if we could make all this happen within one application itself, rather than jumping back and forth between many.
- The program (if it does the converting itself) need not have all the formats to convert to. The formats can be plugins into this all-in-one converter. So people can develop plugins for different file types and others can just plug them into the converter. This means the converter doesn't always need to be developed by developers and that the basic application will be small in size.

116
votes
closed
Solution #2: Nautilus Converter Plugin
Written by doctormo the 15 Jan 09 at 03:25.
A standard python based plugin architecture for allowing conversions between different files based on mime types. Creates a right click menu for any of those types and converts to any compatible format using existing tools:

https://launchpad.net/nautilus-converter

PIL based images conversions currently work flawlessly. Audio and Video transcoding via gstreamer needs work, but code exists for it already. Document format shifting would work and use openoffice.org, but it crashes a great deal.

Either way, as more file types become convertible, you only have to add the code as a plugin to the existing code.
-45
votes
closed
Solution #3: Convert if file extension is changed
Written by plantboy1 the 19 Jan 09 at 01:05.
Instead of (or in addition to) having a right-click menu to convert a file, I think that one should be able to convert a file simply by changing its file extension (but obviously be smart enough to not even attempt *.jpg to *.ogg type things). Where a file can be converted and it's reasonable to do so, Nautilus should ask if the file should be converted (or have a prefs option to just do it without asking).

Propose your solution

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Comments
Dazed_75 wrote on the 11 Jan 09 at 16:35
Good idea but assigning it to the wrong place. Basically what you are looking for is an open ended file converter coordinator which can be configured to run other conversion utilities. Then you want it to plug into the right click menu and probably have a GUI that pops up to confirm the conversion when there is only one defined for the file type or to choose one.

Further, you would want it to be able to define what software to use for new conversions.

In any case, nothing in nautilus itself would change.

edm1 wrote on the 11 Jan 09 at 17:21
We have different formats for a reason. PNG, GIF and JPEG are not the same. Nor are TXT, PDF, ODF, DOC. They each do their own things and conversion between formats is likely to lose some of their functionality.

young wrote on the 11 Jan 09 at 17:40
@edm1
imho, users who would want this functionality are already well aware of the differences.

Eldmannen wrote on the 11 Jan 09 at 17:52
Anyone who transcodes a PNG to a JPG, or a MP3 to an OGG, I will punch him in the nuts really hard.

This will be massively abused by clueless noobs who transcode from a lossy source and don't understand that it is a bad idea.

young wrote on the 11 Jan 09 at 19:14
actually, PNG is lossless, and JPG is lossy.

and also, why shouldn't people convert their music files from mp3 to ogg, if they decide they want to use a completely open and patent-free format?

kenneth.venken wrote on the 11 Jan 09 at 23:38
I agree that for some files a simple way of converting would be handy. Probably only for sending files over the internet.
So perhaps we could add: convert to pdf to documents.

But this should probably be an option when sending files to friends. And should probably not be used as an explicit option in a menu. Remember that most people will never use this feature.

I agree that non free files should have an option to convert them to an open free format

cheesehead (Brainstorm moderator) wrote on the 12 Jan 09 at 01:52
This would be a pretty cool Nautilus plug-in or stand-alone app.

jahisthebalance wrote on the 12 Jan 09 at 02:02
This would be so awesome, especially for those of us that stream things to set top boxes that are very picky.

My PS3 for instance won't play a very wide array of popular formats. To transcode things in linux is not the most fun thing in the world at present with no really easy to use native apps.

This would be the exact opposite of the way things are done presently.

Seph_VII wrote on the 12 Jan 09 at 11:15
BEST.IDEA.EVER.

No more messing around with command line-based conversion tools to make files work on your MP4 player or console, no more having to open Gimp to convert a PNG to a gif you can use as an avatar!

This would be an amazing innovation.

simon_ives wrote on the 14 Jan 09 at 01:23
This would be a great addition.

There are a few options in the repos and elsewhere that incorporate some of this functionality:

nautilus-script-audio-convert (Universe)
nautilus-image-converter (Universe)

Integrating these features into a single file convert script, and with better GUI management, would be great.

Converting formats is a necessary evil in today's world. There is no reason why, however, that the original file can't be maintained (in the case of lossless to lossy formats for example). Some websites will only accept files in specific formats, and some audio devices will only accept specific formats too. In my personal experience as a University student much of the work I had to submit had to be in certain formats. I could only submit papers in .doc format, audio had to be .mp3 or .wav, and video had to be .avi. When you've got a lot of files to convert (especially if you're not familiar with *nix/Ubuntu) a nautilus extension is very useful.

Nait wrote on the 15 Jan 09 at 19:52
there is also a Audio/Video/Image/Text Convert nautilius-script in gnome-look
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Audio%2BVideo%2BImage%2BText+Convert ?content=92533

bpepple wrote on the 16 Jan 09 at 15:19
There's also the nautilus-sound-converter extension which uses gstreamer.

http://code.google.com/p/nautilus-sound-converter/

carlholmberg wrote on the 19 Jan 09 at 15:34
I agree with edm1 that this is'nt such a good idea because of the confusion it would create with new users – i.e. "How come my picture now looks blurry when i zoom?" or "What do you mean you want the file in a hi-res format, I just changed the type with right-click?!".

Imho all transcoding should be done by a application specifically meant for it, unless the user is made perfectly aware that the quality and/or ediiting abilities will change. Maybe an easy-to-use batch-converter should be included by default instead.

young wrote on the 19 Jan 09 at 18:08
@carlholmberg

what is a hi-res format? i've heard of lossless, lossy, or compressed formats, but resolution is independent of format...

anyway, you're underestimating users.

there can also be a description saying something like "use this format for small web images", and it would always keep the original, so there is no loss in information.


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