I am trying to make a video compilation, and the fact that all my video clips are encoded in various different codecs/formats is causing me tons of grief. Is there a program out there (prefferably free) that can re-encode just about any format, so I can put all these clips into one video type, using one codec?
yes, there are many. have a search though our software section here. you may need more than one program, depending on how many different formats/codecs you have, and what you want your output format to be. check out here: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_encoders/ You can also check out the guides section here, there might be a guide or two that can help you with your converting/encoding. http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/