ARW to FLV Converter

ARW to FLV Converter

An ARW is a single Sony Alpha raw photograph; FLV is Adobe's Flash Video container, a format whose player reached end of life on 31 December 2020. Putting one inside the other is a legacy-pipeline job, not a photo workflow: the converter renders your raw to ordinary pixels and holds that one frame on screen as a short, silent clip. Nothing moves, because a photograph has no timeline, and there is no audio, because a still carries none. If a legacy system is demanding a .flv file, this page explains exactly what you get; if it is not, ARW to MP4 or ARW to JPG is almost certainly the file you actually want.

How to Convert ARW to FLV

1. Upload Your ARW File: Drag and drop your Sony .arw onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. Several raw frames can be queued at once; because raws run large, the upload is usually the slowest part of the job.
2. Set Merge Strategy and Image Duration: "Merge strategy" chooses between "Merge images" (every uploaded photo becomes one continuous FLV) and "Video per image" (one clip per photo). "Image Duration" sets how long each frame is held, from a single frame at 60fps up to 10 seconds per frame; 5 seconds per frame is pre-selected.
3. Pick a Video Codec, Quality Preset, and Background Color: "Video Codec" offers FLV, H.264, Flash Video, and Flash Video (v2), with FLV pre-selected. "Quality Preset" sits at Very High (Recommended), and "Background Color" (White by default) fills any letterbox area left when the photo's shape does not match the video frame.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and download the .flv. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are processed on our servers, and are deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.

ARW Format at a Glance

FLV Format at a Glance

Choosing the Video Codec

The default, FLV, is Sorenson Spark — the H.263-derived codec every Flash-era decoder understands. It is the safest pick when an old authoring tool or server is the reason you are here.

• H.264 puts a modern codec inside the same .flv wrapper. The frame is noticeably cleaner at the same size, but the target has to be able to decode H.264-in-FLV; players from the earliest Flash years cannot.
• Flash Video and Flash Video (v2) are the Flash Screen Video codecs, designed for screencasts rather than photographs. They are lossless, which is why selecting either one removes the Quality Preset control — there is no lossy quality left to trade. On a demosaiced 24-megapixel photograph they produce very large files.
• Whatever you pick, there is no Audio Codec menu on this page. An image source has no sound track, so the converter writes a video-only stream.

When FLV Is the Wrong Target

Almost always, unless something downstream insists on the extension. FLV throws away the raw latitude, discards most of the resolution when the frame is scaled to video size, and lands in a container no browser will play. To view, print, or share the photograph, convert ARW to JPG. If you need the still as a playable clip, ARW to MP4 carries H.264 in a container that works on phones, browsers, TVs, and every modern editor. Keep the original .arw regardless — the FLV is a delivery artefact, not an archive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does converting one ARW to FLV produce a silent, motionless clip?

Because an ARW is a photograph, not footage: there is no timeline, no movement, and no audio inside the file. Converting one raw yields a freeze-frame — the rendered image held for the Image Duration you set, with no pans, no animation, and no sound. The FLV container itself can carry an audio stream, but a still has nothing to fill it, which is why the Audio Codec menu is hidden for image sources. To get an actual sequence you need several ARWs merged together; to add music or narration, convert first and lay the audio over it in a video editor.

Which video codec does the FLV output use by default, and can I change it?

FLV — Sorenson Spark, the H.263-derived Flash Video codec that every Flash-era decoder can read — is pre-selected. Under Video Codec you can switch to H.264 inside the same .flv container for a sharper frame at the same size, or to Flash Video / Flash Video (v2), the lossless Flash Screen Video codecs intended for screencasts. Picking one of the lossless options hides the Quality Preset control, because there is no lossy quality to trade away.

Can anything still play an FLV file?

Not in a browser. Adobe stopped supporting Flash Player on 31 December 2020 and began blocking Flash content from running on 12 January 2021, so browser playback is over. The container itself is not unreadable, though: desktop players that ship their own decoders — VLC and other ffmpeg-based tools — still open FLV files offline, which is usually how people check that a legacy conversion came out right.

Will I lose image quality going from a raw ARW to FLV?

Yes, substantially, and it is inherent to the conversion rather than a tool flaw. The raw's mosaic sensor data must be demosaiced and tone-mapped before it can become a video frame, and that render bakes in white balance, exposure, and colour — the latitude that is the whole point of shooting raw. On top of that, a 24- to 61-megapixel frame is scaled down to a video-sized picture, discarding most of the resolution, and Sorenson Spark is an old, lossy codec. Keep the master .arw.

How long is the clip, and how do I make it longer?

Image Duration controls it. The dropdown runs from a single frame at 60fps up to 10 seconds per frame, with 5 seconds per frame pre-selected, so one photo at the default gives you a five-second clip. With "Merge strategy" on "Merge images", every uploaded ARW is shown in turn for that same duration and the durations add up; switch to "Video per image" if you would rather get one separate .flv per photograph.

Why is there a white border around my photo in the FLV?

Because the photo's aspect ratio does not match the video frame it is being placed in, so the gap is padded. That padding uses the Background Color setting, which is White by default and can be changed to any colour in the list. Choosing a Video resolution whose shape is closer to your camera's 3:2 frame — or leaving resolution on "Keep original" — reduces or removes the bars entirely.

Does the FLV keep any of my Sony metadata or Creative Look?

No. Video containers do not carry photographic Exif the way a raw or a JPEG does, so camera, lens, and shot settings do not travel into the clip. In-camera looks are not preserved either: a Creative Look or picture profile is a Sony in-body rendering instruction, and a third-party raw renderer applies its own default rendering instead. If you need a specific look, develop the raw in your editor and export a finished image before converting.

What happens to my ARW file after the conversion?

It is uploaded over an encrypted connection, rendered and packaged into FLV on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours later — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. Nothing about the file is published or reused; the clip you download is the only copy that outlives the job. Because Sony raws are large, sending the file is usually slower than converting it, so smaller batches feel faster than one very long queue.