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Need help?Convert CRW to Video Online
This page turns a CRW — Canon's oldest RAW still, one undeveloped frame from an early-2000s camera — into a playable video clip that holds that rendered image on screen. The Video File Extension selector offers 32 targets, from MP4 and MOV through MKV, WebM, AVI and the broadcast containers, so the same upload can land in whichever timeline or player you need. Be clear before you start, though: a CRW is a photograph, not footage, so the result is a silent, static clip. If you simply want to look at the picture, CRW to JPG is the page you actually want.
How to Convert CRW to Video
- Upload Your CRW File: Drag your
.crwonto the page or click "+ Add Files". RAW files are chunky, so the upload is the main wait; add several at once if you want a sequence. - Pick a Video File Extension: Open the Video File Extension selector and choose your target explicitly. Nothing useful is pre-selected for you on this page, so this is the one step you must not skip.
- Set Merge Strategy, Image Duration and Background Color: Merge strategy defaults to Merge images, which combines every upload into one clip; switch to Video per image for a separate file each. Image Duration defaults to 5 seconds per frame, and Background Color defaults to White for the bars added when the photo's aspect ratio does not match the video frame.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the clip. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are processed on our servers, and are deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.
Popular CRW Video Targets
- CRW to MP4 — the safe default for phones, browsers and every editor
- CRW to MOV — QuickTime's container, the natural fit for Final Cut and Apple workflows
- CRW to MKV — flexible open container when you do not care about stock-player support
- CRW to WebM — compact target for embedding on a web page
- CRW to AVI — legacy Windows tooling and old editing suites
- CRW to HEVC — H.265 video for an existing H.265 pipeline
- CRW to AV1 — the royalty-free modern codec
- CRW to GIF — an animated image rather than a video file
Which Output Extension Should You Pick?
| You need | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A photo to view, print or share | Not video at all | CRW to JPG or CRW to PNG is what most people landing here actually want |
| A clip that plays almost anywhere | MP4 | H.264 in MP4 is the most widely accepted combination on phones, browsers and editors |
| A clip for an Apple or Final Cut timeline | MOV | QuickTime's native container, same picture data |
| A smaller file for a web page | WebM | Efficient modern codec, well supported by current desktop browsers |
| Maximum compression, licence-free | AV1 | Newer codec, slower to encode, smallest files at a given quality |
| An existing H.265 workflow | HEVC | Only worth it when something downstream specifically requires H.265 |
| A looping image instead of a video | GIF | An animated image format, not a video container — no player needed |
What the Encoder Actually Does With a Still
A CRW holds one frame and no timeline, so "converting to video" means rendering that frame and holding it for a fixed duration. Three things follow from that, and they explain most of the surprises people hit.
- The clip is silent, always. Because the source is an image, the Audio Codec control is hidden entirely and no audio track is written. That is true whichever container you pick.
- The compression controls narrow. With an image source, the bitrate and target-file-size modes are hidden and the encoder works from quality settings instead: Quality Preset (which starts at Very High (Recommended)), plus Constant Quality and Constraint Quality for finer control. Video resolution starts on Keep original.
- The frame gets normalised first. Before encoding, each image is re-rendered to a clean PNG and capped at 4096 pixels on its long edge. A full-resolution CRW is well under that ceiling, so in practice your frame passes through at its native size, then gets fitted to whatever video resolution you choose — with the Background Color filling any leftover bars.
CRW at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Canon RAW, built on the Camera Image File Format (CIFF) container |
| Designed by | Canon |
| Specification | CIFF part one v1.0 rev 4 (24 December 1997) and part two v1.0 rev 3 (9 February 1998) |
| Contents | One undeveloped still frame: sensor mosaic plus camera metadata |
| Audio | None — it is a photograph |
| Typical cameras | EOS D30, D60, 10D, 300D / Digital Rebel; PowerShot G-series and Pro models |
| Superseded by | CR2, and later CR3 |
| Opens natively in a browser | No — conversion is required |
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I convert a CRW to video at all, or to JPG instead?
For most people, JPG or PNG. A CRW is a single RAW photograph, so converting it to a clip simply wraps one rendered frame in a video container — there is no motion to gain and the file gets larger. Choose a video target when you genuinely need the still as a playable asset: a held title card, a frame to drop onto a timeline, or a loop for a display. Otherwise use CRW to JPG.
Which output format does this page use if I do not choose one?
Choose one. This page's Video File Extension selector lists 32 containers and does not apply a recommended default for you, so the selector simply opens on the first entry in its list rather than on a sensible pick. Set the target explicitly in step 2 — MP4 if you have no specific requirement — and you will get the container you expected.
Does converting a single CRW produce a moving video?
No. One still becomes a freeze-frame clip: the rendered photograph held on screen for the Image Duration you set, with no pan, zoom, or movement of any kind. To build a sequence, upload several CRW files and leave Merge strategy on Merge images so they are stitched into one clip in upload order.
Why is my CRW-to-video file silent?
Because a photograph carries no sound to encode. When the source is an image, the converter hides the Audio Codec control and writes a video-only file, so the output is silent whichever container you picked. Add music or narration afterwards in any video editor.
Why can't I set a target file size or bitrate on this page?
Those modes are deliberately hidden for image sources. Bitrate and target-size compression assume a moving picture with varying complexity across time; a single held frame has neither, so the encoder works from quality settings instead. You get Quality Preset, Constant Quality and Constraint Quality, which is the right set of controls for this job.
What happens to the letterbox bars around my photo?
If the photo's aspect ratio does not match the video frame you selected, the leftover area is filled with the Background Color, a 25-entry swatch list that starts on White and includes Black among its 24 alternatives. Pick a colour that suits the shot, or choose a video resolution matching the photo's own aspect ratio so there is nothing to fill.
Will I lose image quality turning a RAW CRW into a video?
Yes, and it is inherent to the conversion rather than a tool limitation. A CRW stores undeveloped sensor data that must be demosaiced to become viewable, and that render bakes in white balance, exposure and tone — exactly the latitude RAW exists to preserve. The frame is then fitted to a video resolution and encoded with a lossy codec. Keep the original CRW as your master and treat the clip as a delivery copy.
What is CRW, and why won't my photo app open it?
CRW is Canon's first-generation RAW format, built on the Camera Image File Format (CIFF) container that Canon designed and finalised across two specification parts in December 1997 and February 1998. It was written by early Canon digital SLRs such as the EOS D30, D60, 10D and 300D, and by PowerShot G-series and Pro bodies, before Canon replaced it with the CR2 format. Because it is a proprietary, long-superseded container, most current viewers, browsers and phones cannot decode it — which is exactly why a conversion step exists. The CRW converter hub lists every target we support.