DV to DivX Converter

Convert DV to DivX Online

Raw DV from a MiniDV or Digital8 camcorder runs at roughly 25 Mbit/s and eats about 13 GB per hour of tape, which makes a single cassette awkward to store or share. This converter re-encodes that footage to DivX (an MPEG-4 Part 2 codec), shrinking the file dramatically while keeping it playable on DivX-certified DVD players and older media boxes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.

How to Convert DV to DivX

1. Upload Your DV File: Drag and drop your .dv clip (or a .dv-encoded .avi/.mov) onto the page, or click "+ Add Files". You can queue several clips and convert them with the same settings.
2. Set the Quality Preset: Under File Compression, leave the Preset on "Very High (Recommended)" for the cleanest result, or switch to "Specific file size" if you need the output to fit a fixed budget such as a disc.
3. Adjust Resolution (Optional): DV is standard definition, so leave Resolution Percentage at "Keep original" to preserve all 720×480/720×576 detail, or scale down under Preset Resolutions to shave the file further. You can also trim a clip range under Trim.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your .divx file. The output codec defaults to DivX automatically.

DV vs DivX at a Glance

Because DivX uses inter-frame compression (storing only what changes between frames) instead of DV's frame-by-frame approach, it reaches a far smaller size at the same resolution. The trade-off is some generation loss — DivX is lossy, so the output is a smaller, slightly softer copy, not an editing master.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much smaller will the DivX file be?

It depends on the quality you choose, but the drop is large. DV is a near-uncompressed 25 Mbit/s stream, while DivX commonly lands in the 1–6 Mbit/s range, so an hour of footage that was ~13 GB typically becomes roughly 1–4 GB. Use a lower Quality Preset or "Specific file size" to push it smaller, at the cost of some sharpness.

Will converting to DivX improve the picture quality?

No. DivX is lossy and SD-bound, so it cannot add detail that DV did not capture. The most you can do is preserve what is there — keep Resolution Percentage at "Keep original" and the Preset high. In our testing, default settings keep the footage visibly clean while cutting the file size by an order of magnitude.

Is DivX the same thing as Xvid?

They are siblings, not identical. Both implement the MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile standard — DivX began as a commercial codec and Xvid is the open-source counterpart — and in practice a player that handles one usually handles the other. If your DVD player lists DivX certification, the .divx output is the safer match.

What can play a DivX file?

DivX-certified DVD and Blu-ray players, most desktop media players such as VLC, and many older set-top boxes and TVs. Modern phones, tablets, and web browsers prefer MP4/H.264, so for streaming or mobile playback a DivX file may need a player like VLC or a different format.

Should I convert to DivX or MP4 instead?

Choose DivX when your target is a physical DivX-certified DVD player or other legacy hardware. For modern phones, smart TVs, browsers, and the best quality-per-byte, MP4 (H.264) is the better target — use DV to MP4 for that. If you only want to shrink files without changing the playback format, the Video Compressor lets you keep the source format.

Does the audio carry over to the DivX file?

Yes. The DV soundtrack is re-encoded into the DivX/AVI container (commonly as MP3 audio) during conversion, so the output keeps sound in sync with the picture.