Image to AV1 Converter

How to Convert Image to AV1 Online

1. Upload Your Image Files: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select photos. Batch uploads are supported, and 36 source formats are accepted — JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, BMP, TIFF, PSD, GIF, EPS, ICO, plus camera RAW (ARW, CR2, CR3, NEF, RW2, DNG, ORF, RAF, X3F, PEF, MRW, 3FR, DCR).
2. Pick Merge Strategy and Duration: Choose "Merge images" to stitch the set into one AV1 video, or "Video per image" to render a separate clip per file. Under Duration, pick how long each frame stays on screen — anything from 1/60 second (a single frame at 60 fps for time-lapses) up to 10 seconds per still.
3. Set Quality Preset, Background Color, and Resolution (Optional): Under File Compression pick Quality Preset (Lowest, Low, Medium, High, Very High, Highest), Target file size (%), Specific file size, Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, or Constant Quality (CRF 0-63, default 30). Background Color sets the letterbox fill — Black is the default, with 23 other named colors including White, Gray, and Navy. Video Resolution offers Keep original, presets from 144p to 4320p (8K), or custom Width × Height.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. 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.

Why Convert Images to AV1?

AV1 is the royalty-free video codec from the Alliance for Open Media (Google, Mozilla, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and others). At equivalent perceived quality it compresses roughly 20-30% smaller than HEVC/H.265 and around 50% smaller than H.264, which makes it the strongest choice when you want to turn a photo set into a video that has to stream cheaply or download fast.

• Time-lapse and burst sequences — set Duration to 1/24s, 1/30s, or 1/60s to play your shots at 24, 30, or 60 fps. A 600-photo sunrise burst becomes a 10-second AV1 clip a fraction of the size of the same clip in H.264.
• YouTube-ready photo slideshows — YouTube re-encodes more than 75% of its library to AV1, so an AV1 upload skips the H.264 → AV1 transcode and reaches viewers at the platform's preferred codec faster.
• Bandwidth-bound web embeds — AV1 powers around 30% of Netflix streaming (the platform's second-most-used codec as of December 2025), and is the format streaming services pick when bytes matter most. A landing-page hero slideshow served as AV1 cuts CDN egress versus the same slideshow in MP4/H.264.
• Long-archive photo libraries — a 5,000-photo wedding archive collapsed into one AV1 file is far smaller than the source JPGs combined, and AV1's 10-bit profile preserves smoother gradients than 8-bit H.264.
• Royalty-free distribution — unlike H.265, AV1 carries no patent-pool licensing fees, which matters for commercial products, kiosks, and embedded devices.
• Future-proofing — hardware decoders shipped in iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max (A17 Pro), Apple Silicon M3 and later, Intel 11th-gen Tiger Lake and later, AMD Radeon RX 6000 and later, and Nvidia RTX 30/40 series. By 2026 most new phones, laptops, and TVs decode AV1 without CPU strain.

AV1 vs H.265 vs H.264 — Codec Comparison

Quality Preset Reference (CRF 0-63 scale)

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is AV1 encoding so much slower than H.264?

AV1's compression efficiency comes from a much larger toolkit of block partitions, prediction modes, and transforms than H.264 — the encoder evaluates many more candidate encodings per frame. Software encoders are typically 3-10× slower than x264 at comparable quality. The trade-off is a file 30-50% smaller. For image-to-video conversions this usually still finishes in seconds-to-minutes because the input is a small frame count, not a 90-minute movie.

What CRF should I use for an AV1 slideshow?

The page default is CRF 30, which lands in the "High / Very High" perceptual band — good enough for web embeds and social uploads with files well under MP4/H.264 equivalents. Drop to CRF 23-25 if you're delivering to a client or archiving a master; push to CRF 35-40 if you specifically need the smallest file and accept some softness in fine detail.

Will the AV1 file play on iPhones and Macs?

iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro chip), iPhone 16 series, all M3 and later Macs, and M4-and-later iPad Pros decode AV1 in hardware. Older Apple devices fall back to software decode on iOS 17+ and macOS Ventura+, which works but uses more battery. The standard (non-Pro) iPhone 15 has no AV1 hardware decoder.

Can I create a true time-lapse from my photos?

Yes. Upload a sequential image set, pick "Merge images" as the Merge Strategy, and set Duration to 1/24s for 24 fps, 1/30s for 30 fps, or 1/60s for 60 fps time-lapse playback. 720 photos at 1/30s produce a 24-second clip.

Why is the Trim option hidden on this page?

Trim only applies to an existing video timeline. For image-to-AV1, the runtime is governed by Duration × number of images, not a start/end timestamp, so the trim controls would have nothing to act on. Adjust the per-frame duration or remove images to shorten the output.

What's the difference between Constant Quality and Constant Bitrate?

Constant Quality (CRF) targets a perceptual quality level and lets the file size float — simple frames get fewer bits, complex frames get more. Constant Bitrate (CBR) forces every second of video to hit a fixed bit budget, which is what live-streaming endpoints expect. For a photo slideshow with static frames, Constant Quality almost always produces a smaller file at the same visual fidelity.

Can I add background music to the AV1 video?

This converter renders silent AV1 by default (the IMAGE_TO_VIDEO_NO_AUDIO preset). If you need a soundtrack, render the AV1 first, then layer audio in a dedicated editor. To produce a video with music in one pass from your photos, Image to MP4 and Image to WebM are usually simpler endpoints because their containers are friendlier to in-browser players that need an audio track.

What's the maximum resolution I can output?

Presets go from 256×144 up to 7680×4320 (8K, 4320p). You can also enter custom Width × Height pixels or scale by percentage. For most photo slideshows 1920×1080 (1080p) or 3840×2160 (4K) is the sweet spot — AV1 encoding cost scales steeply with resolution, and the perceived quality gain above 4K is small for still-image content.

Should I pick AV1 or HEVC for a photo slideshow?

Pick AV1 if your audience is on modern browsers, YouTube, or any 2022-or-later phone/TV — you'll get the smallest file and no licensing risk. Pick HEVC / H.265 if you need to play on older Apple devices (pre-iPhone 15 Pro), or import into editors like Final Cut Pro that have stronger HEVC tooling. For maximum compatibility on truly old devices, Image to MP4 with H.264 remains the safest pick.