ODG to AVI Converter

Convert ODG to AVI: What This Tutorial Covers

An ODG file is an OpenDocument Graphic — a vector drawing of shapes, lines, and text created in LibreOffice Draw or Apache OpenOffice Draw, stored as ZIP-compressed XML under the OpenDocument standard (ISO/IEC 26300). AVI is Microsoft's Audio Video Interleave container, the RIFF-based video format that defined desktop video on Windows from the early 1990s on. Turning a static drawing into an AVI is a narrow, slightly unusual job, and two things happen that are easy to miss: the vector art is rasterized to a fixed pixel grid (its resolution-independence is lost in the render), and the result is one motionless frame held on screen for a set time, with no audio. This tutorial walks through the conversion, sets those expectations honestly up front, and points you to the conversions most people who land here actually want.

How to Convert ODG to AVI

1. Upload Your ODG File: Drag and drop your .odg drawing onto the page, or click "+ Add Files" to browse from your computer. You can queue several files at once.
2. Set Duration and Merge strategy: Open Advanced Options. Use "Duration" to choose how long the rendered drawing shows — from 1/60s per frame up to 10 seconds, with "5 seconds per frame" the default — and use "Merge strategy" to pick "Merge images" (combine several files into one AVI) or "Video per image" (a separate AVI for each).
3. Pick Quality Preset, Background Color, and Video resolution (Optional): Keep "Quality Preset" on "Very High (Recommended)", set a "Background Color" (Black by default) to fill any frame area the rendered drawing does not cover, and under "Video resolution" choose "Keep original", a "Preset Resolution", or a "Fixed Resolution" — this is the pixel grid the vector is rasterized onto.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your AVI. No sign-up, no watermark.

Walk-through: A Drawing Becomes Pixels, and the Output Is Still and Silent

Three things about this pairing trip people up, and all three are worth understanding before you convert:

• The vector drawing is rasterized — its scalability does not survive. ODG stores artwork as editable vector objects (lines, curves, text, fills) that redraw cleanly at any size. A video frame is a fixed grid of pixels, so to put the drawing into an AVI the converter must render it once at whatever "Video resolution" you choose. After that, it is a flat raster picture: zooming into the video looks soft and blocky, exactly like enlarging a JPG, not crisp like the original drawing. Choose a resolution that already suits where the clip will be shown, because there is no detail beyond what was rendered.
• The output is one frame held still, not an animation. The AVI shows your single rendered drawing as a steady image for the duration you set — no panning, no zoom, no transition. Setting "Duration" to 5 seconds simply presents the same frame for 5 seconds.
• There is no sound. A still drawing carries no audio, so the conversion writes a silent video and the "Audio Codec" control does not appear for an image source.

A couple of patterns cover most real needs:

• If you want it to behave like one video frame at a standard rate — for example, a diagram slate dropped onto a timeline — pick a short duration such as 1/60s, 1/30s, or 1/24s, and render at the project's resolution (1080p is common) so the slate matches the surrounding footage.
• If you want a title card or hold that lingers in an older AVI-based editing project, set 3 to 10 seconds so the drawing stays on screen long enough to read, and match the "Background Color" to your project so any padding around art that does not fill the frame blends in.

Because a motionless frame barely changes between samples, MPEG-4 compresses it heavily, so a rendered drawing held for a few seconds produces a small AVI.

Handling a Multi-page ODG

A Draw document can hold several drawing pages, and AVI is a single linear video, so the "Merge strategy" decides what happens. With "Merge images" the pages render in order and play back to back in one AVI, each shown as a static frame for its set duration with no transition between them. With "Video per image" you get a separate AVI per file. If your real aim is to keep every page as a distinct, sharp document rather than a video, convert ODG to PDF instead — it keeps each page on its own and stays crisp at any zoom.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "The video looks soft or pixelated when I zoom in" — Expected. The vector was rasterized to a fixed pixel grid at render time, so the video has no detail beyond that resolution and enlarging it only softens the pixels. There is no setting that adds back the drawing's scalability; instead, pick a higher "Video resolution" if you know you need a larger frame, or keep the original .odg for any work that must stay editable.
• "There is a colored border around my drawing" — Your drawing's shape does not match the output frame, so the converter fills the gap with the "Background Color" (black by default) rather than stretching it. Pick white or a color that matches where the clip will be used, or choose a "Video resolution" closer to the drawing's own aspect ratio.
• "The AVI is silent" — Expected. A still-drawing-to-video conversion writes no audio track, so the "Audio Codec" option does not appear. If you need sound, drop the AVI into a video editor and lay a music or narration track over it.
• "It won't play in my browser or on my phone" — AVI has no native HTML5 video support and most phones won't open it directly. That is a property of the AVI container, not the conversion. If you need something that plays widely, convert ODG to MP4 instead.

When This Doesn't Work — and What to Use Instead

For almost everyone, AVI is the wrong target for an ODG. Mainstream ODG converters don't even offer a video option — they export to PNG, JPG, or PDF — because a drawing is a static graphic, not time-based media. If your real goal is a sharp, usable picture of the drawing, convert ODG to PNG renders the vector to a lossless image with clean edges, rather than wrapping a single rendered frame in a video container. If you genuinely need a video clip from the drawing (a diagram slate, a title card, a test clip), the modern default is convert ODG to MP4: MP4 plays natively in browsers, on phones, and on smart TVs, where AVI does not. Pick AVI only when a specific older tool or device — a pre-2012 non-linear editor, a DivX/Xvid set-top box, or a Windows-only workflow that lists AVI as its accepted format — actually requires that container. And remember the conversion is one-directional: once the vector is rasterized into the AVI frame, the editable line art is gone, so keep the original .odg if you may need to change the drawing later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does converting ODG to AVI keep the drawing editable or scalable?

No. ODG stores editable vector objects, but a video frame is a fixed grid of pixels, so the conversion renders (rasterizes) the drawing once at the "Video resolution" you choose. After that the AVI holds flat pixels — zooming into the video looks soft, the same as enlarging a JPG, not crisp like the original — and the individual shapes can no longer be moved or edited. If you may need to resize or change the drawing later, keep the source .odg; the rasterized AVI cannot be turned back into editable vector objects.

Does the AVI have any motion or sound?

No. The conversion takes one rendered drawing and displays it as a static image for the duration you set. There is no panning, zoom, or animation, and the output carries no audio track — it is a silent, single-frame still rendered into an AVI. If you upload several files (or pages) and choose "Merge images," they play back to back, but each is a static frame shown for its set duration, with no transitions between them.

Which video codec does the AVI output use?

MPEG-4. AVI is a container that can hold many codecs, and this converter defaults to MPEG-4 (MPEG-4 Part 2, the codec classic Windows software and DivX/Xvid-aware players decode without complaint) — under "Show All Options" you will find the "Video Codec" set to it, with Xvid, DivX, MJPEG, and others available if a specific player needs them. Because the source is a still drawing, no audio track is written.

My ODG has several drawing pages — what happens to them?

It depends on the "Merge strategy". With "Merge images," every page renders in order and plays back to back in one AVI, each held as a static frame for its set duration with no transition. With "Video per image," each uploaded file produces its own AVI. If you want each page to stay separate and sharp rather than flattened into a video, convert ODG to PDF keeps the pages distinct and scalable.

Why would I convert an ODG to AVI instead of MP4?

Usually you wouldn't. AVI made sense for older Windows tools and DivX/Xvid hardware, but it has no native browser or phone support and its codecs are larger than modern ones. Choose AVI only when a specific destination — a pre-2012 non-linear editor, a DivX-certified set-top box, or a Windows-only workflow — lists AVI as its accepted format. If the destination accepts MP4, convert ODG to MP4 plays in far more places and produces a smaller file.

How are my uploaded ODG files handled?

In our testing, a single-page A4 ODG diagram rendered at a standard resolution and held for 5 seconds produced an AVI only a few hundred kilobytes in size, because a motionless MPEG-4 frame compresses heavily. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, rasterized and packaged into AVI on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. The main practical limit is upload size and time, not your device.