Xvid to AV1

How to Convert Xvid to AV1 Online

1. Upload Your Xvid File: Drag and drop your .avi file (or other container holding an Xvid stream), or click "+ Add Files" to select. Multiple files can be queued for batch conversion.
2. Pick a Compression Mode: Open Advanced Options. Under "File Compression," pick Quality Preset (Highest to Lowest), Specific file size, Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Constant Quality (CRF), or Constraint Quality. Constant Quality (CRF) typically delivers the best size-to-quality ratio for AV1; CRF 28-32 is a good starting range for 1080p.
3. Resolution and Trim (Optional): Under "Video resolution," keep original, scale by Resolution Percentage, choose a Preset Resolution (4K/1440p/1080p/720p/480p), or enter custom Width x Height. Under "Trim," switch from Unchanged to Time Range and enter a start time and duration to cut the clip.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert." Files are processed and the resulting AV1 file is delivered via your browser session — no sign-up, no watermark.

Why Convert Xvid to AV1?

Xvid is a 2001-era implementation of MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP), almost always wrapped in an AVI container. AV1, finalized by the Alliance for Open Media in 2018, is two codec generations newer (MPEG-4 ASP → H.264 → HEVC → AV1) and is engineered specifically for modern internet streaming. Re-encoding from Xvid to AV1 modernizes legacy AVI archives so they play in browsers, take far less storage, and stream cleanly over slow connections.

• Shrink legacy DVD/camcorder archives — Xvid 1080p clips typically sit at 2-6 Mbps; the same content at AV1 CRF 30 routinely lands 40-60% smaller while looking identical or better, making old AVI rips far easier to back up.
• Web playback without a plugin — Xvid in AVI does not play natively in any modern browser. AV1 plays directly in Chrome 70+ (Oct 2018), Firefox 67+ (May 2019), Edge, and Opera, plus Safari 17+ on hardware-decode Apple silicon (M3 chips and iPhone 15 Pro / 16-series and newer).
• YouTube and streaming-platform alignment — YouTube re-encodes more than 75% of new uploads to AV1, and Netflix, Twitch, and Meta have shipped AV1 ladders. Delivering source files already in AV1 skips a transcode step and keeps quality closer to your master.
• Royalty-free distribution — AV1 is published under a royalty-free license by AOMedia (founders include Google, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Mozilla, Apple, Intel, and AMD), so commercial redistribution carries no codec licensing fees.
• Better quality at the same bitrate — Independent testing (Meta engineering, Moscow State University codec lab) puts AV1 at roughly 30% better compression than HEVC and around 50% better than H.264 — and Xvid (MPEG-4 ASP) is older and less efficient than even H.264, so the gap to AV1 is wider still.
• Future-proof storage format — MPEG-4 ASP's last US patents expired in November 2023; AV1 is the codec actively being optimized in 2026 (dav1d software decoder, hardware blocks in Intel Arc, NVIDIA Ada/Blackwell, AMD RDNA 3+, and Apple M3/M4).

Xvid vs AV1 — Format Comparison

AV1 Quality Mode Quick Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is AV1 encoding so much slower than Xvid?

Xvid (MPEG-4 ASP) was designed for late-1990s/early-2000s CPUs and uses a small toolset — 8x8 DCT, half-pel motion, B-frames optional. AV1 has dozens more coding tools (larger 128x128 superblocks, complex partitioning, warped motion, screen-content coding, neural-net-style filters) and the reference encoder explores many of them per frame. Expect 10-50x longer encode times depending on the speed/cpu-used preset, but the output file is often less than half the size at the same visual quality.

What CRF should I use for AV1?

CRF 28-32 is a good default range for 1080p video at "looks identical to source" quality; CRF 23-28 is closer to visually lossless; CRF 35-40 is acceptable for low-priority streaming where size matters most. AV1's CRF scale is similar in feel to libx265, not libx264 — a CRF 30 in AV1 is much higher quality than a CRF 30 in H.264.

Will my AV1 file play on my older phone or TV?

Maybe not. AV1 hardware decode shipped widely starting around 2020-2022. iPhone gained hardware AV1 only with the iPhone 15 Pro (2023) and iPhone 16 series; Apple silicon Macs need M3 (2023) or newer. Roku, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV 4K Max, and most 2022+ smart TVs decode AV1 in hardware. Older devices either fall back to slow software decode (sometimes choppy) or refuse to play. If broad device support matters more than file size, convert Xvid to MP4 (H.264) or convert Xvid to HEVC instead.

Is AV1 royalty-free for commercial use?

Yes. AV1 was published royalty-free by the Alliance for Open Media. Sisvel announced a patent pool claiming AV1 reads in 2019, but no AOMedia member or major distributor has agreed to pay it, and the codec continues to ship in YouTube, Netflix, Twitch, Microsoft Edge, Chrome, and Firefox without per-stream royalties.

My source AVI looks like Xvid but might be DivX — does this still work?

Yes. Xvid and DivX are both MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP implementations. Decoders treat them as the same codec at the bitstream level (FourCC differs: XVID, DX50, DIVX, DIV3), and the conversion to AV1 re-encodes from decoded frames either way. Drop the file in and it will work.

Why is the AV1 file larger than I expected for a short clip?

AV1 has fixed per-file overhead (sequence headers, keyframes, container metadata) that doesn't shrink with duration. For very short clips (under ~10 seconds), AV1's bitrate advantage is partly cancelled by this fixed cost. The savings show up clearly on longer files. Also check the CRF value — CRF 23 will produce a much larger file than CRF 32 even on the same source.

Can I keep the audio track unchanged?

The original Xvid AVI typically carries MP3 or AC-3 audio. The output AV1 file will include the audio track re-muxed to be compatible with the output container (MP4 or MKV). For best results across modern players, AAC or Opus audio pairs cleanly with AV1.

Should I use AV1 or HEVC (H.265) for my Xvid archive?

If you control playback (a media server, a 2024+ TV, modern browsers), AV1 wins on file size and is royalty-free. If you need broad device support — older Apple devices, Smart TVs from 2018-2021, set-top boxes — HEVC has a much wider hardware-decode footprint and is the safer choice. HEVC also encodes faster. For pure modernization where you'll keep re-encoding sources later, AV1 is the better long-term archive format.

Is there a file size limit per upload?

Files are processed via your browser session. file size limits depend on your upload bandwidth and our server-imposed quota and CPU rather than a hard cap on the conversion itself, since AV1 encoding is CPU-bound. For very large legacy AVI archives (multi-gigabyte DVD rips), expect long encode times and consider lowering the resolution or trimming first. To shrink an AV1 output further, use compress AV1.