Convert AVI

Guide for converting AVI to other formats; convert AVI to DVD / MPEG / PSP; AVI converter.

You may have lots of AVI files but don't know how to convert to other formats. That's the topic of today.

AVI stands for "Audio Video Interlaced". This video format was created by Microsoft, which was introduced along with Windows 3.1. AVI, the proprietary format of Microsoft's "Video for Windows" application, merely provides a framework for various compression algorithms such as Cinepak, Intel Indeo, Microsoft Video 1, Clear Video or IVI.

AVI is a file format, like MP3 or JPG. But unlike these formats, AVI is a container format, meaning it can contain video audio compressed using many different combinations of codecs. So while MP3 and JPG can only contain a certain kind of compression (MPEG Audio Layer 3 and JPEG), AVI can contain many different kinds of compression (e.g. DivX video + WMA audio or Indeo video + PCM audio), as long as a codec is available for encoding/decoding. AVI all look the same on the "outside", but on the "inside", they may be completely different. There is no such thing as a "normal" thing, and is probably the most common video format around (although its popularity wavered a few years ago, but has since come back with a vengeance due to the emergence of DivX).

AVI Advantages:
Choice of codecs allows experimentation with different results. Plays in mainstream media players such as Windows Media Player. Can be used as a starting point to create playable DVDs.

AVI Drawbacks:
The codec used to create your movie is required in order to view it. Often produces larger file sizes than other file formats. Some codecs take a long time to create your AVI movie. Some codecs produce reduced visual quality. AVI format does not support user interactivity (e.g. "click to continue" pauses).

There are many other AVI converters on Tomdownload.com; you can get them by using the search engine. As software Alive Video Converter supports lots of formats, and boasts the ability of converting among various video formats, it may meet you very well. I'd like to give the step by step guide of converting AVI to MPEG by using it.

Step 1. Download Alive Video Converter, install and run it.
Step 2. Click "Add" button to select your AVI file that you want to convert. It will be displayed on the concise interface.
Step 3. Click "Options" button, a window will appear.
Step 4. On the window, in the field of "Output Format", choose "Convert to MPEG" (or others if you want) and set related references by clicking "Advance" button if necessary. In the "Output Folder", set the output directory.
Step 5. Click the "Star Converting" button.