Free online FLV to VCD converter

What the FLV format is

FLV, or Flash Video, is a container format designed for streamed video in Adobe Flash Player. Older websites, Flash-based video portals, screen-recording tools, and video-editing applications commonly produced .flv files. An FLV file can contain different video and audio codecs, so its extension alone does not determine resolution, frame rate, or quality.

Modern media players often support FLV through FFmpeg-based codecs, but many standalone disc players do not recognize the container. Converting the file requires decoding its existing streams and encoding them to the fixed MPEG-1 and MPEG-1 Layer II audio specifications used by VCD.

What the VCD format is

Video CD is a CD-based video standard intended for hardware VCD players and many older DVD players. A compliant VCD normally uses MPEG-1 video at 352×288 pixels and 25 fps for PAL or 352×240 pixels and 29.97 fps for NTSC, with 44.1 kHz stereo MPEG-1 Layer II audio.

VCD is useful when a legacy player accepts Video CD but not data CDs containing ordinary video files. Its fixed standard makes playback predictable on compatible hardware, but its image quality is substantially below DVD and modern compressed-video formats. A VCD stores about 74 or 80 minutes of video per disc; capacity depends mainly on running time because VCD uses an approximately constant data rate.

How to actually convert FLV to VCD

For a quick file conversion without installing software, you can use the free converter on 101convert.com. To create a physical, standards-based VCD, use FFmpeg to encode the video and vcdimager to build the disc image.

1. Check the source and choose the television standard

Use PAL for most of Europe, Australia, and many other regions; use NTSC for North America, Japan, and regions that use NTSC equipment. Converting between standards changes the frame rate and may introduce motion judder, so choose the standard supported by the intended player and television.

2. Encode the FLV as VCD MPEG

Install FFmpeg, place the source file in a working directory, and run one of these commands. The filter preserves the source aspect ratio by adding black borders where necessary.

For PAL:

ffmpeg -i input.flv -target pal-vcd -vf 'scale=352:288:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=352:288:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2,setsar=1' output.mpg

For NTSC:

ffmpeg -i input.flv -target ntsc-vcd -vf 'scale=352:240:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=352:240:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2,setsar=1' output.mpg

FFmpeg's pal-vcd and ntsc-vcd targets select MPEG-1 video, VCD-compatible bitrate settings, 44.1 kHz audio, and MPEG audio. If the source has variable frame rate or an unusual frame size, inspect the generated file before authoring the disc.

3. Create the VCD disc image

Install vcdimager and create BIN/CUE image files from the encoded MPEG file:

vcdimager -t vcd2 -c disc.cue -b disc.bin output.mpg

The command creates disc.bin, containing the disc data, and disc.cue, describing the track layout. A graphical VCD-authoring application can perform the same step through its New VCD → Add video → Create image menus, but it must accept the MPEG-1 file as a VCD-compatible source rather than treating it as a generic data file.

4. Burn the image as a VCD

Burn the CUE file, not the BIN file alone, with CD-burning software that supports disc images. With cdrdao, the command is:

cdrdao write disc.cue

In a graphical burner, select Burn image or Write disc image, choose disc.cue, and use a blank CD-R. Do not create a normal data disc containing output.mpg; most VCD players will not treat that layout as a Video CD.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

VCD resolution and bitrate are fixed and low by modern standards. Upscaling a small FLV cannot restore missing detail, while downscaling a high-definition source discards most of its detail. Keep the original FLV if future editing or higher-quality playback may be needed.

Check the source duration before encoding: a video longer than the selected CD's capacity may require multiple discs or cutting into separate tracks. Test the burned disc on the target player because some DVD players support VCD playback only in one television standard, reject CD-R media, or accept MPEG files without fully supporting VCD navigation.

Letterboxing is preferable to stretching when the FLV's aspect ratio differs from 4:3. VCD players generally expect 4:3 video; widescreen material will therefore appear with black bars or may be cropped if the conversion is configured incorrectly.