Free online HEVC to XVID converter

Legacy DVD players, media boxes, and editing applications may accept Xvid video in an AVI container but reject HEVC files. Converting requires decoding HEVC and re-encoding the video as Xvid, so the process can reduce quality and increase file size.

What the HEVC format is

HEVC, also called H.265, is a video compression standard designed to provide similar visual quality at roughly half the bitrate of H.264. Phones, screen-recording tools, cameras, Blu-ray sources, and modern video editors commonly create HEVC streams.

HEVC video usually appears inside .mp4, .mkv, or .mov files; some applications also use .hevc or .h265 for an elementary video stream. Older hardware and software may fail to decode it because HEVC requires newer decoder support and can use 10-bit color, HDR, or hardware-specific profiles.

What the Xvid format is

Xvid is an MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile video codec, not a complete container format. Xvid video is most commonly stored in an AVI file, although other containers can hold it.

Xvid is useful for older standalone DVD players, televisions, set-top boxes, and applications that support MPEG-4 ASP but not HEVC. Its broad legacy compatibility is its main advantage. At comparable visual quality, Xvid normally needs more bitrate and produces larger files than HEVC.

How to actually convert HEVC to Xvid

Using FFmpeg

FFmpeg is suitable when you need control over the codec, bitrate, audio, and output container. Install a build that includes the libxvid and libmp3lame encoders, then open a terminal in the folder containing the source file.

1. Check the source streams with ffprobe input.mkv if you need to identify the video, audio, or subtitle tracks.
2. Run this one-pass conversion:
   ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0? -c:v libxvid -q:v 4 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 128k -ar 48000 -ac 2 output.avi
3. Replace input.mkv with the actual HEVC filename. The -q:v 4 setting uses quality-based Xvid encoding; lower values generally improve quality and increase file size. Use -q:v 5 or -q:v 6 when a smaller file is more important.

The command encodes the first video and first audio stream, converts audio to MP3 for older AVI players, and forces 8-bit 4:2:0 pixel format for compatibility. If the input has no audio, omit -map 0:a:0? and the audio options.

For a specified size or more predictable bitrate, use two-pass encoding:

ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -map 0:v:0 -c:v libxvid -b:v 1500k -pass 1 -an -f avi /dev/null

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0? -c:v libxvid -b:v 1500k -pass 2 -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 128k output.avi

On Windows, replace /dev/null with NUL. Adjust 1500k to the target resolution and motion level; ordinary 480p or 576p material may need about 800–1500 kbps, while 720p commonly needs more.

Using the online converter

You can convert the file on 101convert.com for free without installing software. Select the HEVC source, choose Xvid or AVI as the output when available, start the conversion, and download the resulting file. Check the downloaded file on the target device because legacy players differ in their supported resolution, audio codec, and AVI profile.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

This conversion is lossy-to-lossy: FFmpeg first decodes the compressed HEVC frames, then Xvid compresses the decoded result again. Avoid repeated conversions, and use the original source whenever possible.

Xvid itself does not guarantee that every AVI player will work. For maximum legacy compatibility, use AVI, Xvid video, MP3 audio, 8-bit YUV 4:2:0, constant frame rate, and standard-definition resolution. Some devices reject packed B-frames, unusual frame rates, resolutions above their display limits, or files larger than 2 GB.

HEVC HDR, 10-bit color, wide-gamut color, alpha channels, multiple subtitle tracks, chapters, and embedded attachments may be lost. Xvid is normally an 8-bit SDR workflow. Subtitles are not automatically rendered into the picture by the command above; burn them in with a video filter or keep them in a separate subtitle file if the player supports it.