Free online TREC to XVID converter

TREC recordings are commonly created by TechSmith Camtasia, while Xvid is used for older AVI-based players and editing workflows. The practical conversion path is to export the TREC recording from Camtasia, then encode the resulting video with the Xvid codec.

What the TREC format is

TREC is TechSmith’s recording container for Camtasia screen captures. It can store captured video, microphone or system audio, cursor data, and recording metadata. You typically encounter it after recording a screen presentation, software demonstration, tutorial, or support session with Camtasia.

TREC is proprietary, so general-purpose video tools may not decode it directly. Camtasia is the reliable application for opening the recording and exporting its actual video and audio streams.

What the Xvid format is

Xvid is an MPEG-4 Part 2 video codec rather than a complete container format. Xvid video is commonly stored in an .avi file with MP3 audio.

It is useful when a legacy media player, hardware device, or editing application specifically supports Xvid or MPEG-4 ASP. Xvid can produce considerably smaller files than uncompressed video, but newer H.264 or H.265 encoding normally provides better quality at the same size.

How to actually convert TREC to Xvid

Recommended desktop workflow

1. Open the .trec file in Camtasia. If it does not open by double-clicking, start Camtasia and use File → Import → Media to add the recording.
2. Place the recording on the Camtasia timeline and check that the video dimensions, frame rate, and audio are correct.
3. Export an intermediate video with Export → Local File or the equivalent MP4 export command in your Camtasia version. Use the source dimensions and frame rate instead of scaling during this step.
4. Install FFmpeg and encode the exported file as Xvid AVI with:

ffmpeg -i trec-export.mp4 -c:v libxvid -q:v 4 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 128k trec-recording-xvid.avi

libxvid selects Xvid video, while -q:v 4 requests quality-based encoding; lower values generally increase quality and file size. The MP3 audio settings improve compatibility with AVI players that do not support AAC.

Online conversion

You can also try converting the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software. TREC support depends on the converter’s ability to read the specific Camtasia recording, so export the file to MP4 in Camtasia first if the original TREC file is rejected.

Quality and compatibility limitations

Exporting from TREC to MP4 and then encoding to Xvid involves two lossy stages. Keep the Camtasia export at the original resolution and frame rate, and avoid additional editing or resizing before the final encode. If Camtasia offers a high-quality or near-lossless intermediate option, use it to reduce the first generation of quality loss.

Use yuv420p for broad playback compatibility. Some older devices require a specific AVI frame size, frame rate, or MP3 sample rate; if playback fails, encode audio as -ar 44100 and check the device’s maximum resolution. Xvid cannot preserve Camtasia-specific cursor effects, annotations, interactive elements, or project editing data; the output contains rendered video and audio only.