Free online USM to AVI converter

What the USM format is

USM is a proprietary CRI Movie container used primarily for pre-rendered game cutscenes. Games and applications using CRI Middleware may store video, audio, subtitles, encryption data, and multiple streams inside a .usm file.

USM files are usually found in a game’s data, movie, or cutscene directory. Their contents may use CRI-specific video and audio codecs, and some files are encrypted or divided into companion streams. Standard players such as VLC and FFmpeg generally cannot decode every USM variant directly.

What the AVI format is

AVI is a Microsoft multimedia container supported by older Windows software, video editors, capture utilities, and archival workflows. It can contain codecs such as MPEG-4, Motion JPEG, DivX, Xvid, or uncompressed video.

AVI is useful when a target application does not accept USM or newer containers. Its limitations include large files, weaker support for modern codecs, and less reliable handling of variable-frame-rate video, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, and metadata.

How to actually convert USM to AVI

Use the built-in online converter

1. Open 101convert.com and choose the USM-to-AVI conversion tool.
2. Upload the .usm file. Do not upload copyrighted game assets unless you have permission to process them.
3. Select AVI as the output format and start the conversion.
4. Download the resulting .avi file and test it in the application that requires AVI.

This option requires no installation. It may fail when the USM uses encryption, an unsupported CRI codec, or a game-specific file structure.

Use a desktop USM extractor, then FFmpeg

For files that the online converter cannot process, use a USM-aware desktop utility such as USMTool or another CRI Movie extractor compatible with the game’s file version. These utilities commonly demultiplex the USM into a video stream and an audio stream; they do not all produce the same output filenames or formats.

1. Make a backup of the original file and open it in the USM utility.
2. Choose the program’s extraction or demultiplex function, such as File → Extract, and save the resulting streams in a working folder.
3. If the utility produces a directly playable file, convert that file with FFmpeg. For example:

ffmpeg -i extracted_video.m2v -i extracted_audio.wav -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 -c:v mpeg4 -q:v 3 -c:a mp3 -b:a 192k output.avi

If the extracted video is already supported by FFmpeg, the command combines it with the extracted audio and writes an AVI file. Use -c:v mjpeg -q:v 3 instead of -c:v mpeg4 -q:v 3 when the receiving editor requires Motion JPEG. Replace the filenames with those created by the extractor.

When the extractor outputs a complete intermediate video, a simpler command may be sufficient:

ffmpeg -i extracted_video.mpg -c:v mpeg4 -q:v 3 -c:a mp3 -b:a 192k output.avi

Quality and compatibility limitations

Conversion cannot restore detail removed by the original game encode. Re-encoding to AVI can also reduce quality, so keep the original USM and any extracted streams for archival use.

Check the source frame rate and dimensions before conversion. If audio drifts out of sync, extract the streams again with a USM tool that preserves timestamps, or specify the source frame rate explicitly with FFmpeg. Some USM files contain encrypted or game-specific data; those require a compatible extractor and may not be convertible without access to the corresponding game assets or keys.

For broad legacy compatibility, MPEG-4 Part 2 video with MP3 audio is generally more widely accepted in AVI than H.264 with AAC. If the destination program supports modern containers, MP4 usually preserves compatibility with smaller files and better codec support.