====== ffmpeg - Conversions - Convert H264 to AV1 ======

While AV1 is used to create video files, it is not a file format.

  * Rather, it is a compression format that any program that saves video files can use to compress videos.
  * AV1 videos are most commonly saved using one of several more common video container formats, such as MP4, MKV, and WEBM.
    * However, in rare circumstances, you may encounter an AV1 video saved with the **.av1** extension.

There are various methods to convert to AV1.

AV1 is implemented in **libaom** and **svt-av1**.

  * [[ffmpeg:Conversions:Convert H264 to AV1:libaom|libaom]]
  * [[ffmpeg:Conversions:Convert H264 to AV1:svt-av1|svt-av1]]


----

<code bash>
ffmpeg -y -i a.mp4 -c:v libaom-av1 -strict -2 -b:v 3000K -maxrate 6000K -cpu-used 8 -pass 2 out.mp4

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v av1 output.av1
</code>




<code bash>
ffmpeg -y -i input.mp4 -c:v libaom-av1 -strict -2 -b:v 3000K -maxrate 6000K -cpu-used 8 -pass 1 -f matroska NUL & \

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libaom-av1 -strict -2 -b:v 3000K -maxrate 6000K -cpu-used 0 -pass 2 output_AV1.mkv
</code>

<WRAP info>
**NOTE:**  This is extremely slow!

  * This uses the **libaom-av1** encoder.

</WRAP>

<WRAP info>
**NOTE:**  AV1 is implemented in **libaom** and **svt-av1**.

  * Libaom is the reference codec, it produces smaller files than svt-av1 but it is slow.
  * The svt-av1 encoder is optimized for speed and produces bigger files than libaom.

</WRAP>


----

===== Simple method, with Quality/Speed ratio modifier =====


<code bash>
ffmpeg -y -i a.mp4 -c:v libaom-av1 -cpu-used 8 -f mp4 out.mp4
</code>

<WRAP info>
**NOTE:**  The **-cpu-used 8** option sets the quality to the higher.
</WRAP>


----

===== Simple usage =====

<code bash>
ffmpeg -y -i a.mp4 -c:v libaom-av1 -f mp4 out.mp4
</code>

<WRAP info>
**NOTE:**  It is extremely slow.
</WRAP>

----

===== References =====

https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/AV1