Converting avi files to newer format

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Level 1

8 points

Converting avi files to newer format

I have a lot of old (2003 up to 2009) family movies with .avi extensions. I have read the community responses that avi's are "old wrappers." (Not techy myself; just copying terminology I've seen). My goal is to change these into whatever files will allow me to do both of the following 1) watch the movies on my MacBook Air (2020 version running Sonoma 14.2.1) and 2) hopefully upload these new files to Photos and then ultimately to the cloud.

I see that using Handbrake is a common solution, but then I read that "converting" can affect the quality of the file (either video or audio track.) Will Handbrake automatically "convert" these to H.264/H.265 video and mp4 audio files (which I have read is what you want) and therefore I don't have to worry about loss of quality?

What software do you recommend I use (is Handbrake the best or are they all pretty much the same?) Is using Handbrake pretty self explanatory? Once Handbrake "converts" these files, is it creating new files that I then have to import back into Photos? Once I am able to get them into Photos, am I "safe" -meaning the new format will be stored in the cloud and I will be able to view these in the future?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.2

Posted on Aug 22, 2024 5:14 PM

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Answer 1

g_wolfman

Level 4

1,828 points

Aug 22, 2024 7:38 PM in response to efg33

The short answer(s):

AVI is a "container" format that bundles audio and video together. The audio and video portions can use a variety of different CODECs (coders/decoders). Similarly, MP4 is a container format and H.264/H.265 are video compression standards.

Handbrake should be able to do what you want. With handbrake you can specify in great detail the input and output formats. Some combos can lead to quality issues. In your case, outputing H.264 or H.265 to a MP4 container shouldn't cause loss of quality, but I suppose it might depend on the CODEC used in the original AVI file (caveat, I am no expert in converting home movies and cannot speak with any authority).

You will absolutely have to import those files from wherever you created them back into Photos.

I am curious about where these home movies came from - not from a Mac for certain, as AVI is an old proprietary Microsoft format. Apple support for AVI has always been quite limited.

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