The Rebel Alliance's AV1 Video Codec Encoding Guide


the rebel alliance has finally released the av1 video codec

aomenc encoder aomenc
aomdec decoder aomdec file.webm output.y4m or aomdec file | mpv -

  • -v for verbose
  • --cpu-used= for quality level like x264s profiles and 0 is placebo and 4 is fastest
  • -w for width and -h for height

ffmpeg to prep the source video

  • ffmpeg -i 8bit-src.mkv -pix_fmt yuv420p 8bit.y4m
  • ffmpeg -i 10bit-src.mkv -pix_fmt yuv420p10le 10bit.y4m
  • ffmpeg -i 12bit-src.mkv -pix_fmt yuv420p12le 12bit.y4m

Encode 8-bit AV1

aomenc -v -w 1920 -h 1080 --cpu-used=0 --target-bitrate=1500 --threads=16 --profile=0 --aq-mode=0 --lag-in-frames=25 --auto-alt-ref=1 -o av1-8bit.webm 8bit.y4m

Encode 10-bit AV1

aomenc -v -w 1920 -h 1080 --cpu-used=0 --target-bitrate=1500 --threads=16 --profile=0 --aq-mode=0 --lag-in-frames=25 --auto-alt-ref=1 -o av1-10bit.webm 10bit.y4m

Encode 12-bit AV1

aomenc -v -w 1920 -h 1080 --cpu-used=0 --target-bitrate=1500 --threads=16 --profile=0 --aq-mode=0 --lag-in-frames=25 --auto-alt-ref=1 -o av1-12bit.webm 12bit.y4m

  • ffmpeg output yuv420 (8-bit), yuv420p10le (10-bit), yuv420p12le (12-bit)
  • Encodng Speed/Quality --cpu-used 0 to 4 is currently tuned

if this is wrong please contact me on twitter or by email