Audio Video Interleave (AVI) is a Microsoft® multimedia container format for video files with sound. Apple®’s QuickTime® movie (MOV) is also a multimedia container format. To convert AVI to MOV, the container must be opened and the individual data streams transcoded. Since a MOV file can support multiple types of audio and video streams, choices can be made in the conversion process.
There are various media converter programs available online, many of which are free. As an example, Windows® users might try Oxelon™ Media Converter, which can be downloaded with a set of plugins. Install the program, followed by the plugin file, then start the program.
To convert AVI to MOV, click on the Media Format field, and choose MOV from the drop-down menu. This will be the outgoing container format. For the Video Codec, choose between Quicktime MPEG4, Quicktime H264, Quicktime H264, Quicktime SVQ1 Sorenson Video, or Quicktime XviD. There are also multiple audio codecs available, including AAC, MP3, PCM and more. Tweak other settings such as movie width and height, bitrate and sampling rate, etc. as desired. Choose a path to save the new file to, add the file to the main window, and click the Conversion button.
For Mac® users, if you simply want to play AVI files, try using the free, open souce VLC© Media Player for OS X, also known as the VideoLAN Client©. Downloading and installing the 3ivx® D4 CODEC will add support for files with the AVI extension. If you still want to convert AVI to MOV, you might try a program like DivX Doctor 2© (after installing the aforementioned codec). Simply drag and drop files to the DixX Doctor 2© interface to convert AVI to MOV. Installation of another CODEC, DivX for Mac®, will also help QuickTime® to play many AVI files.
Linux®, Mac® and Windows® users can also make use of the open source, free Avidemux© media converter to convert AVI to MOV files. For the Video format, choose one of the previously mentioned QuickTime® codecs, for example MPEG-4 or H263; choose the desired Audio stream and configure options; then for the output Format, select MP4. Open the desired AVI file, then Save As, giving the file the desired extension; either MP4 or MOV. In saving the file, Avidemux® will convert the AVI as directed.
Countless other converters are also available, many shareware with trial periods. Some shareware programs run in restricted mode unless purchased, and might leave a watermark on converted files.