AV1, or AOMedia Video 1, is an open-source, royalty-free video codec that offers excellent quality while maintaining smaller file sizes. This makes it an appealing choice for major streaming services, as it helps reduce bandwidth costs. Additionally, if you’re into uploading content or creating high-quality backups of media like Blu-Rays, AV1 is a smart choice.
Introducing Aviator, a GTK4/libadwaita app designed for Linux, this AV1 encoder is user-friendly and straightforward. You can encode videos in various codecs, modify quality and speed settings, and convert to AV1 using MKV or WEBM containers. The developers aimed to create a simple interface that anyone can navigate, contrasting with the often complex nature of video encoding software.
Aviator allows you to fine-tune video settings with options to set crop resolution, specify a Constant Rate Factor (CRF), enable perceptual tuning for improved quality, adjust speed settings, and add denoise or artificial grain effects. Audio settings include bitrate adjustments, volume control, and downmixing capabilities.
For video encoding, Aviator utilizes SVT-AV1-PSY, an enhanced version of the SVT-AV1 encoder, aiming to deliver visually superior encodes without relying on advanced hardware. Unlike some encoders that may require powerful GPUs, Aviator primarily uses CPU resources to perform encoding. This is feasible with most modern CPUs, ensuring efficient multi-core processing.
If you’re interested in testing out Aviator, the benefits are clear: encoding a typical 25-minute MKV resulted in a file size reduction of nearly 50% without noticeable quality loss, and it completed in a reasonable amount of time even on less powerful hardware.
To install Aviator, you can find it on Flathub.