# VC-1

Canonical URL: https://encode.wiki/codecs/video/vc-1/
Content version: ca42e61ede0a24f789d7287a0001244ad22f4abf
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VC-1 is Microsoft's video codec, derived from Windows Media Video 9 and standardised by SMPTE as 421M in 2006 (now ST 421). It competed with [AVC](/codecs/video/avc/) and is one of the three mandatory video codecs for Blu-ray players, alongside MPEG-2 and AVC; HD DVD used the same three. It is a legacy format now: you will meet it in old Blu-ray rips, `.wmv` files and Windows Media archives.

It has three profiles, all 8-bit 4:2:0:

| Profile | Scope | Windows Media FourCC |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Simple | Low-complexity progressive coding | `WMV3` |
| Main | Broader progressive tools | `WMV3` |
| Advanced | Progressive and interlaced coding; used on Blu-ray | `WVC1` |

A `.wmv` extension does not mean VC-1: Windows Media Video 7 and 8 (`WMV1`, `WMV2`) are different, older codecs.

## Decode and convert

FFmpeg, and players built on it such as VLC and mpv, decode VC-1 in software (the `vc1` and `wmv3` decoders), and many GPUs accelerate it. There is no open-source VC-1 encoder; FFmpeg's `wmv1` and `wmv2` encoders produce the older codecs, not VC-1.

To keep the original stream without re-encoding, remux it:

```sh
ffmpeg -i input.wmv -c copy output.mkv
```

To make a playable copy for modern devices, transcode once from the original:

```sh
ffmpeg -i input.wmv -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a aac output.mp4
```

Advanced profile can carry interlaced video, for example 1080i Blu-ray content. Add a deinterlacer such as `-vf bwdif` to the transcode for those sources.

Browsers do not play VC-1; see [video codec support](/reference/video-codec-support/).