AVC generally means H.264/AVC video compression, which is how the video is squeezed down, while the actual file format is usually a container like MP4, MKV, MOV, or TS that can hold AVC video along with audio tracks such as AAC, so people sometimes mix things up and label an MP4 as "an AVC file" despite the container defining the type; files ending in .avc or .h264/.264 usually contain raw AVC streams or custom exports that VLC may handle but often with weak seeking, incorrect duration, or no audio due to missing container-level indexing.
Some CCTV/DVR units output oddly named files despite the content being standard, so renaming to .mp4 often works unless the file is genuinely proprietary and must be processed in the vendor’s export tool; the fastest approach is testing in VLC, checking codec details, or using MediaInfo to see if it’s a proper container format with audio, and if it’s actually a raw AVC stream you’ll usually need to move it into an MP4 container for smoother playback and navigation.
A `.mp4` file is almost always a true MP4 *container* holding compressed video plus audio,
subtitle tracks, metadata, and seek/timing structure, whereas a `.avc` file is often merely a raw H.264/AVC stream or vendor-specific output; although playable, it commonly leads to strange initial playback because container elements aren’t present.
This is also why `.avc` recordings often have no audio track included: audio wasn’t packaged or lives separately, whereas MP4 generally combines video and audio; plus, many CCTV/DVR systems output bizarre extensions, so a file might actually be MP4/TS but mislabeled and fixed by renaming, while others rely on proprietary wrappers needing vendor software; put simply, `.mp4` means a real container with indexing, and `.avc` usually means something proprietary, which explains missing audio, limited seeking, and compatibility problems.
Once you confirm what your "AVC file" actually represents—misnamed MP4, raw H.264, or proprietary—the next action is straightforward; if MediaInfo or VLC identifies it as a regular container like MP4 (showing "Format: MPEG-4" or smooth seeking), renaming `clip.avc` to `clip.mp4` usually works, provided you make a backup; if instead the file is raw AVC (often shown as "Format: AVC" with minimal metadata and clumsy navigation), you should wrap it into an MP4 container without re-encoding to add the indexing and timing structure missing from raw streams.
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AVC file information kindly see our own website. If the clip was generated by a CCTV/DVR or similar device with a custom wrapper, the best solution is to use the official viewer/export tool to produce an MP4 or AVI, since some proprietary formats refuse to remux cleanly until they’re exported properly; here you’re converting from a unique structure to a standard container, not just renaming, and if playback breaks, won’t load, or the timing is still wrong after remuxing, it likely points to corruption or absent companion files, making a new export or locating the index/metadata files necessary.