diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 93e7fb06f3..d8926d2b72 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -214,7 +214,8 @@ which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
     --audio-format FORMAT            Specify audio format: "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", or "wav"; "best" by default
     --audio-quality QUALITY          Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, insert a value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse) for VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K (default
                                      5)
-    --recode-video FORMAT            Encode the video to another format if necessary (currently supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv)
+    --recode-video FORMAT            Encode the video to another format if necessary (currently supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv|xvid)
+    --postprocessor-args             Extra parameters for video post-processor.
     -k, --keep-video                 Keep the video file on disk after the post-processing; the video is erased by default
     --no-post-overwrites             Do not overwrite post-processed files; the post-processed files are overwritten by default
     --embed-subs                     Embed subtitles in the video (only for mkv and mp4 videos)
diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index 411de9ac93..8580f99a7c 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
     The following options are used by the post processors:
     prefer_ffmpeg:     If True, use ffmpeg instead of avconv if both are available,
                        otherwise prefer avconv.
+    postprocessor_args: Extra parameters for external apps, like avconv.
     """
 
     params = None
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 215b616de7..fb31d1569d 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         if not opts.audioquality.isdigit():
             parser.error('invalid audio quality specified')
     if opts.recodevideo is not None:
-        if opts.recodevideo not in ['mp4', 'flv', 'webm', 'ogg', 'mkv']:
+        if opts.recodevideo not in ['mp4', 'flv', 'webm', 'ogg', 'mkv', 'xvid']:
             parser.error('invalid video recode format specified')
     if opts.convertsubtitles is not None:
         if opts.convertsubtitles not in ['srt', 'vtt', 'ass']:
@@ -354,6 +354,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         'extract_flat': opts.extract_flat,
         'merge_output_format': opts.merge_output_format,
         'postprocessors': postprocessors,
+        'postprocessor_args': shlex.split(opts.postprocessor_args or ''),
         'fixup': opts.fixup,
         'source_address': opts.source_address,
         'call_home': opts.call_home,
diff --git a/youtube_dl/options.py b/youtube_dl/options.py
index 4762e1e3c7..c15dadb216 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/options.py
@@ -691,7 +691,11 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
     postproc.add_option(
         '--recode-video',
         metavar='FORMAT', dest='recodevideo', default=None,
-        help='Encode the video to another format if necessary (currently supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv)')
+        help='Encode the video to another format if necessary (currently supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv|xvid)')
+    postproc.add_option(
+        '--postprocessor-args',
+        dest='postprocessor_args', default=None, metavar='ARGS',
+        help='Extra parameters for video post-processor.')
     postproc.add_option(
         '-k', '--keep-video',
         action='store_true', dest='keepvideo', default=False,
diff --git a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/common.py b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/common.py
index 3b0e8ddd8b..bee64c4577 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/common.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/common.py
@@ -22,12 +22,14 @@ class PostProcessor(object):
     of the chain is reached.
 
     PostProcessor objects follow a "mutual registration" process similar
-    to InfoExtractor objects.
+    to InfoExtractor objects. And it can receive parameters from CLI trough
+    --postprocessor-args.
     """
 
     _downloader = None
 
     def __init__(self, downloader=None):
+        self._extra_cmd_args = downloader.params.get('postprocessor_args')
         self._downloader = downloader
 
     def set_downloader(self, downloader):
diff --git a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py
index fe7e0a8eea..d4ba3572b5 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/ffmpeg.py
@@ -295,15 +295,20 @@ class FFmpegVideoConvertorPP(FFmpegPostProcessor):
     def run(self, information):
         path = information['filepath']
         prefix, sep, ext = path.rpartition('.')
-        outpath = prefix + sep + self._preferedformat
+        ext = self._preferedformat
+        options = self._extra_cmd_args
+        if self._preferedformat == 'xvid':
+            ext = 'avi'
+            options.extend(['-c:v', 'libxvid', '-vtag', 'XVID'])
+        outpath = prefix + sep + ext
         if information['ext'] == self._preferedformat:
             self._downloader.to_screen('[ffmpeg] Not converting video file %s - already is in target format %s' % (path, self._preferedformat))
             return [], information
         self._downloader.to_screen('[' + 'ffmpeg' + '] Converting video from %s to %s, Destination: ' % (information['ext'], self._preferedformat) + outpath)
-        self.run_ffmpeg(path, outpath, [])
+        self.run_ffmpeg(path, outpath, options)
         information['filepath'] = outpath
         information['format'] = self._preferedformat
-        information['ext'] = self._preferedformat
+        information['ext'] = ext
         return [path], information