diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 17d91117815a..6aff8cbde065 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -6234,6 +6234,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "re_smart_channel",
  "re_tracing",
  "re_types",
+ "re_video",
  "re_viewer",
  "re_web_viewer_server",
  "re_ws_comms",
diff --git a/crates/store/re_video/Cargo.toml b/crates/store/re_video/Cargo.toml
index 43af5bb9c48f..2dcad53f341a 100644
--- a/crates/store/re_video/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/store/re_video/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,12 +24,15 @@ no-default-features = true
 features = ["all"]
 
 [features]
-default = []
+default = ["av1"]
 
-## Opt-in to native AV1 decoding.
-## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
+## Native AV1 decoding.
 av1 = ["dep:dav1d"]
 
+## Enable faster native video decoding with assembly.
+## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
+nasm = ["dav1d?/default"] # The default feature set of dav1d has asm enabled
+
 [dependencies]
 re_log.workspace = true
 re_tracing.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/store/re_video/src/decode/av1.rs b/crates/store/re_video/src/decode/av1.rs
index 320d523535ea..d4e69276a96e 100644
--- a/crates/store/re_video/src/decode/av1.rs
+++ b/crates/store/re_video/src/decode/av1.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ impl SyncDav1dDecoder {
     pub fn new() -> Result<Self> {
         re_tracing::profile_function!();
 
+        if !cfg!(feature = "nasm") {
+            re_log::warn_once!(
+                "NOTE: native AV1 video decoder is running extra slowly. \
+                Speed it up by compiling Rerun with the `nasm` feature enabled. \
+                You'll need to also install nasm: https://nasm.us/"
+            );
+        }
+
         // See https://videolan.videolan.me/dav1d/structDav1dSettings.html for settings docs
         let mut settings = dav1d::Settings::new();
 
diff --git a/crates/top/rerun-cli/Cargo.toml b/crates/top/rerun-cli/Cargo.toml
index aac1e268b54c..405e07cb176d 100644
--- a/crates/top/rerun-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/top/rerun-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ repository.workspace = true
 rust-version.workspace = true
 version.workspace = true
 
+default-run = "rerun" # If someone types `cargo run` in this workspace, this is what we staert
+
 [lints]
 workspace = true
 
@@ -39,14 +41,14 @@ doc = false
 # so wer have all the bells and wistles here
 default = ["native_viewer", "web_viewer"]
 
+## Enable faster native video decoding with assembly.
+## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
+nasm = ["rerun/nasm"]
+
 ## Support spawning a native viewer.
 ## This adds a lot of extra dependencies, so only enable this feature if you need it!
 native_viewer = ["rerun/native_viewer"]
 
-## Support for native AV1 video decoding.
-## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
-video_av1 = ["rerun/video_av1"]
-
 ## Support serving a web viewer over HTTP.
 ##
 ## Enabling this inflates the binary size quite a bit, since it embeds the viewer wasm.
diff --git a/crates/top/rerun/Cargo.toml b/crates/top/rerun/Cargo.toml
index af546f31a6c8..4a3c6adf6dd5 100644
--- a/crates/top/rerun/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/top/rerun/Cargo.toml
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ ecolor = ["re_types?/ecolor"]
 ## Integration with the [`log`](https://crates.io/crates/log/) crate.
 log = ["dep:env_logger", "dep:log"]
 
+## Enable faster native video decoding with assembly.
+## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
+nasm = ["re_video/nasm"]
+
 ## Support spawning a native viewer.
 ## This adds a lot of extra dependencies, so only enable this feature if you need it!
 native_viewer = ["dep:re_viewer"]
@@ -94,10 +98,6 @@ server = ["re_sdk_comms?/server"]
 ## Embed the Rerun SDK & built-in types and re-export all of their public symbols.
 sdk = ["dep:re_sdk", "dep:re_types"]
 
-## Support for native AV1 video decoding.
-## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
-video_av1 = ["re_viewer?/video_av1"]
-
 ## Support serving a web viewer over HTTP.
 ##
 ## Enabling this inflates the binary size quite a bit, since it embeds the viewer wasm.
@@ -117,10 +117,12 @@ re_entity_db.workspace = true
 re_error.workspace = true
 re_format.workspace = true
 re_log_types.workspace = true
+re_video.workspace = true
 re_log.workspace = true
 re_memory.workspace = true
 re_smart_channel.workspace = true
 re_tracing.workspace = true
+
 anyhow.workspace = true
 document-features.workspace = true
 itertools.workspace = true
@@ -155,3 +157,7 @@ unindent = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 
 [build-dependencies]
 re_build_tools.workspace = true
+
+[package.metadata.cargo-machete]
+# We only depend on re_video so we can enable extra features for it
+ignored = ["re_video"]
diff --git a/crates/viewer/re_renderer/Cargo.toml b/crates/viewer/re_renderer/Cargo.toml
index fcff282a15b9..690e7e3eb35a 100644
--- a/crates/viewer/re_renderer/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/viewer/re_renderer/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ default = ["import-obj", "import-gltf", "import-stl"]
 ## Support for Arrow datatypes for end-to-end zero-copy.
 arrow = ["dep:arrow2"]
 
-## Support for native AV1 video decoding.
-## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
-video_av1 = ["re_video/av1"]
-
 ## Support importing .obj files
 import-obj = ["dep:tobj"]
 
@@ -56,7 +52,7 @@ re_error.workspace = true
 re_log.workspace = true
 re_math.workspace = true
 re_tracing.workspace = true
-re_video.workspace = true
+re_video = { workspace = true, default-features = true }
 
 ahash.workspace = true
 anyhow.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/decoder/mod.rs b/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/decoder/mod.rs
index 6f19ff5c40f8..97ecd40dfcbd 100644
--- a/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/decoder/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/decoder/mod.rs
@@ -127,7 +127,9 @@ impl VideoDecoder {
             if #[cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")] {
                 let decoder = web::WebVideoDecoder::new(data.clone(), hw_acceleration)?;
                 return Ok(Self::from_chunk_decoder(render_ctx, data, decoder));
-            } else if #[cfg(feature = "video_av1")] {
+            } else {
+                // Native AV1 video decoding:
+
                 if !data.config.is_av1() {
                     return Err(DecodingError::UnsupportedCodec {
                         codec: data.human_readable_codec_string(),
@@ -135,7 +137,7 @@ impl VideoDecoder {
                 }
 
                 if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
-                    return Err(DecodingError::NoNativeDebug); // because debug builds of rav1d are so slow
+                    return Err(DecodingError::NoNativeDebug); // because debug builds of rav1d are EXTREMELY slow
                 } else {
                     let av1_decoder = re_video::decode::av1::SyncDav1dDecoder::new()
                         .map_err(|err| DecodingError::StartDecoder(err.to_string()))?;
@@ -143,8 +145,6 @@ impl VideoDecoder {
                     let decoder = native_decoder::NativeDecoder::new(debug_name, Box::new(av1_decoder))?;
                     return Ok(Self::from_chunk_decoder(render_ctx, data, decoder));
                 };
-            } else {
-                return Err(DecodingError::NoNativeSupport);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/mod.rs b/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/mod.rs
index 5cc072758ce2..517c6ecc08c2 100644
--- a/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/viewer/re_renderer/src/video/mod.rs
@@ -54,17 +54,11 @@ pub enum DecodingError {
     BadData,
 
     #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
-    #[error("No native video support. Try compiling rerun with the `video_av1` feature flag")]
-    NoNativeSupport,
-
-    #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
-    #[cfg(feature = "video_av1")]
     #[error("Unsupported codec: {codec:?}. Only AV1 is currently supported on native.")]
     UnsupportedCodec { codec: String },
 
     #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
-    #[cfg(feature = "video_av1")]
-    #[error("Video decoding not supported in native debug builds.")]
+    #[error("Native video decoding not supported in native debug builds.")]
     NoNativeDebug,
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/viewer/re_viewer/Cargo.toml b/crates/viewer/re_viewer/Cargo.toml
index 6216ddee5851..7cf74b51cdd5 100644
--- a/crates/viewer/re_viewer/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/viewer/re_viewer/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,10 +36,6 @@ default = ["analytics"]
 ## Enable telemetry using our analytics SDK.
 analytics = ["dep:re_analytics"]
 
-## Support for native AV1 video decoding.
-## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
-video_av1 = ["re_renderer/video_av1"]
-
 
 [dependencies]
 # Internal:
diff --git a/pixi.toml b/pixi.toml
index 1bf01bdd8239..56ab2208126c 100644
--- a/pixi.toml
+++ b/pixi.toml
@@ -122,18 +122,18 @@ man = "cargo --quiet run --package rerun-cli --all-features -- man > docs/conten
 # Compile and run the rerun viewer.
 #
 # You can also give an argument for what to view (e.g. an .rrd file).
-rerun = "cargo run --package rerun-cli --no-default-features --features native_viewer,video_av1 --"
+rerun = "cargo run --package rerun-cli --no-default-features --features native_viewer,nasm --"
 
 # Compile `rerun-cli` without the web-viewer.
-rerun-build = "cargo build --package rerun-cli --no-default-features --features native_viewer,video_av1"
+rerun-build = "cargo build --package rerun-cli --no-default-features --features native_viewer,nasm"
 
 # Compile `rerun-cli` without the web-viewer.
-rerun-build-release = "cargo build --package rerun-cli --release --no-default-features --features native_viewer,video_av1"
+rerun-build-release = "cargo build --package rerun-cli --release --no-default-features --features native_viewer,nasm"
 
 # Compile and run the rerun viewer with --release.
 #
 # You can also give an argument for what to view (e.g. an .rrd file).
-rerun-release = "cargo run --package rerun-cli --no-default-features --features native_viewer,video_av1 --release --"
+rerun-release = "cargo run --package rerun-cli --no-default-features --features native_viewer,nasm --release --"
 
 # Compile and run the web-viewer via rerun-cli.
 #
diff --git a/rerun_py/Cargo.toml b/rerun_py/Cargo.toml
index 9695a6bf9764..2b5994ab5de9 100644
--- a/rerun_py/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rerun_py/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ default = ["extension-module"]
 
 ## The features we turn on when building the `rerun-sdk` PyPi package
 ## for <https://pypi.org/project/rerun-sdk/>.
-pypi = ["extension-module", "web_viewer"]
+pypi = ["extension-module", "nasm", "web_viewer"]
 
 ## We need to enable the `pyo3/extension-module` when building the SDK,
 ## but we cannot enable it when building tests and benchmarks, so we
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ pypi = ["extension-module", "web_viewer"]
 ## * <https://pyo3.rs/main/building-and-distribution#building-python-extension-modules>
 extension-module = ["pyo3/extension-module"]
 
+## Enable faster native video decoding with assembly.
+## You need to install [nasm](https://nasm.us/) to compile with this feature.
+nasm = ["re_video/nasm"]
+
 ## Support serving a web viewer over HTTP with `serve()`.
 ##
 ## Enabling this adds quite a bit to the binary size,