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I want to convert .mov to .mp4! I saved the video from iMovie but it is in .mov format! How do I convert it to .mp4?

I'm using a MacBook and I want to share it to my phone, but my phone can't open .mov format video.

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206

I personally find using ffmpeg shell program (available through Brew using brew install ffmpeg) the most convenient way to do the conversions.

It includes tons of options for nearly any single thing you could possibly do with a movie.

In your case though, for a conversion, you can simply type:

ffmpeg -i /path/to/input/file /path/to/output.mp4

The .mp4 extension in the output path serves as a cue for the program to do the proper conversion -- no more options are necessary.

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    Most of the time you can speed up the process by copying video and audio data instead of transcoding. Like this: ffmpeg -i /path/to/input/file -c:v copy -c:a copy /path/to/output.mp4 (mov is very similar to mp4 and most of the time contains h264 video and aac audio, which is equally supported in mp4). – – ernesto che Apr 2 at 11:21
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Handbrake

You can use Handbrake to convert .mov to .mp4 files.

HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.

Reasons you’ll love HandBrake:

  • Convert video from nearly any format
  • Free and Open Source
  • Multi-Platform (Windows, Mac and Linux)

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You can also use VLC to convert .mov into several formats:

  1. Install and open VLC
  2. Go to "File" > "Convert / Stream..."

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  1. Load the video (for example drag the .mov file into box)

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  1. Choose the format you want
  2. Click on "Save as File" button, sit back and relax
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Apple's gotcha had ya covered. ...Sadly, things have changed with the advent of macOS 10.13 High Sierra :\

Once upon a time You can you could use QuickTime Player to export .mov files and have them converted to .m4v files that will play on your other Apple products. M4V is a video container format developed by Apple from the MP4 standard - M4V is very similar to the MP4 format. The main difference is that M4V supports DRM copy protection - such as for copyrighted material viewed with Apple TV.

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There's also a "Share" option in the player when you open a .mov file in QuickTime Player:

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...and I am not sure if this converts the file, but you can use it to send your video to your mobile device with, for example, the Messages app.

See this article for more information on the difference between MP4 and M4V.

Lastly, per this tutorial, you can just Export the file from iMovie:

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    Quicktime no longer has these options in High Sierra. Not sure why Apple removed them. – mzaur Oct 31 '17 at 0:09
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Which iPhone models who you own? The iPhone can only play H.264 or MPEG-4 video. The most simple way is downloading Handbrake, which not only assists you to convert MOV to iPhone suppported H.264 or MPEG-4 video, but also offers advanced profile parameters adjusting function to assist you to get better output video and audio quality.

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