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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Sign up to join this communityI 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.
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.
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). –
Apr 2, 2020 at 11:21
ffmpeg -i /path/to/input/file /path/to/output.mp4
takes more than a minute to convert a 100 MB video, but the mp4 file size is almost 10 times smaller. The command with the -c:v copy -c:a copy
option converts instantly, however there is no change in file size.
video
tag, you can not use @ernestoche 's method, browsers just refuse to play that codec.
You can also use VLC to convert .mov into several formats:
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)
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.
There's also a "Share" option in the player when you open a .mov file in QuickTime Player:
...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:
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.
So I tried converting .mov
to .mp4
with both methods.. ffmpeg
and handbrake
input .mov
file size: 8.6 MB
cmd:
brew install ffmpeg
ffmpeg -i input.mov output.mp4
Output .mp4 size: 1.2 MB
download from https://handbrake.fr/
converted using GUI with default settings.
Output .mp4 size: 622 KB
Looks like handbrake
exports with smaller size with no noticeable video quality difference. Also, ffmpeg
installs tons of dependencies and installation took several minutes.
tldr: I'd go with handbrake
.