Convert MOV to MP4

How to use the MOV to MP4 converter

1. Add the MOV files from Photos, Finder or a folder copied off the phone.
2. Keep Quality at Balanced. It only comes into play if the clip has to be re-encoded.
3. Press Convert to MP4 and grab the files separately or zipped.

A rewrap, not a re-encode

MOV and MP4 grew out of the same file structure and both carry H.264 picture and AAC sound. Turning one into the other mostly means rebuilding the wrapper around frames that are left exactly as they were, so the result looks identical and a screen recording of a gigabyte can be done almost at once.

The MP4 gets its index at the front of the file, which lets browsers and phones start playback before the download is complete.

HEVC and ProRes footage

Recent iPhones film in HEVC (H.265) unless set otherwise, and many PCs, editors and websites still cannot play it. Those clips are re-encoded to H.264 rather than copied, which is genuine work: expect it to take around the length of the clip, longer for 4K.

ProRes, used by some cameras and high-quality QuickTime recordings, is re-encoded the same way and usually ends up dramatically smaller.

Sound and orientation

AAC, the sound format iPhones and Macs record, is copied unchanged. Anything else, like uncompressed PCM from a camera, gets turned into AAC for maximum compatibility.

A clip shot in portrait keeps its rotation information when the frames are copied, so it still plays upright.

Questions