convert video to MP4

Make old videos playable on all your devices

Ever struggled to get video to play on your Mac, iPad or other device (such as your Apple TV)?

That’s because video is made up of multiple components: the file itself (known as the ‘container’), plus its content in the form of its video and audio (known as ‘codecs’). It’s possible to mix and match these to the extent that two seemingly identical files with the same file extension behave in different ways – as in, one will play, the other won’t.

These days, the safest solution is to ensure all your video files conform to a standard that will work across all your devices. But if you’ve got a collection of videos – particularly older files – that don’t conform, what can you do?

The answer lies with a free, open-source tool called Handbrake (handbrake.fr). This miracle worker can convert just about any video file into a standard format, which basically translates into a MP4 container (in other words, a file with a .mp4 or .m4v file extension) and H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec. Read on to discover how.