How to Convert MOV, WEBM, MKV, GIF, 3GP, FLV & AVI to MP4

Have you ever faced a situation when you spend hours creating or downloading a video file and then ending up with a "format not supported" window? The situation is frustrating and gets even trickier if you need the video urgently and don't have the time to rerun the whole process.

However, you don't have to do this extra work and can resolve the issue by just converting the video.

This post will guide you with the conversion of videos from formats like WEBM to MP4 using three different methods. It will also introduce you to a tool to deal with errors and issues that can arise during the conversion process.

How to Convert Different Video File Formats to MP4

There are multiple ways to convert a video file into MP4. You can do it through a desktop application, online website as well as a media player. The simplest of these three is to use VLC media players. Here’s how you can use VLC.

Step 1 Open VLC Media Player

If you don't have the VLC media player, head to the VideoLAN website and download it. Once you have it, open it and browser to File-> open Multiple Files. You can also use the shortcut key- CTRL+Shift+O.

Step 2 Add Video

The media window that pops will show you several options, click on the file menu, and then on the add button that appears next to the empty white space.

Step 3 Click On Convert Video

VLC will now open the file browsing tab, navigate to your files, then select and import it. Once it's uploaded and you will see the file name in the white space. Click on the 'Play' button at the bottom. Select the Covert option in this dropdown. You can also use the shortcut ALT+O for this step.

Step 4 Select The Valid Codec

VLC will now open the covert video interface and display the available codec. There will be two options for MP4 format. Select the one that suits your requirements.

Step 5 Save the File

Head to the destination file slot and fill in the path of your desired folder for saving the converted files. Then click on the 'Start' button, and the conversion will start.

VLC isn't the only player with this conversion feature, iMovie, QuickTime, and many more support it. The button placement and option may differ, but the overall procedure will remain the same.

How to Repair Corrupted Video Files on Windows and Mac

While converting videos from different file formats to MP4, sometimes video gets corrupted. At times a part of the video goes missing and sometimes the complete video. You make numerous unsuccessful attempts to fix the video and play it and come to the conclusion that you have lost the video forever. Are you into the same situation? Worry not! We have the solution for you.

Whenever you fall into such a situation, Wondershare Video Repair is the ideal tool that helps you fix the problem. The powerful tool can repair broken, damaged, and corrupted files. It is compatible with all the video formats - MOV, MP4, M4V, M2TS, MKV, MTS, 3GP, AVI, and FLV. Whether it is a blurry or frozen video or video playback is interrupted, Wondershare Video Repair can fix the video files on Windows and Mac in 3 easy steps.

This user-friendly software can repair numerous corrupt files of different formats and sizes at the same time. Here are the quick steps that can fix your corrupted videos in minutes.

The user interface of the Wondershare Video Repair tool works the same way for both Windows and Mac operating systems. Proceed with the following steps.

Step 1 Add Your Corrupted Video

After launching the Wondershare Video Repair tool, click on the ‘Add’ button to add the videos that need repair.

Once you add the video, the software will show you the details of the relative parameters like file name, path, size, etc. of the video.

Step 2 Repair Video

Select the files from the uploaded file list and then click on the Repair button on the bottom. The application will start processing and show a popup when the conversion process is complete. Click 'OK' on the popup, and the videos will be autosaved to the default folder.

You can preview the repaired file to verify if the video is playing correctly. If it is not repaired you can proceed with the advanced repair.

The advanced repair will use a sample video from the same device and same format as that of the video which is being repaired.

Step 3 Save Video

The video repaired with the Wondershare Video Repair tools get autosaved, but the same does not happen with the advanced repair. You need to save them manually using the 'Save' button next to the video name and then providing a saving location.

Video to Help You Repair Corrupted Videos

Overview of the Different Video File Formats

To deal with conversion and standard issues of videos, you must understand the different available video formats. The following are some of the commonly available variants, along with a brief detail about them. It will help you to gain a broader view of different video formats.

What’s MOV?

The move is a MPEG-4 codec based video format developed by Apple in 1998. The video format works on both Windows and Mac operating systems, allowing the user to store multiple tracks in the same video. It is the first preference for storing movies as they contain several tracks with different data types.

Playing videos with this format will need you to have a specific codec based player on your system. Most common media players like VLC and Quick time support this format. These players can also convert MOV to MP4 without any problem. In case you get any trouble, try converting MOV to AVI and then into MP4.

What’s WEBM?

WEBM is a website specific audio-visual format. It works on a VP8 and OGG Vorbis technology that enables you to compress the video before uploading them on the web. It is an alternative of the MPEGA4 standards, which is available for both commercial and non-commercial uses.

Most of the browsers and media players, including VLC, Opera, Chrome, Quicktime, and Firefox, support this format. Almost all these browsers allow you to convert WebM to MP4 formats.

What’s MKV?

MKV, known as the Matroska Video File, is a format that came to light in 2002. This format enables the video creators to contain video audio as well as the subtitles into a single file. The file format can even work with elements that are entirely diverse from each other. For instance, you can use it for a combo of MP3 file.

The benefits of this format include:

This future format of ready architecture also makes it flexible for conversions. Most of the media players, including VLC and Quicktime and iMovie, can run and convert MKV to MP4 format.

What’s GIF?

The Graphical Interchange format, more commonly known as GIF, is one of the most popular picture formats. It’s considered unique because this particular format supports a multi-frame structure that enables you to create motion images or animation. It doesn't have sound but supports multiple types of effects.

This multi-frame architecture also enables you to use it as a short video clip. Unfortunately, the format is quite outdated and a hybrid, so most new players cannot play it. Therefore, you will need to depend on a video conversion website or application to convert it. Most of the time, you can directly convert a GIF to MP4, but in some cases, you will need to convert GIF to Mp4 and then convert MOV to MP4 file.

What’s 3GP?

3GP is an audio and video multimedia format that saved the data using the 3rd generation partnership Project's video container. The video format is exclusively for 3G phones that transmitted and streamed data over 3G internet connections. Based on ISO media standard, it enables the user to store and stream multiple formats, including H.263, AMR-WB+, AAC-LC, and many more.

It also offered a wide range of compatibility with media players and worked perfectly with VideoLAN, Microsoft Movie and TV, Apple Quicktime, and many more players. The quality of 3GP videos is a bit lower than today's modern formats (full HD, 4K), but you can easily convert it into an MP4 file using the players playing it.

What’s FLV?

FLV is the common format for web-based applications like Adobe Flash and Adobe AIR. The video format also enhances audio-video synchronization, which is a great issue for online video streaming. Almost every website, including YouTube and Hulu that works with embedded videos, adopt FLV format.

Most players and devices will run this format without any issue, but if you face any, convert the video from FLV to MP4 format. You can use VLC, iMovie, as well as a conversion app or website for this task.

What’s AVI?

AVI or Audio-video Interleave is a standard video format for Windows devices. Microsoft developed it in 1992 for its OS, but later expanded it to other operating systems after a few years. The format can store both audio and video in high quality using multiple codecs like DivX and XviD. These codecs enable you to convert video without compression, preventing loss of quality over time.

However, due to lack or low compression, the file size may increase to a great extent. The file can work with all media players, including VLC and Windows media player, but it will be heavy to store. So, most users like to convert files from AVI to MP4 file before saving it. You can use a media player, website, as well as an application for this task.

What’s MP4?

The Motions Picture Experts Group created multimedia format-MP4 that is most common in the present world. Its container enables it to store both audio and video with adequate compression and very minor, almost no quality loss. Its quality makes it the first preference, a format that’s surpassing all the others.

As for its compatibility, every device and multimedia player, including VLC, QuickTime, and iMovie supports MP4 files. It also supports conversion into other formats, but you most probably won't need it.

What’s The Need Of Video Conversion?

All the video formats have their benefits and find their application, but at some point, you need to convert them into another format. Here's a list of a few reasons for this action.

Compress Videos

Every video format has its compression ratio. Some of them will take space in GB, while the same video in another format may take just a few MBs. Converting them will help you to choose the compression ratio and save space on your storage media.

Compatibility

Every player and application has a limitation on the video formats it can run. For instance, social media apps usually don't support GIFs (they are adding support for it). Similarly, Windows media player, the default player for Microsoft Windows doesn't support MKV. Video conversion helps you to turn the video into a format that you can run on your required player and application without any issue.

Transferring Video

In today’s high definition world, even a few minutes of video can acquire hundreds of MB in your system. The video may further reach to GB after editing though applications like Aftereffect. The high definition is good, but you cannot upload them over WhatsApp or Facebook. Transferring it over an online application is also troublesome. Therefore, you have to drop the resolution and the bitrate by a few percentages. Video conversion helps you in this process.

A Comparison Chart

Learn Some Tips When Converting to MP4

While the video conversion is not a very tricky task, there are some ways to get better and more precise results from it. The following tricks will help you with it.

Note: How to Convert HEVC to MP4 File Format with Quality in 4 Ways
What is M4V File and How to Convert it to MP4?

Closing Words

Videos are a standard part of every life. From the online tutorials you watch to the moments you share on Instagram or Facebook, they are everywhere. Videos are even making into marketing platform and surpassing other marketing mediums.

Each of these tasks has their set criteria for video formats, which introduce the need to convert them before using. The knowledge you have gained from this post will help you with this task. And, if anything goes wrong during the process, don’t worry, Wondershare Video Repair is there to help you out.

* Some of the above codec formats may need to be supported by system.