It can also function as a general Mac MP4 converter as well, and as DVDs become less popular, that aspect of the software is coming to the forefront. It includes some nice DVD-specific features such as chapter selection and basic support for extracting subtitles. Just as VLC is primarily known as a media player, HandBrake was primarily known as a DVD ripping tool. The file will then be converted into the new format and saved at that location.īest for: ripping DVDs and converting to MP4 From here you can choose different codecs and output formats.Ĭlick on the Save File option and select the location you'd like your converted file to be placed in. If you'd like more control, you can click on the Customize button next to the presets dropdown. There are two options for MP4 files one for video and one for audio. From the Choose Profile section, pick the format and preset that you'd like to convert your file to. With your media file open in the Convert / Stream dialog, it's time to convert the file. When the Convert / Stream dialog opens up, you can drag and drop the file you want to convert where it says 'Drop media here.' There is also a button in that section you can click on to open your media file manually. Alternatively, you can hit Shift-Command-S on your Mac keyboard to open the dialog. You'll find it near the bottom of the menu. With the VLC program active, open its File menu on your Mac's menu bar.Ĭlick on the Convert / Stream option. How to change a video format on a Mac with VLC The reason you might not know that is that it isn't really designed as a video converter, so the process isn't as intuitive as you may like and the conversion process can be slower than a dedicated video converter would be. What you might not have known though, is that VLC is also capable of converting to and from that wide array of formats that it supports, making it great for use as a Mac MPEG-4 converter.

The capability has made it a standard part of most Linux distributions and a favorite among both Mac and Windows users where the native media players are often lacking support for a few popular codecs.

You may have heard of VLC Media Player before, it's one of the most popular media players around due to its ability to open almost any file format you throw at it. Best for: multi-tasking (if you need a player, converter, and video editor)

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