Monday, December 10, 2012

Converting a Video File Type

If you have been following my blog, you know that I am writing a book that will be published using iBooks Author on the Mac.  I plan to use Reflector app (http://www.reflectorapp.com) with AirPlay mirroring from the iPad to the Mac to capture video demonstrating the use of spreadsheet and database software for data analysis.  The default file type for Reflector video is .mov; however, iBooks Author requires the video to be a .m4v or .m4A file type (http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2838).

The conversion was very easy using iMovie!  The first thing I did was to import the .mov video into iMovie.  iMovie allows me to add any audio or text to explain what the video is depicting.  After editing the video, you click Share > Export Movie on the menu.  Because I am a video creator novice, that was initially counter intuitive for me.  I was  looking for an export or save as option on the File menu.  The screen shot below shows that Mobile is the default option for the Share > Export Movie menu selection.

The 45 second .mov file was 2.1 MB.  However, as shown below, the converted .m4v file was 438 KB - much smaller.  That means if I keep the video clips short, like 1-2 minutes, the eBook file size will not be bloated.

To test the video output, I dragged the video into iBooks Author and it worked!  So if you are working on the Mac and have iBooks Author, the free eBook app, and iMovie, you have everything you need to create movies for your iBooks Author eBook.

1 comment :

  1. Thanks for writing your blog and give us knowledge about the iMovie and other application. After reading your blog I came to know most of the things which I don't know and I want to say all the best for your book.


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