Difference between mov, m4v and mv4?

Question

Difference between mov, m4v and mv4?

I had a "large" mov-file and saved it as H.264 in QuickTime Pro, still with the .mov suffix in the name. The result was a folder with .mov.mov suffix containing among other files a .mov-desktop.m4v file and a .mov-poster.jpg file.

Now I did not want to create a webpage, just send someone the resulting H.264 file. I deleted the desktop-part of the file name ending up with just .mov and tested it. I played in Quicktime, so I sent it.

The recipient could not open it. QuickTime reported "movie could not be opend. It is not a movie file".

Renaming the file .m4v makes it open and play in iTunes. .mv4 does not work. QuickTime reports the same error.

Why is QuickTime so picky about filenames? Or rather: Why doesn't QuickTime object to the .mov file on my disk but rejects the very file after a tour on the internet? Is this the result of hidden metadata in MacOS?

If that is the case, I would prefer QuickTime to display an error when a mismatch between metadata and suffix is detected.

PowerBook G4 667 Mhz (TiBook) / PowerMac G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on May 30, 2008 1:59 PM

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Answer 1

May 30, 2008 2:41 PM in response to Ingmar Hemsen

The ".mov" file you sent is measured in KB's (reference movie) and merely points to the .m4v file found in the same folder. It can't be used without the .m4v file.
To open a .m4v file using QuickTime Player simply control click on the file icon and choose QuickTime Player from the pop-up list.

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Answer 2

May 30, 2008 3:35 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

No, I did not send the reference file, but the media file. But I changed the media file's extension from .mov-desktop.m4v to just .mov

Here is the file: http://themsen.spymac.com/lusemage.mov (H.264, 6MB)
The files plays on my machine before I upload or send it, but you (and I) will have to change the extension to m4v to make Quicktime play it after download.

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Answer 3

May 31, 2008 4:43 AM in response to Ingmar Hemsen

Open the .m4v file with QuickTime Pro and use Save As to place it in a .mov container.
No re-encoding done on the file and very fast. It will also make a "fast start" (progressive download) file.
Upload the file to your server and include just the link in the email. The recipient can then "copy" the link, open the free QuickTime Player, "Open URL" (File menu) and paste the URL. The file will begin playing almost instantly.
Too much work for a louse.

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Answer 4

Jun 3, 2008 3:39 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Yes, that did the trick. I still find QuickTime's behaviour a little strange since it did not warn me that the renamed file was not a real .mov file when opening it. The file played without a hitch before upload, and refused to play afterwards. I recon loss of some meta data / "resource fork" data, that did not survive the trip on the net, fooled me.

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