Format Conversion

Movie Files | Format Conversion

Format Conversion

As noted earlier, Sparkle or QuickTime can be used not only to play MPEG and QuickTime movies on the Macintosh, but can also convert between the two formats. SmartVid and TrMooV can convert between QuickTime and AVI formats. This site provides instructions for using these latter two programs and detailed information about the differences in video and audio files on the Macintosh and PC.
On the Macintosh, files have what are termed a "data fork" and a "resource fork", while on other systems files are not similarly divided. Consequently, if a movie file created on a Mac is to be viewable on other systems, the movie may have to be "flattened" so that all of the file information is stored in a single part. You need not understand technically what this means, only that it needs to be done to transfer QuickTime files to non-Mac platforms (here is a more detailed discussion, for those who want to know anyway). This process can be performed automatically on a Mac by using the program Fast Player, or on a Windows machine with the program QTflat. With the newest players, QuickTime movies may transfer automatically without having to make this conversion manually.


			Movie Files \| Format Conversion
		Format Conversion As noted earlier, `Sparkle` or QuickTime can be used not only to play MPEG and QuickTime movies on the Macintosh, but can also convert between the two formats. `SmartVid` and `TrMooV` can convert between QuickTime and AVI formats. This site provides instructions for using these latter two programs and detailed information about the differences in video and audio files on the Macintosh and PC. On the Macintosh, files have what are termed a "data fork" and a "resource fork", while on other systems files are not similarly divided. Consequently, if a movie file created on a Mac is to be viewable on other systems, the movie may have to be "flattened" so that all of the file information is stored in a single part. You need not understand technically what this means, only that it needs to be done to transfer QuickTime files to non-Mac platforms (here is a more detailed discussion, for those who want to know anyway). This process can be performed automatically on a Mac by using the program `Fast` `Player`, or on a Windows machine with the program `QTflat`. With the newest players, QuickTime movies may transfer automatically without having to make this conversion manually.