If you deal with video editing, you probably find yourself needing to convert video files on a daily basis. Fortunately, OS X offers many ways to do this quickly and painlessly. Lets look at three of them.
1. Quicktime
First, OS X ships with QuickTime 10. QuickTime is the default media player on OS X, and from it you can export video to a specific destination format like iTunes, or optimize a video for the web. You can also use the regular export dialog to export to a more general format.
Selecting "Export To" Will Allow You To Export To A Specific Format Destination
You Will Get A Dialog Giving You Options For The Format Destination You Selected
Selecting "Export" Will Allow You To Set More General Format Options
2. Finder
Using QuickTime is an easy way to convert videos, but there is an even quicker way. If you right click on a video file inside of Finder, you will see the option to Encode Selected Video Files. That’s right, QuickTime’s video conversion is built right into Finder in OS X Mountain Lion.
Right Clicking A Video File Will Allow You To Convert From Within Finder
That’s right, QuickTime’s video conversion is built right into Finder in OS X Mountain Lion.
The "Encode Media" Dialog Will Open Allowing You To Set The Format And Quality Settings
Selecting this option will open the Encode Media window where you can select the settings you want for the new video file and click continue to convert the file.
3. App Store
Finally, if you want to see what other Apps are available to use to convert your video files, you can select a file, right-click and go to Open With to see a list of apps on your Mac that can open the file. You’ll see an option at the bottom called App Store. This will open the App Store and you can see the available Apps that can understand the file format. From here you can quickly see any Apps that can be used to convert the file.
Selecting "App Store" from the "Open With" Drop Down Will Open The App Store And Show You Apps Available For The File Format
You Can Then Install Any Free Or Paid Video Converter App
Conclusion
With QuickTime and Finder’s built in converting, OS X offers you easy and built in video conversion. And with the App Store, you can find an app that offers you almost any level of control for converting, at any price level.
