MOV Vs. MP4 Vs. H.264 – Best Video Export Settings

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ABOUT VIDEO:
In this video tutorial I go over the best video export settings in Premiere Pro. I explain the difference between MOV, MP4, and H.264. I talk about codecs and containers and how they work. I also cover lossy and lossless file compression. Then I show you how you can change these export settings in Adobe Premiere Pro. I go over the best export settings for YouTube and then I show how to switch to export videos as Apple ProRes files out of Premiere.

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 MOV, MP4, H.264
01:52 Video Codecs Vs. Containers
03:40 Lossy Vs. Lossless Video Compression
04:46 Determining Your Video Export Settings
05:48 Premiere Pro Export Settings

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John The Video Guy is a video editor & videographer that works in the entertainment industry, creating videos and motion graphics for live events including corporate events, non-profit galas, and private parties. On this YouTube channel, he shares Premiere Pro & After Effects tips and tricks as well as many videos on various post production topics. Consider subscribing and joining our community focused on learning new ways to create AWESOME videos.

[TheSpongyMallard]

I have been using mov for YouTube without realizing I could use mp4 and make the file size smaller. My internet isn’t too fast, so this helps very much.

As a test I had a video exported as both band honestly it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference.

[KristophersKorner]

Thank you for this post. I just got the Panasonic GH5 Mark 2 and was not sure what one to pick for my YouTube videos or what one to use for my iMovie editing. You helped and I thank you.

[Kiminova_Yukio_HM_TR]

Thank you for this beautiful and useful video you have made.

[shivayshakti]

Really appreciate the effort you put in all those avatars :)

[adarzvi]

thank you for the video! would like to ask something, i admit i got a little confused towards the end, when we are suddenly introduced to this new concept, at list in this video, which is- the preset. what is the preset exactly? assuming it is optional pre-existing pairings of container and codec.... but then another thing is a bit confusing to me- why is h.264 written as "format" and not codec? i thought mp4 is the container\format.
lastly- is that a jump cut when you touch on the mov and turn it back to mp4 or.... what type of trickery is that? thanks! (:

[peterdimitriou]

Very helpful video, I like the method of teaching relating it back to the bars. Makes it easy to visualise!

[thepragmatist]

Thank you for this video. I'm starting a YouTube channel and this is very helpful.

[MarlaLukofsky]

I really like the way you explain things and your pacing and cursor so that it doesn't go all over the place while you are talking and thinking like so many other people. Bottom line is a bit confusing. If I want to post my video on Youtube or Tik Tok, is it best to use .mov or Mp4 from Quicktime edited video .264

[alexk]

What about the MKV video format, how does it compare to these?

[avxway]

my iphone recorded video in .mov format. when i render it in premiere pro, the video loses a lot of quality, it’s blurry. how do i avoid that? best settings for rendering .mov videos without losing quality?

[zephyrkhambatta]

So let's say I'm exporting it out of DaVinci (it has options to pick any of those you mentioned), to then send it into Logic Pro X to work on the audio further before uploading it to YouTube, would I be ok choosing QuickTime as the video format, H.264 as the video codec, and then under Audio (which has separate options), selecting Linear PCM so I can further work on a good quality audio file in Logic? Versus choosing the Audio as AAC I mean, because I AM applying SERIOUS (lots of them and professionally done I have a background in this) edits to the audio inside Logic.

Thanks!

[Raufasertapete]

hey John thanks for the great explanation. Now I think you are exactly the right for my question because I'm just despairing. Does it even make sense to record with my gh5ii in MOV if I have to convert it to MP4 later anyway because davinci doesn't recognize the codec in the free version? Since I can record but equal in MP4 or do I have there a thinking error?

[thegodbees]

Question I exported as a h264 but I’m unable to play the film on my Mac … how would I be able to play it on my computer and how will my client be able to play it back ?

[OliBaitsMedia]

I'm still a little confused as to what I should use as my "go to" settings for standard shooting on a DJI Mini 3, editing on a MacBook Pro, for videos for Youtube, Facebook etc. I want high quality of course! Any advice please?

[eyalhar-tuv]

So if I have the MP4 on my tablet, and I want to broadcast in the highest quality to a TV connected to a surround 5.1 system, what's the best connection?

[RonaldPostelmans]

Hi Nice video, Do you know about importing a video in your video editing programm? I have tried camtasia and davinci resolve, but both software gives me problems when i import a .mov file in the project. It sees the file as an sound file and not as a movie file. It is made by my panasonic s2IIx as i guess 4k 25fpm Longbo something

[mayank]

i honestly cannot tell visually the difference between mp4 and mov
but i think when you go to edit the video again, all the noise and small lil problems comes up

[edwardstokell]

Good explanation in the begining, Clearly this was for apple users. I edited a video in Davinci Resolve, trying to play the video From a USB Flash Drive on to a TV, Can't get it working. It's currently in MOV with exFAT format. Any advice for me please ?

[ChuckHaney]

My editing software will sometimes tell me that my video game footage is variable rate and not reliable for editing. It then gives me options to upgrade it to .mov or higher. Is that really necessary?

[yukterez]

If you upload it to Youtube you don't need to use their codec, Youtube transforms the video anyway, and if you transform a H264 into another H264 you lose quality twice, so if you have the bandwith upload with the highest quality possible to avoid double compression artefacts.