Convert M4V to WebP
Pick the moments you want out of your M4V and save them as WebP stills. M4V is the Apple version of an MP4, and the two are close enough that converting between them is quick and costs no quality. The practical difference is that the result opens anywhere, which M4V files do not. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert WebP to M4V
How to convert M4V to WebP
- 1 Drop your M4V .m4v file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Pick a single moment, or take a picture every few seconds.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the WebP, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert M4V to WebP
- An M4V will not open in a browser, so anything going onto a web page, into a document or into a message has to become a WebP first.
- Substantially smaller than JPEG and PNG at matching quality.
- One format covers photos, flat graphics, transparency and animation.
- Short animations that would otherwise be a bloated GIF.
- M4V: non-Apple players may refuse the extension even when the file is fine.
M4V compared with WebP
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | M4V | WebP |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .m4v | .webp |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Animation | No | Yes |
| Typical file size | Smaller | Depends on mode |
| Browser support | Some browsers | Every browser |
| Introduced | 2005 | 2010 |
| Developed by | Apple | |
| Standard | Proprietary | Open |
Quality and what changes
WebP stores the same content under a different set of rules, so what matters here is compatibility rather than picture quality. Convert once from the best source you have rather than through a chain of intermediate files.
- Files protected with DRM cannot be decoded and will fail rather than convert.
- One WebP limitation to keep in mind: very large images have to be scaled down before they will save.
Questions about M4V to WebP
Is there a maximum size for WebP?
Yes, WebP is limited to 16383 x 16383 pixels. Images beyond that have to be scaled down or split before they can be written, which is a property of the format rather than of this tool.
Is my M4V file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your M4V is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a WebP. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several M4V files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate WebP downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.