QuickTime File Format (MOV)

MOV is the QuickTime File Format, Apple’s container from the 1990s. The structure of ISOBMFF and MP4 was derived from it, so the two look alike and FFmpeg treats them as one demuxer, but MOV allows codecs, track types and metadata that MP4 does not. Use it for editing and intermediate files, not for delivery.

What MOV is used for

• Mezzanine and editing codecs: ProRes, DNxHD/DNxHR, QuickTime Animation and uncompressed video. FFmpeg refuses to put ProRes or DNxHR in MP4.
• PCM audio: 16/24-bit PCM is the usual audio for editing files; AAC also works.
• Timecode tracks: MOV carries a start timecode that NLEs read.
• H.264 and HEVC also work, so a .mov from a camera or screen recorder is often just MP4-style video in a QuickTime wrapper.
• Apple software: Final Cut Pro, QuickTime Player, Compressor and iOS capture all use it.

Outside Apple’s ecosystem, MOV is well handled by editors (Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut) but poorly by browsers and TVs. If the codec inside is H.264/HEVC + AAC, remuxing to MP4 is lossless and fixes most compatibility problems:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c copy -movflags +faststart output.mp4

Create an editing master

A ProRes 422 HQ file with PCM audio and a start timecode:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 -pix_fmt yuv422p10le -c:a pcm_s24le -timecode 01:00:00:00 output.mov

-profile:v runs 0 (Proxy), 1 (LT), 2 (422), 3 (HQ), 4 (4444), 5 (4444 XQ). Set the pixel format to match: yuv422p10le for the 422 profiles (otherwise a 4:4:4 or RGB source produces a non-standard 4:4:4 stream labelled HQ) and yuv444p10le for 4444. DNxHR is the cross-platform alternative:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v dnxhd -profile:v dnxhr_hq -pix_fmt yuv422p -c:a pcm_s24le output.mov

Both are intra-only and very large (ProRes 422 HQ is about 176–220 Mb/s at 1080p23.976–29.97), meant to survive repeated edits, not to be uploaded as the final file. See the ProRes page.

Pitfalls

• MOV is not MP4 with a different extension. Rewrapping with -c copy only works when the codecs are valid in the target. FFmpeg’s MP4 muxer rejects ProRes and DNxHD/DNxHR, and it will write PCM audio into MP4 that most players then refuse.
• Colour tags. QuickTime uses colr/nclc tags to decide how to display colour; a file with missing or wrong tags can look washed out or shifted in QuickTime Player compared with other players. Check the primaries, transfer and matrix with ffprobe and set them when encoding. See Preserve colour and HDR.
• Apple and HEVC. Same as MP4: tag HEVC hvc1 (-tag:v hvc1) for Apple players.