Converting .MOV Video Files to .MP4 Video Files

ELAR (Endangered Languages Archive https://www.soas.ac.uk/elar/) accepts .MP4 video files, but not .MOV video files for archiving. The purpose of this blog post is to describe how .MOV files can be converted to .MP4 file using Adobe Premiere Pro.

You can even replace a .MOV file with a .MP4 file in a completed ELAN transcription file. In other words, when you convert a .MOV file to .MP4, you do not have to do the transcription over again. That process is also described below.

1. Open Adobe Premier Pro.

2. Click on New Project at the left side of the screen. 

Give the project a name.

3. In the Project Panel (bottom left), click on Media Browser. 

Find the folder that contains your file and click on it.

4. Double click on the file you want to covert. 

That file should now appear in the Source Monitor (upper left).

5. Click on the File tab at the top of your computer monitor’s screen. 

Then scroll down to Export on the dropdown menu, and click on Media.

6. In the format dropdown menu (top right), select H.264 (this is .MP4).

7. Click on Export (bottom of the panel).

The conversion takes a few minutes.

8. You should now have both a .MOV file and a .MP4 file.

9. If you have other .MOV files to covert in the same folder, just repeat the process.

10. Start by double clicking on the new file in the Project Panel (bottom left). It should appear in the Source Monitor panel (top left).

Replacing Files in ELAN

If you have already transcribed an oral text in ELAN using a .MOV file, it is quite easy to replace that .MOV file with an equivalent .MP4 file. 

Please make a backup copy of your ELAN .eaf file before making the replacement below, just in case.

Here are the steps:

1. Open your ELAN project (that is, the one with the .MOV file).

2. Click on Edit. Then in the dropdown menu click on Linked Files.

3. Click on the .MOV file you wish to replace. Then click on Update.

4. Click on the replacement .MP4 file. 

5. Your ELAN project should work as before, with time aligned video and audio files.