Log in

View Full Version : I need to convert M4V Videos to MP4 Format


dreal
5th November 2014, 11:28
I have been looking for a M4V codec tool for a long time. And the main reason I want to convert M4V videos to MP4 format is that I have a large store of iTunes movies in my computer hard drive, and I want to transfer some of these movies to my new Google Nexus tablet.

I know MP4 format is the most universal for every mobile devices.

I tried handbrake, Any Video Converter, and AVS products, but none of them works with iTunes M4V videos. All failed before of the Apple's FairPlay DRM protection.

I start searching for something to bypass the DRM protection and convert iTunes M4V on Google,

It said I can get free license if I can share their product on forum, personal blog or social account. Hope i can get it. :thanks::thanks:

LoRd_MuldeR
5th November 2014, 13:53
First of all MP4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4_Part_14) (actually "MPEG-4 Part 14") is a container format. It describes how data is arranged in a file, but is does not describe how the audio and video is compressed. Though, MP4 files may contain a variety of different audio formats (such as MP2, MP3, AAC, AC3) and a variety of different video formats (such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC).

Now, MP4 files may be audio-only (contain only an audio stream), they may be video-only (contain only a video stream) or they may contain audio plus video. In all of theses cases, it's still simply a MP4 file. And using the .mp4 file extension would be correct in all these cases. Anyway, since file managers (like Windows Explorer) usually look at the file extension to decided which application they open a file with, and since people may which to open "audio" MP4 files with a different application than "video" MP4 files, this has lead to the practice of using the .m4a and .m4v extensions for audio and video MP4 files, respectively. Technically, these .m4a and .m4v are still in the MP4 format. There is no M4A or M4V "format".

Having said that, Apple uses a DRM technology called, euphemistically, "FairPlay". So MP4 files (regardless of what file extension they have) you download from iTunes are probably "protected" by FairPlay. It means that, outside of the Apple ecosystem, you probably cannot do anything with these files. So this is not about "converting" M4V files to MP4, but about "circumventing" the FairPlay encryption. And there's no "official" way to do that. That's the whole point about DRM...

Groucho2004
5th November 2014, 14:16
@LM
What happened to rule #5? I can't believe that you're writing such an elaborate reply to this spammer.

LoRd_MuldeR
5th November 2014, 14:31
@LM
What happened to rule #5? I can't believe that you're writing such an elaborate reply to this spammer.

I probably was focusing too much on the technical details and didn't realize the (spam) link immediately. It has been removed now.