How do I convert an iTunes movie to work on my iPhone?

I have a couple of movies in iTunes that look great when I view them on my computer, but when I copy them to my new iPhone, I can't watch them: the phone complains "format not supported". How can I fix that?

Dave's Answer:

The problem you're encountering is most likely that the size of the video in the video file is bigger than the iPhone can handle: it just doesn't have the CPU ooomph to be able to dynamically resize the image as you're watching something that's too big or in the wrong dimensions.

Fortunately, if you have QuickTime installed on your computer, you have the tool you need to convert your large movie into a smaller movie that's the right format for your Apple iPhone.

To show you how to do this, I used a copy of The Matrix, one of my favorite sci-fi movies. Like you, when I played mine in iTunes in a separate window, it looked fabulous. Even full-screen it was quite viewable.

But copy it to the iPhone and I also saw "Format Not Supported".

Not so good.

Going back to iTunes on the computer, I chose the film, then chose File --> Get Info. The Summary tab shows the problem:

I've highlighted "Video Dimensions", where you can see that it's good dimensions for a TV or computer monitor (640x272) but not so good for an iPhone, which is 320 x 480. In a word, the video's just the wrong size.

To fix it, open up the video in QuickTime. You can do this by right-clicking (or Ctrl-clicking) on the video within iTunes, then picking Show In Finder, then, from the Finder, right-clicking and choosing Open With and selecting QuickTime Player.

Once in QuickTime, verify it plays (the easy part. don't get sidetracked now!) then choose File --> Export.

You'll now see this:

The Matrix: Export As window from QuickTime Player (Mac OS X)

You want to choose "Movie to iPhone" from the "Export" pop-up (while you're there, check out all the many, many options available. Quite a powerful tool!) and I generally leave the default settings. Give the file a good name, pick a good location for it, and click "Save".

Now it's time to watch a movie, or at least get a leisurely cup of tea:

The Matrix: Exporting movie in Apple iPhone 3G video format from QuickTime Player (Mac OS X)

Yeah, it takes a while!

Eventually, though, it finishes up and if you want, you can double check that the resultant movie file is functional by double-clicking on the ".m4v" video file:

Or you can check the video dimensions with "Get Info" (this time, I'll show the one from the Finder, but it's the same info):

The Matrix: Get Info window from Mac Finder (Mac OS X)

Looks good! I just drag and drop this new, dimensionally-reduced file into iTunes then sync it with my iPhone and check it out:

The Matrix: As viewed on an Apple iPhone 3G cellphone cellular mobile telephone

Sweet!

Now, the big question: the red pill, or the blue pill?

Tip: If you're looking for iPhone help, you've come to the right place. Just click to learn how to do everything iPhone!

Categorized: Mac OS X Help , iPhone and Cell Phone Help (Article 8448, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple iphone, iphone films, movie conversion, movie player, quicktime player, the matrix
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Comments

Dave, I don't think the resolution is actually the problem; the iphone can indeed scale on the fly, and in fact you're making it scale _up_ with the new file you're giving it. See the iPhone video specs here:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

My guess is you might have had the audio bit rate too high, or in an incompatible format, but that's just speculation without actually being able to play with the file...

Posted by: Greg at August 16, 2008 6:02 PM

Way easier than that? Select the movie you want to convert, go to Advanced > Convert Selection for iPod/iPhone.

Posted by: Michael Sitarzewski at August 16, 2008 6:37 PM

Thanks for the great site - I seem to have an issue than is just stumping me though. I converted a movie aand can import it to itunes but for the heck of me can not get it to my iphone, tried to drag it in and will not. Tried to follow your steps on the link and my version of quicktime needs me to buy an upgrade to include the export feature. I used handbrake to rip my movie to my desktop and not sure what else to do but am reluctant to buy the upgrade.

any help is appreciated

Posted by: kevin at March 22, 2009 8:10 PM

I already converted the file to mp4 with handbreak . I did select in I tunes" Selectrion for Ipod/Iphone" and already changed the resolution. But It wont let me drag and drop or snyc the movies from I tunes to Iphone 3gs.

what Im doing wrong?

Any suggestions? Please

Posted by: Enlil at July 2, 2009 10:24 AM

I am having the same problem as Kevin above. Apple Quicktime does not allow export unless you upgrade to a purchased version. there has to be a free way. Hope someone can figure it out and post it.

Posted by: Bryan at October 10, 2010 10:41 AM

Found a solution for the iphone4 (which I would assume would work for the 3g and 3gs).

It's found here:
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPhone-4/download.php

It's a free software that has a bunch of advertisements in it... so you have to overlook that.

Hope that helps!
-bryan

Posted by: Bryan (again) at October 10, 2010 12:44 PM

i am using sharepod to upload music and video to my iphone 3gs, i recently converted a video to mp4 and put it on my iphone but when i open ipod and try to open video, ipod closes and goes back to home screen but the settings tell me that the video is on my phone, pls help

Posted by: chris at October 16, 2010 2:13 AM

i try to put song to my iphone using itunes...but every time i try to drag the song. its says that "cannot attempt to transfer the file to the iphone coz the error occurred while reading the device...

what should i do?!
any one welling to help me?!

Posted by: raquel at December 14, 2010 8:56 PM

raquel, that's an error that causes me to be concerned about your device. I suggest you make an appointment at your local Apple Store's "genius bar" (you can do it online at http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/ ) specifying that it's about your iPhone, then have them check it out. If something's wrong, they'll be able to fix it or replace the phone with a new one that'll work properly. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Posted by: Dave Taylor at December 15, 2010 12:37 AM

okay i had a lot of trouble but as far as downloads loaded to itunes outside of the itunes store, if its just not moving then click on the song,movie,etc. then click advanced at the top and hit "create ipod or iphone version" hope this helps

Posted by: HAhA at January 27, 2011 5:31 PM

But there is no show in finder tab, what does it means?

Posted by: Robindraw at June 10, 2011 3:49 AM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!