Thread by @EMdoesCA

Okay I am trying to learn this once and for all.

Let's explain Video File Formats in a very basic way.

I am doing this a) in order to be corrected, b) to help people who have old files that new software won't open. #emca

The typical situation I see in EMCA is old video recording files (usually .mov) not opening in X program. SOME .mov files won't always play in certain software, whereas others DO play, which may be confusing. Surely they are the same file type? Sadly, no.

The reason is that there are 2 parts to video encoding, not just the file ending. Both parts must be compatible with software in order for you to use it. The 2 parts are Containers and Codecs.
(sometimes either of these are called format, agh)

.mov is a container (also .avi, .mp4, .mpeg4...). Most containers are CAPABLE of 'containing' various types of codec. It also contains metadata like resolution, bitrate, subtitles, dates, etc.

A codec is something like H.264, AVC, or H.265 (VP9, AV1...). It is the basis for compressing the data for storage/writing and decompressing for viewing. It's an algorithm that the computer has to 'read.'

Now an analogy.

Imagine your raw data are ideas. To transmit these ideas, you will write a book.

A file container is the conventions for reading: the order of pages, reading left to right/back to front or vice versa, etc. The codec is the language the book is written in.

Much as most English books are written left-to-right & front to back, most .mp4 files use H.264 these days. But not always.
Japanese would typically be right-to-left, back-to-front. But an English translation of a Japanese manga is back-to-front & left-to-right.

H.264 codec is currently the most common, but that is changing. You will need to get software that not only converts container, but CODEC. I use Handbrake, which is open source. If files are not working for me, I throw it in there and force it into an H.264 mp4.

So far that is all I know. It is by no means the whole story, and definitely oversimplified. Hopefully it might help simplify SOME confusion over our #emca recording files, or get you started learning more. Fin.