Working with videos for website projects requires the right tools, MKV (Matroska) formats are too large so need to be converted to MP4 (MPEG-4). You will require MKV to MP4 video converters.
MP4 is the better option to use on multiple Media Players, Mobile phones etc which is why it is worth converting MKV to MP4.
MP4 can be edited easily in video editing software.
If you are going to be converting videos for work you will probably invest in the purchasing some sophisticated program, for those just need to convert videos adhoc then one of the free ones are more than sufficient.
1. VLC media player
The VLC Media player has been around a while and I have used this many times on different personal and business projects.
This free open source software is for images, videos and audio projects but the tool can also convert MKV to MP4 in a few clicks.
- Download from the website
- Open and run VLC
- Go to Media > Convert/Save
- Add > select the file you wish to convert from your PC
- Select > Convert/Save
- Select the format i.e. MP4 (first one)
- Select download destination > start
2. Freemake Video Converter
Freemake Video is another great free video converter with options to convert to MOV, MP3. MP4, FLV, AVI and WMV,
This software offers to ability to turn images and audio into videos.
3. Handbrake video transcoder
Open Source Video Encoder is a free tool convert videos in mostly any format into a modern format that is easier to modify and use.
- Convert videos from virtually any format
- Free and open source
- Suitable for Mac and Windows platforms
4. Free video converter by Aiseesoft
Free Video Converter by Aiseesoft is free and easy to use. Convert video and audio formats including MKV/MP4/AVI/MOV/WMV and MP3 quickly and high quality.
5. Free-Make Video Converter
Finally, the Free Video Converter by Tipard allows you to convert videos from over 300 formats.
This tool also comes with editing functionality i.e. trimming.
Summary - converting videos for YouTube
This article is about converting large MKV files that are over 30 minutes of video, anything smaller you could use one of the online tools, there are plenty of online tools that will convert a video file format.
For larger files it does require a VLC video conversion tool that you can download to your computer.
YouTube does accept MKV files, but it took me over an hour to upload each video, much quicker to convert first then upload.
