Adobe® Flash® video has the file extension .FLV and is used on many websites and blogs for making movie content available. Multimedia for a number of Apple® devices — including Apple TV®, iPhone®, and iPodTouch® — use the .M4V file extension. Especially since there is no way within Adobe® Flash® of exporting material Apple® products and because some Apple® devices do not support Flash®, people may need to find a way to convert FLV to M4V.
FLV is an open format for storing media content that can be played back by the Adobe® Flash® Player and Adobe® Air®. It can hold a maximum of one audio and one video stream. The audio formats it can hold include Linear PCM (Pulse-Code Modulation), ADPCM (Adaptive Differential PCM), MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3), Nellymoser, and AAC (Advanced Audio Coding). The video codecs that it can handle include Sorenson H.263, Screen video, and AVC (Advanced Video Coding).
M4V is an MPEG-4 (Moving Pictures Experts Group) file extension that bears similarities to MP-4, and contains H.264 video and AAC audio, but the files can be copy protected with Apple’s FairPlay® digital rights management (DRM) protection. If the file was purchased on iTunes®, it can only be played on a device authorized with that iTunes® account. If the file is unprotected, it can be played by iTunes®, QuickTime®, RealPlayer®, Miro®, and Adobe® Flash® CS5. Thus, if you convert FLV to M4V, there will definitely be a change to the video codec, and the range of devices that the file can be played on will expand.
There are a number of conversion programs that convert FLV to M4V. Most, if not all, will also handle other file formats as well. Converter software is specific to particular operating systems, so make sure to choose a compatible application for your computer. If this is software that you will rely on, you may be better off purchasing software that is supported rather than downloading a freebie. Many conversion programs will provide a free trial so you can check to make sure everything works as you like, but be sure to check the terms of the trial.
Whatever type of program you choose to convert FLV to M4v, it is likely to take you through a few basic steps. These include choosing the file or files you wish to convert and making adjustments to the video before converting. Depending on the program, you will have more or less extensive editing powers. Finally, you will usually have the opportunity to make choices about the audio and video output.
