Clicked the Share button, selected "File", and iMovie saved my movie in the appropriate location, in .mp4 format. But I tried to open the movie in QuickTime and QuickTime gives me a "converting" message and bar for a moment, and then the error message, "QuickTime player can't open moviename.mp4 To see if additional software is available that will enable QuickTime Player to open the movie, click Tell Me More.” I exported a movie that I made using iMovie and the file it produced was an mp4, but when I double click the file to play it, it says “The file isn't compatible with QuickTime Player".
Apple's own software QuickTime Player should have no problem playing the exported files from iMovie. Why it won't open the iMovie project saying the file is not compatible with QuickTime, even for MP4 exports? In this post, we're going to talk about why and what to do when your QuickTime can't open iMovie files.
iMovie file is not compatible with QuickTime
1. Export the movie with the Best quality
If the iMovie MP4 output is not compatible with QuickTime Player, you can save your movie project in another format. When you export the movie from iMovie, select Best (ProRes) under Quality in the share dialogue box. That will save your iMovie project in MOV instead of MP4 (exports at all other quality settings will generate a smaller .Mp4 file.). Then you should be able to open the iMovie MOV file in QuickTime Player without problems. Note that the file size of the MOV file will be larger than MP4, but the quality will also be better.
Tips: If the MOV file is too big for you, you can re-encode it into a smaller MP4 using Handbrake or other free video converters.
Export the movie with the Best quality
3. Convert the file to MP4/AAC
If the QuickTime still can’t open an iMovie file, you can try to convert it into Mpeg-4/AAC with H.264 codec, even if it's already in MP4 format. This is to fix the "iMovie export not compatible with QuickTime" errors caused by format/codec issues. You can convert the iMovie export file using free tools like Handbrake, VLC, and MacX Video Converter. Here we take MacX Video Converter to show you how:
Free download the converter here . Then open the app and click the "Add Video" button to load the iMovie video. It accepts all iMovie exported files in 4K, 1080P, 720P, etc. Once the video is loaded, a screen will pop up to let you select the output format. Go to the General Profiles > select to encode to Mp4 with H.264. Click Run to let it re-encode. Then try if QuickTime can open it.
Tips : If the iMovie video can’t be imported to a video converter, showing an invalid source, it indicates that the file is fatally corrupted. In this case, you need to create a new library, transfer your project into it, and then re-sharing the project. Or better yet, recreate the project and share it.
