MOV vs MP4 vs MKV vs WEBM for Video Editing

What is a video container, and how is it different from a codec?#

A video container is a file format that packs video, audio, subtitle and metadata tracks into one file; the codec is how each track is compressed. MOV, MP4, MKV and WEBM are containers; the codec inside decides how the file edits.

The same H.264 stream can sit in a .mov, an .mp4 or an .mkv without a single pixel changing. Swap the box and the picture stays identical. Swap the codec and every frame is compressed again. That split explains most import errors: an editor first has to read the box, then find a decoder for the codec inside it, and either step can fail.

The practical difference for YouTube footage is the codec. As of September 2026, YouTube streams video as H.264, VP9 or AV1, and B-ROLL’s MP4, MKV and WEBM options keep whatever streams yt-dlp picks, often AV1 or VP9 with Opus audio. The details are in YouTube codecs explained: H.264 vs VP9 vs AV1.

Ema Zamboni, who built B-ROLL, cuts YouTube videos in DaVinci Resolve Studio on Windows 11: there, 4K60 AV1 downloads were heavy to play back, and AV1 or VP9 downloads crashed Resolve at times. A new container would not have fixed either problem. The wider map of edit formats lives in codecs and formats for editing YouTube footage.

How do MOV, MP4, MKV and WEBM compare for editing?#

MOV is the editing container, MP4 is the delivery container, MKV is the archive container, and WEBM is a web playback container. The table compares what each one usually holds, how it carries subtitles, what DaVinci Resolve 20 on Windows and Premiere Pro list for it, and when to pick it.

The DaVinci Resolve column comes from Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 20 supported codec list (July 2025, Windows section), which also notes that H.264 decoding covers 8-bit profiles Windows supports, with more profiles and GPU acceleration in DaVinci Resolve Studio. The WEBM row follows the WebM Project, which describes WebM as a Matroska-based format for VP8 or VP9 video with Vorbis or Opus audio. ffmpeg’s WebM muxer also accepts AV1, the other codec YouTube downloads often carry.

Which containers do DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro import?#

DaVinci Resolve 20 on Windows reads MOV, MP4 and MKV, and Premiere Pro reads MOV and MP4; neither lists WebM. A listed container is only half the answer, because the codec and the audio inside must be listed too.

Resolve is the more tolerant of the two. Blackmagic’s list shows VP9 and AV1 decoding in MP4, MOV and MKV, so a YouTube MP4 in VP9 or AV1 often opens. Opening is not editing, though: AV1 decoding is marked GPU accelerated, and long-GOP footage still has to decode many frames to show one. When a YouTube clip in Resolve turns into a red frame, DaVinci Resolve media offline on a YouTube video separates a codec problem from a moved file.

Audio is the quiet trap in MKV. Blackmagic lists Opus decoding in MOV and MP4 only, and YouTube pairs most VP9 and AV1 streams with Opus. An MKV can therefore bring in the picture and leave the sound behind.

Premiere Pro is stricter. Adobe’s Premiere Pro format list names QuickTime and MPEG-4 but not Matroska, WebM, VP9, AV1 or Opus. A YouTube MP4 can therefore fail in Premiere even though the box is supported, with an error that names the VP9 codec; Premiere Pro VP09 not compatible: fix for YouTube files walks through it. A ProRes or DNxHR .mov is the one combination both editors list without caveats.

Which container should you download from YouTube for editing?#

For editing, download a ProRes or DNxHR .mov; the container is right and so is the codec inside. In B-ROLL, choose ProRes or DNx in the Format menu, and the app downloads the best streams into an MKV master, then converts it with ffmpeg into a .mov of the same name.

That .mov keeps the source resolution and frame rate, carries 16-bit PCM audio, and gets a ProRes or DNxHR tier picked for the source bitrate. B-ROLL keeps only the first video track and the first audio track, deletes the MKV master after a successful conversion, and keeps the MKV if the conversion fails. The tiers and the files you get are in download YouTube videos in ProRes or DNxHR, and the choice between the two codecs is in ProRes vs DNxHR for editing.

When to pick each option in B-ROLL’s Format menu:

• ProRes or DNx (.mov): every clip that goes on a timeline, in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro or After Effects.
• MP4: a reference copy for a bin or a client link; expect AV1 or VP9 inside, not H.264.
• MKV: an archive copy that keeps several subtitle languages as embedded tracks.
• WEBM: almost never for editing; it holds the same kind of streams as the MKV with fewer options.

The verdict: download ProRes or DNx for anything you cut, and keep MP4 for reference. The conversion runs after the download, uses every CPU core and makes files far larger than the MP4, so convert the clips you will use, not the whole channel. For the broader case by editing goal, see best format to download YouTube videos for editing.

Subtitles and metadata also depend on the container. B-ROLL’s Embedded subtitle option writes mov_text tracks into MP4 and MOV and SRT tracks into MKV. With WEBM, pick SRT, ASS or VTT instead: WebM accepts only WebVTT tracks, so Embedded fails there and leaves .srt files next to the video. B-ROLL also skips embedding when the video title contains square brackets, again leaving the .srt files beside the video.

Embedded metadata follows the container too. With Save credits on, MP4, MKV and WEBM files also get the video’s title, uploader, date and URL embedded; ProRes and DNx files do not.

Can you change the container without re-encoding?#

Yes. Changing the container, called remuxing, copies the compressed streams into a new box without touching them, so it is lossless and takes seconds. Changing the codec, called transcoding, decodes and compresses every frame again.

B-ROLL keeps its own copy of ffmpeg at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Broll\ffmpeg.exe, unless an ffmpeg was already on your Windows PATH at first launch; then B-ROLL uses that one and you can type plain ffmpeg. This command copies every stream from an MKV into an MP4 and turns SRT subtitle tracks into mov_text, the subtitle format MP4 accepts:

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Broll\ffmpeg.exe" -i "Interview.mkv" -c copy -c:s mov_text "Interview.mp4"

Remuxing has two limits. A container only accepts codecs it supports: ffmpeg refuses to write VP9 into a .mov and reports that VP9 is only supported in MP4. And remuxing never changes the codec, so a VP9 stream moved from MKV to MP4 is still VP9, still heavy to scrub and still rejected by Premiere Pro. A new box fixes a container problem; an edit-ready file needs a transcode, which is what B-ROLL’s ProRes and DNx options do.