Jul 31 2014

How To Rotate Video in OSX (Tips)

We’re putting together our post about this year’s Crown Royal Your Hero’s Name Here 400, and needed to know how to rotate video in OSX. It’s not that difficult, but it’s also not as easy as it should be, so we thought we’d share this lil’ tech tip in case you need it.

DaddyTips Tip

Basically, the default free Quicktime player in current versions of OSX does not offer a Rotate Video option. For that you need to use Quicktime 7 Pro, which is not free. I bought a license years ago back when I used Windows. (Before the dark times… Before the Empire… Actually, I prefer Macs, but what the hell. Any excuse to use a quote from the late great Sir Alex Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Geek Gold Card.)

Apple’s online store lists Quicktime 7 Pro in both Mac and Windows flavors.

There are probably free ways to rotate a video in OSX — iMovie perhaps, or some open-source/freeware option. There are generally more free options available for Windows users than for iHoles such as myself. Using QT7 Pro is simply a very, very easy way to do it.

Bonus tip: if you bought a license to Quicktime 7 Pro back in the Jurassic era like I did and still have the code, you may be able to use it to unlock the software on your newer Mac. No guarantees, your mileage may vary, caveat code-enterer. But it’s worth a try.

If anyone reading this has a tip for rotating video on any operating system — OSX, Windows, Linux, BeOS, OS2/Warp, something even more obscure — please share it in the comments. It takes a village, folks.

How do I rotate video? | Apple Support Communities.