How to Compress Video

This is an article that shows you how to reduce the size of a video file without much loss of quality. Compression is necessary when you want to share a video on the Internet because it reduces the amount of data required to transmit and send the video to the viewer. You can use the Handbrake program to compress the video, or use QuickTime on Mac if you just need to reduce the size of the video file.

Table of Contents

Using QuickTime

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Open a video in QuickTime in the following way:

Select video
Click File (File)
Select Open With
Click QuickTime Player

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Click File . It’s the menu in the upper-left corner of your Mac’s screen. You will see a menu appear on the screen.

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Select Export . This is the option near the bottom of the File menu. When clicked, you will see another menu appear.

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Choose quality. Click on the same or lower video quality as the current video. This will open the Save window.

Gavin Anstey

Video producer, CEO of Cinebody

Gavin Anstey CEO of Cinebody. Cinebody is user-driven content software that helps brands create fast, authentic, and engaging visual content for anyone in the world. Gavin studied journalism at Cporado Boulder University before launching a career in video and software production.

Gavin Anstey
Video producer, CEO of Cinebody

Choose the lowest resolution that won’t damage the display. This number will depend on the resolution of the original video. If the original video is in 4K or 1080p quality, you probably don’t want to use the option lower than 720p, as the video will have very low quality in playback.

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Give the video a new name. Enter a name in the text input field near the top of the window.

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Select the save folder. Click the “Where” drop-down box, then select the folder (such as Desktop ) where you want to save the video.

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Click Save in the lower-right corner of the window. Your video compression will begin right away.

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Wait for the video compression to complete. After the video is compressed, the “Export” window will disappear. Now, you can access where the video is saved and watch it here.

Using Handbrake

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Download and install Handbrake. Go to https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php with a web browser and click the Download link below the name of the operating system you are using, then install Handbrake in the following way:

Windows – Double-click the Handbrake installation file, and then follow the on-screen installation instructions.
Mac – Double-click the Handbrake DMG file, verify the download if necessary, drag the Handbrake icon to the Applications folder, and follow the on-screen instructions.

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Open Handbrake. It’s the pineapple icon next to the glass of water. The Handbrake window will appear on the screen.

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Click Open Source in the upper-left corner of the Handbrake window.

The first time you open Handbrake, you’ll have to click Open Source to open the source window.

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Click File with the folder icon in the Sources window.

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Select video. Go to the folder where the video you want to compress, click on the video and select Open to open the video in Handbrake.

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Select a quality format. At the far right of the Handbrake window, you’ll click on one of the quality and frame rate formats (such as Very Fast 720p30 ) that matches the video.

Make sure the selected format is equal or lower than the quality of the current video. For example, if the video’s current quality is 1080p, you’ll click the 1080p or lower option; if the video is 720p, you will choose 720p or lower.
The Fast and Very Fast options are best suited for compression.

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Name the file. You need to replace the filename in the middle of the Handbrake page with a new name (such as compressed ([compressed video name])).

You can also choose a new save folder by clicking Browse , selecting a folder, giving the file a new name if needed, and clicking Save .

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Check the “Web Optimized” box in the middle of the Handbrake page. This is to ensure that the video will be compressed according to web standards.

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Click the Video tab near the bottom of the Handbrake window.

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Make sure the settings here are correct. You will see the following settings under the Video tab; If the setting is not suitable, you can change it by clicking on the value of the setting and selecting the correct option in the menu pane:

Video Codec – This setting should be “H.264 (x264)”.
Framerate (FPS) – This setting should be “30” FPS (frames per second).
Peak Framerate or Peak – This box should be checked.
Encoder Level or Level – This setting should be “4.0”.

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Click Start Encoding . It’s the green “Play” button in the middle of the Handbrake window. Your video compression will begin right away.

On Mac, you’ll click Start at this step.

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Wait for the video compression to complete. Video compression time can be very long, especially when the video is more than 200MB in size. Once the video is compressed, you can play the video from the save folder.

Advice

Not all videos are of good quality when compressed with high standards. Many videos don’t even need compression.
Some videos, such as those shot with a mobile phone, are compressed during playback.
Use 2-step encryption where possible. Although it takes more time than 1-step encoding, your video file will have better quality.

Warning

Don’t overcompress the video. Video files lose a lot of data during compression and may lose clarity.

Steps

Using QuickTime

Using Handbrake

Advice

Warning

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