How To Make A Video File Smaller In Few Easy Steps Without Compromising on Quality?

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Here is a deal — you spent hours and days filming and editing a video. Now, you want to save it and send it to your client, share it with your audience, or collaborate with your partner.

But, just as you are on the verge of sharing, a message appears that read, “File Size is Too Large.” It’s pretty darn disheartening, right? 

One way to go about this would be to use compressing software to reduce bandwidth usage and the time it takes to upload a video. The video will also buffer less on the viewer’s end.

Plus, editing becomes super convenient when the video file size is small.  But, how to make a video file smaller while ensuring its quality is not compromised?

Well, don’t worry because we will walk you through how to make a video file smaller without losing its quality. 

What Is Video Size and How Much Should We Compress It?

video-resolution-and-aspec-ratios

Before we solve your problems about how to make a video file smaller, let us help you understand what makes a video file size large? There are three main aspects that you should know about: resolution, encoding, and bitrate.

There are no standard video encoding and compression guidelines, and they usually vary, considering the kind of video you are working with on your editor. But, here are some recommendations for a good video playback affair. 

  • Export your video in the MP4 video format (file extension is .mp4) as it reduces the file size and retains the quality.
  • Exporting your video at 720p or 1080p does not make a significant difference. However, most experts recommend that video resolution be a minimum of 1080p and a maximum of 2K. 
  • Try to avoid adding many movement effects or unnecessary transitions as they result in your video file being larger.
  • H.264 video codec as its compatible on most devices.
  • The Frames Per Second should be between 20 fps and 60 fps. 

How To Make A Video File Size Smaller By Using Software?

Resolution means the pixel numbers on a display screen. The higher the resolution is, the bigger the file is. However, the resolution also determines how sharp your video quality is.

One effective way to figure out how to make a video file smaller is to reduce the resolution enough that the quality maintains. 

Usually, HD videos are 1920 x 1080 pixels. But, you can go as far as compressing your video to 1280 x 720p or 854 x 480p. Most of these resolution changes won’t be noticeable to the viewer, but it is advised not to go below 480 pixels.

Following are some of the online software you can use to reduce video resolutions:

VLC Player

vlc-media-player

VLC is one of the most used editing and media-viewing platform. Since it is free and easy to use, it is one of the best choices when learning how to make a video file smaller.

  1. Download the VLC player on your Mac/Windows. Once it downloads, install and launch it.
  2. Find Media, and then select Convert/Save.
  3. Select Add to pick your video file(s).
  4. Select Convert/Save. Now, the conversion option will be displayed. You can pick a suitable one for yourself from the drop-down option. VLC usually gives suggestions to determine the best option, such as Youtube HD or Video for MPEG41080p TV/device.
  5. When you’ve picked an option, select Save and choose the saving destination.
  6. Click Start.

QuickTime

quicktime

QuickTime is specifically for Apple users only as it is only operable on Macs. But, aside from that, it contains some convenient options for finding out how to make a video file smaller.

  1. Select File, then click open to import your video
  2. Once it is done, select Export As.
  3. Before clicking done, select the option from the list: 4k, 1080p, 720p, and 480. Then, to reduce the video size, choose a file format that is smaller than your initial file.

Shotcut

shotcut

Shotcut is not as popular as VLC because it is not as straightforward. However, if you learn how to make a video file smaller on Shotcut, then it should take you only a few minutes to get done with the job.

  1. Download Shortcut and install it on your device.
  2. Once you launch it, click on Open File to import your video.
  3. Select Export As.
  4. There is an extensive list of compression options. Choose the one that is suitable for you.
  5. There is an option to tweak the Resolution and Aspect Ratio as well to reduce the file size further.
  6. Select an Export video option to download.

How To Make A Video Filer Smaller By Using Online Resources?

If you don’t want to download an app or software to reduce your video file size, then don’t worry. There are alternatives. You can simply find online resources to edit the file size.

While some are free, most require you to make an account, buy a monthly plan, or workaround watermarks.

Here are a few online resources you can use to reduce the file size:

VEED

veed

VEED.IO offers convenient tools to compress the video file size without requiring you to sign up for any monthly plan. Moreover, you can use this service on Windows and Macs, so there is no reason to install anything on your device.

VEED’s Video Compressor backs MP4, MKV, MOV, FLC, Avi, WMV video file formats. You can simply connect your Dropbox account to host your videos or directly upload your videos.

Additionally, an easy-to-use slider helps you adjust the compression rate between smaller file sizes and a high-quality option.

The best thing about VEED is that it shows you an estimate of the file size before you can compress your file. This feature helps in saving a lot of time as you can determine if more changes are required before compressing your video.

VideoSmaller

video-smaller

VideoSmaller is another easy-to-use web resource to compress large video files online. This site is entirely free and easy to navigate. All you need to do is open the website, upload your video, play around with the available options, and download the compressed video file.

VideoSmaller backs various video file formats, including MP4, AVI, MPEG, MOV formats. Moreover, you can upload video files as big as 500 MB without any hustle.

You can use low compression levels if you don’t want to reduce your file size by a lot. This feature helps in maintaining the quality.

The next option is to scale your file. This may reduce your video’s quality slightly, but it might not be too noticeable.  So, there is no harm in trying it.

Plus, VideoSmaller allows you to remove all sound from the video, making the file size smaller.

Clipchamp

clipchamp

If your work with video files is regular, then maybe you should consider using paid services, such as Clipchamp. This is an online website that helps you compress your video size and serves as a great video editing tool.

If you don’t want to play, you can opt for a free trial run. But, working on free mode means you need to work with watermarks on your videos.

On the other hand, if you are willing to invest in it, you only have $9 per month or $99 per year.

Clipchamp may be one of the best bets on the web if you don’t want to download or install external software.

How To Make A Video Filer Smaller By Changing into a .zip File?

zip-files

One of the most common ways of reducing file size is to zip it. This trick is old in the book, and it helps maintain the file quality. Even though the file size is not significantly reduced, it is still one of the easiest and quickest ways to solve your problems.

How To .zip a File On Mac OS?

  1. Start by right-clicking on the video file.
  2. Select Send to, and then click on Compressed
  3. Select Zipped Folder

How To .zip a File On Windows Os?

  1. Start by right-clicking on the video file.
  2. Select Send To, then click on Compressed.
  3. Select Zipped Folder

Now, there is an excellent chance that zipping your file won’t work out well for you at all. The file size may still be too large to attach to the email.

So, you can work around it by simply uploading or hosting your video online. This feature will help your purpose without compromising the file quality at all.

You can upload the file on any cloud service, such as One Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Or you can send the zipped folder via WeTrasnfer or Android Apps, such as ShareIt.

Bottom Line

The quality of your video is highly crucial. Remember, how to make a video file smaller is not the most challenging part, but maintaining its quality is.

So, work with the best resources to ensure your hard work does not go down the drain! The only to figure out the best way for you is to experiment with all the available resources.