Videos are getting better and better quality, and although objectively this is a positive factor, it also has certain inconveniences or "collateral effects". On the one hand, we increasingly need hard drives and pen drives with more storage space. And be careful with uploading videos in 4K or a FullHD lasting several minutes to the Internet, because the process can take forever if we do not have a good Internet connection (apart from consuming a lot of data if we are sharing the video from the mobile).
To solve this type of problem we have 2 options: either we buy a hard drive with a higher capacity and hire a faster connection, or we compress videos to take up less space. In today's post we explain how to achieve the latter in the simplest and most comfortable way possible. Let's go to the nougat!
How to compress videos (AVI, MP4, MKV) without losing quality
The first thing to keep in mind is that there are no tricks or magic formulas to "lose weight" heavy videos. If we want a video to weigh less megabytes or gigabytes, we are inevitably going to have to cut somewhere. In this sense, the best solution is to convert the file to a video format that has a better level of compression, such as MP4 and from there adjust some values such as resolution or framerate so that the quality suffers as little as possible.
How to reduce the weight of a video from Windows, Linux or Mac
If we are working from a desktop computer, one of the most recommended tools to compress videos is Handbrake. A transcoder free and open source that supports many video formats (WMV, AVI, M4V, MOV, etc.). The program is available for Windows, Linux and Mac from its official website.
Compressing a video with Handbrake is pretty straightforward. We can optimize a video to upload it to the Internet with a reasonable weight by following a couple of steps.
- We open the application, we go to “Open Source -> File”And we select the video with which we are going to work. For this example, we have chosen a 65MB video.
- In the countryside "Save as", Click on the" buttonBrowse”And we choose the folder where the video will be saved and the name it will have once it is compressed.
- In the tab “Summary"We select the format"MP4"And we mark the option"Web optimized”.
- Next we click on the tab "Video"And we make sure that the"Video Codec"Selected is"264 (x264)”.
- Now that we have everything ready, we only have to click on the green button "Start Encode”. The program will begin to compress the video following the guidelines that we have just indicated.
Once the process is complete, the 65MB video that we have used for this example has been reduced to just 5MB. That is, with this compression method its size has been reduced to one tenth of the original.
This is the fastest and most convenient way to compress video without losing quality, but Handbrake has many more configuration options. Thus, it also allows us to retouch other aspects such as the FPS, the resolution and dimensions of the image, the audio or the subtitles, among others. In this sense, Handbrake is a very versatile utility.
How to compress videos on Android
If we have a mobile with a good camera and we want to share our recordings on social networks or send them by WhatsApp or Telegram, it is advisable to reduce their size. A good application that can help us make our videos a little more manageable is Video Compress.
Download Compact QR-Code Video Developer: Mel studio apps Price: Free This is a much simpler application than Handbrake, and it does not offer as many configuration options. However, we can compress videos in a really intuitive way.
- We open the Video Compress app and select the video we want to work with.
- Click on "Compressvideo”.
- On the next screen, we will see the available compression options. The quality of the result will depend on the degree of compression set. We select the option that interests us the most.
- Automatically, the application will begin to compress the video.
If we enter the menu "Personalized”, The tool also gives us the option to select the exact level of video resolution and bitrate that we want to apply.
Compressing videos on iOS
The cameras of the iPhone are excellent but that also implies that if we make the most of their capabilities we will be generating large videos. To solve this and have more manageable files we can use applications such as Video Compressor(available on iTunes HERE).
Its operation is very straightforward: we choose the video we want to convert, we select the resolution (FullHD, HD, 480p, etc.) and bit transfer, and we compress the video. That easy!
Conclusions
After having tried several tools, the only thing that I have clear is that if we want to maintain the highest possible quality, the best free utility that we can use is Handbrake. Mobile applications are not bad and can be a good option to get out of trouble at any given time, but they are not that versatile and in the end it is something that ends up being noticed in the final video. If we are looking for professional results, without a doubt the best thing is to opt for desktop compressors in desktop computers.
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