Videos are getting better and better qualitywise, and although objectively this is a positive factor, it also has certain inconveniences or “collateral effects.” On the one hand, you 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. The process can take forever if you do not have a good Internet connection (apart from consuming a lot of data if you are sharing the video from mobile).
To solve this type of problem, you have 2 options: buy a hard drive with a higher capacity and get a faster connection, or compress the videos so that they take up less space. In today’s post, we explain how to achieve the latter in the simplest and most comfortable way. 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 you want a video to weigh less megabytes or gigabytes, you will inevitably have to cut somewhere. In this sense, the best solution is to convert the file to a video format with a better compression level, such as MP4. From there, adjust some values ​​such as resolution or framerate so that the quality suffers less possible.
How to reduce the weight of a video from Windows, Linux, or Mac
If you are working from a desktop computer, one of the most recommended tools to compress videos is Handbrake. A free and open-source transcoder 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. You can optimize a video to upload it to the Internet with a reasonable weight by following a couple of steps.
- Open the application, go to “Open Source -> File ” and select the video with which you are going to work. For this example, we have chosen a 65MB video.
- In the ” Save as ” field, click on the ” Browse ” button and choose the folder where the video will be saved and the name it will have once it is compressed.
- In the ” Summary ” tab, select the ” MP4 ” format and mark the ” Web optimized ” option.
- Next, click on the ” Video ” tab and make sure that the selected ” Video Codec ” is ” 264 (x264) “.
- Now that you have everything ready, you only have to click on the green ” Start Encode ” button. The program will begin to compress the video following the guidelines that you have just indicated.
Once the process is complete, the 65MB video used for this example has been reduced to just 5MB. In other words, with this compression method, its size has been reduced to one-tenth of the original.
This is the fastest and most comfortable way to compress video without losing quality, but Handbrake has many more configuration options. Thus, it also allows you to tweak other aspects such as FPS, image resolution and dimensions, audio, or subtitles. In this sense, Handbrake is a very versatile utility.
How to compress videos on Android
If you have a mobile with a good camera and want to share your recordings on social networks or send them by WhatsApp or Telegram, it is advisable to reduce their size. A good application that can help you make your videos a little more manageable is Panda Video Compressor.
This is a much simpler application than Handbrake, and it does not offer as many configuration options. However, you can compress videos in a really intuitive way.
- Open the Panda Video Compressor app and select the video you want to work with.
- Click on “Next. “
- On the next screen, you will see the compression options available. The quality of the result will depend on the new resolution that you select for the video. You can also keep the original resolution and compress it, but keep in mind that this option is much slower than the rest. Select the option that interests you the most and click on « Compress «.
- Automatically, the application will begin to compress the video.
Once the video is compressed, the application allows you to compare the original version with the reduced version to see the difference. From here, you can replace the video with its lighter version, share it or save a copy in the internal memory of the phone.
Compressing videos on iOS
iPhone cameras are excellent, but that also implies that you will be generating large videos if you make the most of their capabilities. To solve this and have more manageable files, you can use applications such as Video Compressor  (available in iTunes HERE).
Its operation is very straightforward:
- Choose the video you want to convert.
- Select the resolution (FullHD, HD, 480p, etc.) and bit transfer.
- Compress the video. That easy!
Online video compressors for the browser
If you don’t want to install any application or program on your device, you can always opt for an online tool that will do all the dirty work. There are many online compressors with which you can reduce the size of a video easily and for free from your web browser. These are some of the most relevant:
- VEED.IO: Another utility to compress online videos with a very simple and intuitive interface. It offers several configuration options, such as the compression method used (CRF or Bitrate), the FPS limit, and the video resolution. Another point in its favor is that the conversions are done much faster than the rest of similar online utilities. It does not require registration, and the videos can be downloaded for free without any complications. | Visit VEED.IO
- Freeconvert: This allows you to compress videos up to 1GB in weight. You can choose between two codecs (H365 and H265) and several compression methods (reducing the size, resolution, or bitrate) to obtain the result that best suits what you need. | Visit Freeconvert
- Clideo: Accepts many video formats such as MP4, WMV, MOV, VOB, AVI, and others. It allows you to merge videos, add subtitles and change the resolution. Compressed videos are watermarked, although it can be removed by logging in with a Facebook or Google account. | Visit Clideo
Conclusion
After having tried several tools, the only thing that I have clear is that if you 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 for sharing videos with friends or on social networks. They lack that professional touch for those looking for more advanced settings and greater room to maneuver. If you are looking for professional results, without a doubt, the best thing is to opt for desktop compressors in desktop computers.
