I am always looking for an easy way to compress video because taking videos with high resolution of 4K and 8K means using a lot of data capacity. For example, I have a camcorder that can record 4K videos with H.264 at 100Mbps. Guess what? It’s 45 GB for a one-hour recording! If your 4K videos are uncompressed, they can be over 100GB per hour. 8K videos can be 4 times larger.
From this we can see, videos with high resolution are usually very huge and it may cause inconvenience when transferring, posting, editing, etc.
In this article, we will introduce the best video compressors, paid, free, online, offline, for you to compress your large videos to reasonable small, like GB to MB, for WhatsApp, email, etc.
Before We Compress: What determines video size? The Basic Factors
Do you ever wonder why your videos are so large? And, did you know that what determines the video size? Conceptually speaking, there are many factors that determine so. But, here I just want to put things simply and discuss with you some basic factors because we need to know a little bit of them so as to compress the video.
For advanced users, you can check Stephen Haskin’s “Video Compression Secrets: Smaller Files, Better Quality” for better understanding.
- The video codec: The video can be smaller with more advanced and higher compression video codec like H.264 and H.265
- The video resolution: The higher the resolution, the bigger the video, and the larger the size
- The video bitrate: The larger the bit rate, the larger the video size
- The video length: Logically, it’s easy to understand that the longer the video is, the bigger. The Video Frame rate: the more the bigger
Get Basic Video Information
So, who we know about those basic video information? On PC, we can right-click the video and select Property-Details, and on Mac, we can right-click and select Get Info to check so. Here, I’d like to recommend a free tiny software to check video’s codec, resolution, bit rate, frame rate, etc.
Of course, you don’t have to download it, but I do believe it helps us to better compress your videos.
And, it’s very easy to use. We can right-click our video and choose Mediainfo to open. Or, simply drag your video to the program. This is what we get:
How to reduce the file size of a video?
Now, after we know the basic factors that determine the size of our videos, we can reduce the file size of a video in the ways as follows:
- Re-encode codec videos with higher compression ratios
- Decrease the video bit rate, frame rate, and resolution
- Cut unnecessary parts, or shorten the video
However, it is a little troublesome to compress and reduce the video capacity by lowering each parameter of the video by yourself. Also, the video quality drops while compressing. It’s possible your compressed video is not watchable because it’s too small or loses too much quality.
On the other hand, if you are a beginner, it is easiest to use a tool that automatically compresses just by inputting the output size that suits your purpose. And, I have some recommendations for you.
Compress Video Online[FREE]
If you want to compress your videos online without the hassle of installing them, here are some that can be of help. However, please always note compress large video online is always limited. And, local or offline programs are more recommended to resize videos.
Video Smaller
VideoSmaller is a free online video compressor provided by FileConverto that reduces the file size of videos. What you need is just a web browser with an internet connection.
Basically, lowering the resolution often reduces the file size of the video. This is the way VideoSmaller uses.
If you don’t want to sacrifice image quality as much as possible, check “Use low compression level (highest quality)”. If you check this item, the compression rate will be low and the image quality will be prioritized.
However, please note that the maximum file size that can be uploaded is 500MB.
FreeConvert Video Compressor
FreeConvert Video Compressor is also a free online way for us to compress videos. It comes with more options. Here you can select the codec and your desired way to compress videos.
This online video compressor comes with some advanced options for users to select a codec from H.264 and H.265, set the target file size in percentage or MB. You can also choose to compress in quality, video resolution, or max bit rate.
You can also add videos from your Dropbox or Google Drive account to compress. You can even add a URL of a video too.
Free users can upload up to 1GB of video to reduce the file size. You can sign up or purchase to do more.
Free users can upload up to 1GB of video to reduce the file size. You can sign up or purchase to do more.
Best Offline Video Compressors
As I said, I prefer offline video compressors that run on my local computer. The reason is simple: I have full control of my videos without limitations.
UniConverter[Editor’s Choice]
Wondershare UniConverter is a multifunctional software that can convert, download, edit, compress, and record videos. I use it to replace Handbrake and VLC to convert WebM to MP4.
In addition to its Converter, where you can customize video parameters, it also works as a video compressor. It makes video compression easier and more efficient.
For example, you can preview 20 seconds of the video to check the quality before you start compressing. It also shows an estimate of the output and you enter your desired size to compress too!
For advanced users, you can go for Video Converter to compress videos with your preferred video codec, bit rate, frame rate, and edit the video with crop or cut.
Also, you can compress multiple video files at once, and there is no file size limitation. Convenient!
DVDFab Video Converter
DVDFab Video Converter is a video converter developed by DVDFab. It supports a wide range of formats such as MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV, WebM with HD definition of 4K or even 8K. With DVDFab, you can also trim and crop your videos.
To compress videos with DVDFab, there is no choice but to manually set parameters according to the compression method described above.
For example, you can manually re-encode a video with a high compression codec such as H265 / H264, lower the bit rate, decrease the resolution or cut unnecessary parts of the video to compress.
WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe
WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is an all-in-one video converting program developed by Digiarty. Despite converting MKV to MP4 without losing quality, it also specializes in compressing videos.
WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is very simple and easy to understand. Even beginners can operate it intuitively. You can compress the video by dragging the compression slider to the left. It comes with a smaller file size.
For advanced users, you can go to Option here to set the codec, bit rate, frame rate, and resolution to better compress a video that suits your purpose.
Other than that, you can freely Edit to crop or cut the unwanted part.
How to compress a large video from GB to MB?
Are you still working on how do we make an MP4 file smaller? How we can compress a large video from GB to MB for email, for WhatsApp? Well, I have a detailed guide for you with Wondershare UniConverter. I assume it is the best video compressor because it is for both beginners and advanced users! Please follow the button below to download and install Wondershare UniConver to your computer. Launch it to get ready.
This is a beginner’s guide to compress video. We don’t have to care much about the video codec or whatever else.
Step 1. Go Video Compressor and load your video you want to compress by drog-and-drop.
Step 2. Set your desired size Click the gear icon and enter your desired size. You can simply drag the slider to the left. It’s the minimum size UniConverter can compress for you.
Step 3. Click Compress or Start All to start compressing.
Hi. You can use a free online tool to convert MKV to MP4 https://freetools.site/video-converters/mkv-to-mp4
Thanks for your sharing.
Your site looks good.