Compressing a video can be interesting for several reasons, whether you are specialized in the field or simply want to share visual content on social networks or with those around you. This can be done in several ways, and with different video compressor tools. In the following, we provide an overview of how to compress a video or why does it compress a video?
Why compress a video?
Without going into very technical details, compressing a video means reducing the amount of data it contains and therefore its size.
We speak of “lossy” compression, with loss, or “lossless”, without loss. The latter allows you to keep the quality of a video as much as possible, but does not offer a significant reduction.
In all cases, the objective is to alter the original video as little as possible — with the techniques available, the changes are often barely visible to the naked eye.
You may want to compress a video for:
- Save all your videos on a hard drive or on your smartphone,
- Share videos more easily on a messenger or by email,
- Respect the size limits generally imposed on social networks and by YouTube,
- Or to make your videos appear faster on your website.
- The reasons are therefore often practical!
How to compress a video?
First of all, you should know that there are several ways to reduce the size of a video, especially for those who work with editing software.
You can cut part of the video, but also change its format – the MP4 format, for example, is preferred for social networks. It is also possible to change certain parameters such as the resolution or the frame rate.
If you want to compress a video in a few clicks, without any knowledge in this field, you can do it with specialized tools.
On your web browser
Compressing a video can be done in a few clicks directly from a web browser. In general, all you need is:
- Find a suitable platform — in our list below for example,
- Upload your file,
- Choose a size or level of compression if offered,
- Start video compression.
- Some of these tools also offer other features (resize, crop, extract audio, etc.)
With software or app
You can also download software or apps to compress video. This option, often chargeable, however offers you more possibilities.
This is ideal if you do this manipulation frequently — for many shares on Instagram for example — or if you really want to personalize the final result.
Depending on the tool chosen, work on your video on your computer or directly from your smartphone!
Read Also: Top Of The World Software For Video Editing
7 Handy Tools to Compress a Video
Here is our selection of tools to compress a video online or with software.
Camtasia
Camtasia offers screen recording and video editing. It also allows you to export your video to another format, for example mp4, and customize options to reduce the size of your video .
Camtasia, software to compress videos.
Its advantages:
- Very intuitive tool,
- Ideal if you often make screen recordings, for example for tutorials or online courses ,
- Direct export to Vimeo or YouTube,
- Good technical support.
Its disadvantages:
- Not specialized in video compression,
- Paid, but there is a free trial version.
Its price:
- Free try,
- 303.44 euros, with a money back guarantee for 30 days.
To compress a video, you can also use editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, or free tools already installed on your computer, such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player.
CompressVideo.com
Compress Video is available on your web browser, and therefore requires no installation.
Its advantages:
- Quick and efficient tool,
- Size reduction, up to 90%,
- Option of a low level of compression for better quality,
- Secure connection and automatically deleted files,
- Ability to remove audio.
Its disadvantages:
- Does not offer customization or other features,
- Import of a file of maximum 500 MB.
Its price:
- Free.
Compress-video-online.com
Compress Video is also available online, so you can compress video in a snap.
Its advantages:
- No installation required,
- Ability to choose the size of the outgoing file,
- Presents other options (set start and end of video, change format, remove audio, choose resolution, etc.),
- Data security assured.
Its disadvantages:
- Compression slower than with the tool mentioned above, according to a test carried out on the same video.
Its price:
- Free.
Read Also: How To Make A Blurry Video Clearer Step By Step
Clideo
Clideo offers several ways to edit your video: speed up, rewind, crop, cut, and compress! You can even use it to create memes.
Its advantages:
- No software to download,
- Simple and pleasant interface,
- secure space,
- Preview of the result before saving,
- An application is available on iPhone.
Its disadvantages:
- 500MB file size limit to compress video for free,
- You need to register to remove the watermark.
Its price:
- Free.
Fastreel
Fastreel is an online video creation and editing tool. It allows, among other things, to merge several contents, to cut or even to compress a video.
Its advantages:
- Accessible from a web browser,
- Possibility to choose the level of compression (low, medium, high); a 50 MB video can be reduced to around 10, 25 or 40 MB for example.
Its disadvantages:
- The most complete choice of functionalities (cut, add music, put a filter, etc.) is accessible with the Unlimited Premium version,
- File of 500 MB maximum,
- You need to register or login with Google or Facebook to get the free version.
Its price:
- Free version under conditions with watermark on the video, then 4.95 € for a transfer, or 14.95 € per month.
Compress video and photo
If you are looking for an application for Android, Compress video and photo is particularly suitable for sharing a video on social networks
Its advantages:
- Ability to compress a video in the blink of an eye on your smartphone,
- Easy to use,
- Includes other features, like trim video, extract audio, etc.
- Choice of compression percentage.
Its disadvantages:
- Not available on iPhone,
- Some advertisements, little annoying.
Its price:
- Free.
Wondershare UniConverter
This software makes it easy to compress video.
Its advantages:
- Intuitive software, which includes an editor, converter and screen recorder, among others,
- Option to choose a compression percentage or change advanced settings,
- Ability to compress multiple videos with the same settings,
- Good technical support.
Its disadvantages:
- Paid, but there is a free trial version.
Its price:
- 29.98 Euros for a quarter, 44.98 Euros for a year, 70.98 Euros for an indefinite period for the all-in-one UniConverter software (a monthly surcharge applies for certain features).
Read Also: 7 Ultimate Ways to Help You to Promote Your YouTube Videos