3 Ways to Make Video Files Smaller

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Have you noticed that the file size of many of your videos is actually quite large? Would you like to make some of them smaller so that they don’t take up nearly as much storage space?

It may surprise you to know but there are actually several ways that you can make your video files smaller. In fact you may want to try one of the three ways listed below:

• Convert the video codec

  
  Video codecs are used to compress video data, and some can provide more efficient compression than others. If you convert your video to a codec that is more efficient, you will be able to make the video file smaller while maintaining its overall quality.
  
  The difficult part of this option is figuring out what codec to use, as it needs to be one that is supported by the device the video will be viewed on. A good option is to check for HEVC (H.265) support, and convert your video to it if present.
  
  If not the next best codec to use is probably H.264 – which is the most common video codec, and should be supported.
  
  




• Shorten the video duration

  
  Unsurprisingly the file size of a video is directly proportionate to its duration. Because of that if you shorten the video, you will reduce the file size.
  
  As you can imagine this option can only be used in very specific circumstances, i.e. when you’re only interested in part of the video in question. For example you could extract a short 1 minute clip with a much smaller file size from a 15 minute video.
  
  

• Lower the video bitrate

  
  Another factor that affects the video file size is the video bitrate. It is literally the amount of data that the video uses each second, so lowering it will reduce the overall file size directly.
  
  It should be noted that this option will affect the video quality and compression artifacts will start to appear as you lower the video bitrate. The best option is to lower the bitrate on a sample of your video gradually while checking on its quality.
  
  Once you find a reasonable compromise, you can then lower the video bitrate for the whole video.
  
  

If you do need a free MTS to MP4 converter or one to convert other formats, you could try Online Video Converter. It is a web app that is user-friendly and will make it convenient for you to convert videos of any size.

Keep in mind that you can use all of the methods described above in conjunction with one another. For example you could extract a short clip from your video, convert it to a format with more efficient compression, and then lower its video bitrate.

As you can imagine using two or more of the ways that have been described will let you reduce the file size of your videos more significantly – which is why you should always remember that it is an option.