Compress videos, one or a whole folder

Two ways to make videos smaller

Both use your graphics card for the encoding when they can, and both leave the original alone. The converter also caps each new file's bit rate near what its original spends on the same picture, so a video that is already small is not blown up into a bigger one.

What makes a video file big

A video's size is its bit rate, the bits it spends on each second, times its length. Three settings decide the bit rate:

• Size. 1080p has 2.25 times the pixels of 720p, and 4K four times those of 1080p. Dropping one size is the biggest single saving, and 720p is often plenty for watching on a phone.
• Quality. At 1080p and 30 frames a second, the editor aims for about 9.3 Mbit/s at Best, 5.6 at Balanced and 3.1 at Smaller file, plus 192 kbps of sound.
• Frames a second. 60 frames need more bits than 30. The editor exports at 30 unless you choose otherwise; in the converter, set Frames a second under More settings.

The codec counts as well. The converter's MP4 can use H.265 or AV1 instead of H.264, and Octoolo gives them about two thirds and a little over half the bit rate of H.264 for the same picture. The files are smaller, but some older TVs, players and editing apps cannot play them, while H.264 plays nearly everywhere.

What to expect

At the same size, Smaller file spends about a third of the bits of Best, and 720p has under half the pixels of 1080p. Together they bring a 1080p video down to a fraction of what a Best export would weigh. The Export window's estimate tells you the figure for your own video before you commit.

Some videos have little left to give:

• A video that was already squeezed hard, such as one saved from a messaging app, may come out about the same size. The converter shows the change for every file, for example −64%, so you see it at once.
• At the same setting, busy footage (water, leaves, a shaky walk) looks softer than calm footage, because the same bits are spread over more change. Give it Balanced rather than Small.
• Making a video smaller always removes some detail. Keep the original if you may want full quality later.

For email, aim low: many services cap attachments at around 20 to 25 MB, which is roughly two minutes at 720p and Smaller file.

A folder of videos at once

Phones and cameras fill folders fast. Drop the whole folder on Convert video files and Octoolo finds the videos in it and up to three folders below, 500 at a time, then works through them while you do something else. Balanced aims for roughly half the size while keeping the picture good; Small goes as far down as it can. To bring 4K clips down to 1080p as well, open More settings and set Size: no video is ever scaled up.

Each new file is saved beside its original under the same name, or in one folder you choose, and nothing is written over. When the batch ends, a summary shows the total size before and after. Check the copies, then delete the originals yourself if you no longer need them.