Whether you're using Zoom, another video conferencing service, or your smartphone / tablet / DSLR camera to record your videos, you will eventually run into the problem of video editing and compression. This help article walks you through a step-by-step process to ensure that your video files don't become huge, unwieldy files.
Compression in Zoom and other platforms
For this article, I'll use Zoom as my example because it's currently the most popular platform for health and wellness professionals wishing to record their events, however, the recommendations suggested in this article apply to any recording, including from your smartphone / tablet / camera / other video conferencing platform (e.g., Google Meets, WebEx, Teams).
When you record something in Zoom, it defaults to a resolution of 640x360. You can see this directly in your Zoom cloud recording storage or when you download the file to your computer (see #1 below). You will also see that the file format is set to MPEG-4 (aka .mp4 -- see #2 below)
Zoom will allow you to record in 720 (i.e., 1280x720) with a few extra steps, but if you don't change anything it will default to 640x360 -- to learn more about how to record in Zoom in 720 see this article
If you're not using Zoom, but your phone, tablet or camera, then the default resolution will vary depending on what device you are using. Below are a few common default resolution settings:
- iPhone 11 - 1920 x 1080 @ 30 frames per second (fps) --> 1 hr video = 3.6 GB
- iPad - 1920 x 1080 @ 30 frames per second (fps) --> 1hr video = 3.6 GB
Bitrates and Frame rates in recordings
Beyond just resolution (i.e., 640x360 vs. 1280x720 vs. 1920x1080), there are the issues of bitrates and frame rates. When you open the detailed properties for a Zoom recording, you will see some very important bitrate and frame rate info that most people overlook (see #1a and #1b below for video and audio bitrates, respectively, and #2 for frame rate).
The above information tells you that for video, the Zoom recording is using a bitrate of 360 Kbps and for audio the recording is using a bitrate of 126 Kbps (which gets you the total bitrate of 486 Kbps). Additionally, you'll see that the video is recorded in 25 frames per second.
Why should I care about bitrates and frame rates?
Simply put, the higher the bitrate and the higher the frame rate, the bigger the resulting file size of your video. Also, If you edit your Zoom video in popular video programs like iMovie or Movie Maker, then iMovie and Movie Maker typically start with default project settings that have higher bitrates and frame rates then your original file, which means your final edited video file size will be much larger even though the quality hasn't improved (because your original source file was recorded in 640x360, 25 frames per second, a total bitrate of 486 Kbps). In short, if your original file was a certain quality, you can't improve the quality simply by exporting it at higher settings ... you'll just get a bigger file :(
If you want a more detailed explanation of how bitrate and frame rate impact file size, then please check out this article on bitrates and this article on frame rates.
OK ... so what should I do to keep my video file size reasonable?
At OfferingTree, we recommend that you edit your videos using an amazing and free, at least at the time of this article, piece of software called Da Vinci Resolve. This program allows you to easily modify resolution, frame rates and/or bit rates while also doing some really cool Hollywood-level editing tricks! It's amazing that this premium software is made freely available.
Resolve is also smart enough to detect the original frame rate of your source file and set the project workspace to match it --- and that is great news for Zoom recordings!
Below is a step-by-step process for using Resolve to keep your video file sizes reasonable.
Importing a file into Resolve
- Start by downloading Resolve at this link.
- After you've installed Resolve, start the program, and click on "untitled project"
- Now you'll see a new project workspace open up that looks like the below.
- Click on "File" and then click on "Import Media"
- Next, find the Zoom recording that you downloaded to your computer (or other video file if recorded one using your phone / tablet / camera) and select it for import.
- Resolve will give you a pop-up box that notifies you that your Zoom file has a frame rate different from Resolve's default project settings, which is great because Resolve is updating its frame rate to match your Zoom video file. Go ahead and click "Change"
- Now, you'll see your imported Zoom recording file listed in the upper-left media asset widow.
- Click on this file and drag it down towards the middle black line of Resolve's project timeline (see below)
- Once you release the video file, it will show up on the project timeline as a video track and an audio track.
- At this point, you can do some really fancy editing, adding titles / images, or even special effects in the timeline -- if you want really helpful video tutorials about everything you can do, then check out Resolve's official training videos
- For the sake of this article, I'm going to skip ahead and assume you've finished all of your Hollywood editing magic and you're ready to export your video at a reasonable size.
- To do this, click on "Deliver" (i.e., the rocket ship icon) at the bottom of your project space (#1 below) and you'll be taken to your export / rendering settings
- Next, click on the "Video" tab in the top-left "Render Settings" pane (#2 below) and this will show you the detailed video options for exporting your file.
Setting the Resolution, Frame Rate and Bitrate in Resolve
- Now, we've finally come to the step where you can see Resolve's true benefits (i.e., customizing resolution, frame rate and bitrate)
- In the top-left "Render Settings" pane, start by setting the Format to "MP4" from the dropdown menu and then double-check the Codec is set "H.264" (which should be its default) -- see #1 and #2 below
- Next, set the resolution (see #1 below) as follows:
- For standard Zoom recordings:
- set the resolution to 640 x 360 by selecting "custom" from the Resolution drop-down menu and then manually enter 640 x 360.
- For HD Zoom recordings or smartphone, tablet, or camera recordings:
- set the resolution to 1280 x 720 by selecting "1280 x 720 HD 720p" from the Resolution drop-down menu
- For standard Zoom recordings:
- Now, set the Frame rate to 25 (if it's not already set at that value) -- see #2 below
- Finally, under Quality, select "Restrict to" (see #3 below) and then enter:
- For standard Zoom recordings:
- "360" as the value, which matches your original Zoom 640x360 recording bitrate
- For HD Zoom recordings or smartphone, tablet, or camera recordings:
- "720" as the value, which will give you good compression and still decent quality
- For standard Zoom recordings:
- Finally, you're ready to set the audio settings and then export your video.
- Now, scroll back to the top of the rendering pane and click on the Audio tab -- see below
- Next, confirm that the Codec is set to AAC -- see #1 below
- Now, scroll down to Data rate and set the value to:
- For standard Zoom recordings:
- 126 (which is the original value of your Zoom 640x360 recording) -- see #2 below
- For HD Zoom recordings or smartphone, tablet, or camera recordings:
- 128 (which will give you good compression and still decent quality)
- For standard Zoom recordings:
- The last step is to select "Add to Render Queue" at the bottom of the pane -- see #3 below
- You'll be asked to select a folder where you want your video saved to, you can select "Add New Folder" and then create a new folder on your hard-drive where you'd like your file saved.
- Your video has now been added to your Render Queue on the right-side of your screen -- see #1 below
- You can now click on "Start Render" and Resolve will begin encoding your video -- see #2 below
- When it's all done, you can right-click (or command-click) on the file name in Render Queue (#1 below) and choose "Open File Location" to see the finished file ... and upload it to your OfferingTree site.
Upload to OfferingTree
Now that you've completed the above steps and rendered your video in a smaller file format, you can add it to your digital store (saving you time since a smaller file uploads much more quickly and it will also load more quickly for your students / clients who are watching it from your site).
P.S. Join our Facebook group and connect with other OfferingTree users to share questions, offer ideas and insights, and support each other towards a more thriving wellness business.
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