Managing file sizes - Choosing the right codecs?

rothchild · 11-12-2020, 04:52 AM

I'd like to know more about how to keep control of file sizes when working with video in Reaper.

I'm doing very rudimentary screen captures with VO or trimming down recordings of 'Teams' meetings. I'm doing ok with editing etc. the issue is the way that the file sizes blow up when I export from Reaper.

For example, this week I trimmed up a long meeting from teams. It was initially a 500mb mp4 file, after export (QR/MOV/MP4 1920*1080 30fps 16bit pcm) it blew up to ~35gigs! and even after running it back through Handbrake ended up tipping ~800mb.

Any help I can get to understand what sizes, formats and framerates I should be using so I don't overblow things (without losing any further quality) would be very much appreciated.

rothchild · 11-20-2020, 11:02 AM

Hmm, am I missing something rudimentarily simple here?

How do I keep video files from blowing up in size when editing them and exporting them from Reaper?

(or is it simply not possible...?)

picatostas · 12-08-2020, 07:27 AM

I have the same issue, the default mp4 export settings make the video HUGE. Isnt there a youtube 1080 60p video format ? I was using Vegas Pro before and the 1-2 min videos were some tenths of MB while the default profile in reaper makes almost a GB.

Fabian · 12-08-2020, 10:47 AM

When you load a compressed file Reaper uncompresses it. This is the same for video as for mp3 or any other compressed format. Than when you render it, if you render with less compression than the original file had you will get a larger file, there is no way around that.

If you render mov/mp4, the default setting is to use the h264 codec at 90%, which is very low compression. Set that to 30% and see if you like the result better.

If not, you may have to use another tool that can compress harder than ffmpeg, for example HandBrake.

I had the same question here: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=241791

rothchild · 12-09-2020, 01:07 PM

Many thanks for the explanation and link to the other thread Fabian.

Yes I've already discovered Handbrake, I will try some more aggressive compression settings in the future (picture quality is not of great importance to the type of stuff I'm doing at the moment).

11-12-2020, 04:52 AM	#1
rothchild Human being with feelings Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 784	Managing file sizes - Choosing the right codecs? I'd like to know more about how to keep control of file sizes when working with video in Reaper. I'm doing very rudimentary screen captures with VO or trimming down recordings of 'Teams' meetings. I'm doing ok with editing etc. the issue is the way that the file sizes blow up when I export from Reaper. For example, this week I trimmed up a long meeting from teams. It was initially a 500mb mp4 file, after export (QR/MOV/MP4 1920*1080 30fps 16bit pcm) it blew up to ~35gigs! and even after running it back through Handbrake ended up tipping ~800mb. Any help I can get to understand what sizes, formats and framerates I should be using so I don't overblow things (without losing any further quality) would be very much appreciated. __________________ http://theponycollaboration.bandcamp.com/

11-20-2020, 11:02 AM	#2
rothchild Human being with feelings Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 784	Hmm, am I missing something rudimentarily simple here? How do I keep video files from blowing up in size when editing them and exporting them from Reaper? (or is it simply not possible...?) __________________ http://theponycollaboration.bandcamp.com/

12-08-2020, 10:47 AM	#4
Fabian Human being with feelings Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 7,433	When you load a compressed file Reaper uncompresses it. This is the same for video as for mp3 or any other compressed format. Than when you render it, if you render with less compression than the original file had you will get a larger file, there is no way around that. If you render mov/mp4, the default setting is to use the h264 codec at 90%, which is very low compression. Set that to 30% and see if you like the result better. If not, you may have to use another tool that can compress harder than ffmpeg, for example HandBrake. I had the same question here: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=241791 __________________ // MVHMF I never always did the right thing, but all I did wasn't wrong...

12-09-2020, 01:07 PM	#5
rothchild Human being with feelings Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 784	Many thanks for the explanation and link to the other thread Fabian. Yes I've already discovered Handbrake, I will try some more aggressive compression settings in the future (picture quality is not of great importance to the type of stuff I'm doing at the moment). __________________ http://theponycollaboration.bandcamp.com/

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12-08-2020, 07:27 AM	#3
picatostas Human being with feelings Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 5	I have the same issue, the default mp4 export settings make the video HUGE. Isnt there a youtube 1080 60p video format ? I was using Vegas Pro before and the 1-2 min videos were some tenths of MB while the default profile in reaper makes almost a GB.