I have some HD movies in mkv and mp4 formats that are around 5GB. Is there any way that I can shrink them down to be slightly less than 4GB so that I can move them to my FAT32 external? I want to do this without losing too much quality. Thanks!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Decrease file size of MP4 or MKV movie?
- Thread starter jason2811
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Handbrake will do this. I usually start with the AppleTV legacy setting and adjust it as I need but I am streaming to a 1st ATV if that matters (I suspect it does not).
Just set the target file size. I would go below 4GB as it tends to overshoot now and then. I leave it on .h264 for HD content but with SD I tend to use plain mp4 as its considerably quicker without taking up much more space.
Mkvs should fly along fairly well but I find re-encoding mp4s takes forever. No idea why that is, though having said that I am not sure I've tried it with Handbrake, only Visualhub.
Just set the target file size. I would go below 4GB as it tends to overshoot now and then. I leave it on .h264 for HD content but with SD I tend to use plain mp4 as its considerably quicker without taking up much more space.
Mkvs should fly along fairly well but I find re-encoding mp4s takes forever. No idea why that is, though having said that I am not sure I've tried it with Handbrake, only Visualhub.
You can use handbrake with an output size of <4096mb, however you will notice a drop in quality, re-encoding x264 video is a fundamentally flawed process which you should avoid at all costs. Just know that if your video has DTS audio, handbrake will only allow you to re-encode to 2.0 AAC, it will passthrough AC3, however.
Something to bear in mind, most 720p x264 rips available contain DTS audio @ 1.5mb/s, any DVD5 (4.37GB) size releases you have can be shrunk to <4GB by re-encoding the DTS to AC3 at 640kb/s. However, that's a bit more of an advanced process, go ahead if you're familiar with demuxing, muxing etc. Wont work for 1.5xDVD5 (6.6GB) or DVD9 (8GB) though.
Something to bear in mind, most 720p x264 rips available contain DTS audio @ 1.5mb/s, any DVD5 (4.37GB) size releases you have can be shrunk to <4GB by re-encoding the DTS to AC3 at 640kb/s. However, that's a bit more of an advanced process, go ahead if you're familiar with demuxing, muxing etc. Wont work for 1.5xDVD5 (6.6GB) or DVD9 (8GB) though.