A variable bitrate can help decreasing file size when your video has a combination of high and low amounts of movement, as it will optimize the distribution of information storage for those parts in your video. Higher amounts of movement require a higher amount of information to be stored in order to prevent quality loss.Įxample calculation for a typical 720p video:ġ280 * 720 * 25 * 2 * 0.07 / 1000 = 3225.6 kbps (= 3.2 Mbps)īitrate can be set to Constant (CBR) or Variable (VBR). 'Motion Factor' is an arbitrary value (typically 1, 2 or 4) that you can assign to your video based on the amount of (fast) movement in the video. Target Bitrate (kbps) = Frame Width (px) * Frame Height (px) * Frame Rate (fps) * Motion Factor * 0.07 / 1000 If you are using H.264 compression, you can calculate a ballpark estimate for your target bitrate using the Kush gauge, a helpful formula written by a guy named Kush: The smarter the compression format, the easier this is to achieve. So setting a bitrate is striking a balance between limiting the file size without losing too much quality. The more information, the larger the file. The more information, the higher the quality of the video. This is what determines how much information is stored for every second of video.

When compressing a video, you will be asked to enter a 'bitrate'.

To find out what video codecs are and why they are used, grab a cup of coffee (or other non-alcoholic beverage of choice) and reserve about 45 minutes of your life to watch this comprehensive video: How Codecs Work (Vimeo).

Hevc video codec pack