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I've been attempting to use Quicktime to create screen recordings with sound so that I can send them to some people. I've found however that the files are very large, for example a 30 second recording takes up 250 MB even with 'Medium' sound. What can I do?
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), None
Under 'Quality' I only have two settings: High and Medium. A 10 second screen recording using 'Medium' (which I used above) uses 1.8 MB, while a 10 second 'High' recording used 46.9 MB so that doesn't seem to be the solution.
Under 'Quality' I only have two settings: High and Medium. A 10 second screen recording using 'Medium' (which I used above) uses 1.8 MB, while a 10 second 'High' recording used 46.9 MB so that doesn't seem to be the solution.
It sounds like either your system is messed up or the information you provided is in error. As was previously noted, the "Medium" screen recording setting uses the Photo-JPEG video compression format which provides moderate compression with medium quality while the "High" screen recording setting uses the H.264 video codec which provides high compression with high quality. And, while the specific encoding data rates will very depending on the graphic complexity of the material being recorded and the dimensions of your screen, the "Medium" quality Photo-JPEG file should be on the order of 15-20 times greater than the "High" quality H.264 file. Thus, depending on the actual frame rates used to record each file (i.e., depends on the CPU power of your system), the final sizes should normally be of roughly the same order of magnitude as the relationship between the data rates.
It would help if you included copy of the QT "Inspector" window for comparing and evaluating your screen files. Since you did not indicate specific requirements for "sending" files to others, it may be possible to manually recompress your screen captured videos to to smaller files which may still meet your needs.
You are right, I had the examples reversed. I found that out by recording two new 10 sec movies and looking at them via 'Get Info'. Thanks.
very helpful..thnx
Where are these settings? Using QT Player 10.4 (833.6) on Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.4), I do not find these settings with QT open (with an existing video, and even with the screen recorder window open but not yet recording anything).
Has QT on Mac undergone significant change since these posts? I have a 7.5 min recording at 174 MB. It would sure be nice to be able to get the video size down to 1/3 or 1/4 of that.
Has QT on Mac undergone significant change since these posts?
Yes, The settings to which you refer were for earlier operating systems with pre-QT X v10.3 player software and support structures running on slower platforms. Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan can now access the Convert structure directly from the Finder, as well as, through various apps. The Finder access currently allows users to encode content as H.264/AAC content at 480p or 720p resolutions using either a "Greater compatibility" or "Higher quality" setting that changes the target data rate (and file size) of your conversions based on the context adaptive nature of the selected dimensions. The 1080p settings defaults to a single quality preset. The window also allows you to target your content at all three resolutions as ProRes422/LPCM files using a single adaptive data rate—again based on the dimension setting.
Where are these settings?
As previously indicated, they are available at the Finder level. Simply select the file you want to convert in the Finder window, use the "Context" menu (Control-click) to select the "Encode Selected Video Files" option, select your desired "pop-up" settings in the "Encode Media" window, and press the "Continue" button to convert the file.
I have a 7.5 min recording at 174 MB. It would sure be nice to be able to get the video size down to 1/3 or 1/4 of that.
The information provided indicates your file has a combined average AV data rate average on the order of 3.1 Mbps. Depending on the dimensions of your file and the specific nature of the recording, this may or may not be improved upon without adversely affecting the visual quality of your file. Larger dimensions, objects in motions, brighter scenes, video noise, etc. tend to increase data rates. The amount of space saved will ultimately depend on the differences in the source file encode and target file encode settings. Using manual encode settings, the size of the file is basically determined by how much data your are willing to "throw away." Apple's presets prevent you from overdoing this.
Since this balance between quality and file size is very subjective, here is a more concrete example:
The first clip is a 397.8 MB file with a 4 min 42 sec duration. The second file contains the same content re-encoded to about 1/9th the original data rate producing a file that is roughly 11% the size of the original file. The question is, does the quality of the smaller file justify the reduction in file size. This is a question each user must determine on an individual basis and may differ for each source file. Since the first file was already posted to my server in response to a previous QT/iTunes question, I have posted the smaller file so that anyone interested can download, compare the files and make their on decision.
In this case I used HandBrake to create the smaller file in order to access additional encoding features and settings not available in QT 7 Pro or QT X. I assume you can perform similar tests yourself using any of these apps/workflows on your own system. Good Luck!
Huge Screen Recordings
