Whenever I have students create a video either through screencasting or on their mobile device, I end up with the problem of someone trying to send or upload a massive file that gets rejected by the server, not to mention the amount of time and bandwidth taken up in the process. Thankfully, there is a simple, free solution that works on almost any computer: Miro VideoConverter. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to shrink the size of the videos while still maintaining decent quality and also making it accessible my as many devices and possible.
Downloading and installing Miro Video Converter:
- Go to the Miro VideoConverter website and click on the ‘Download Miro VideoConverter’ button and allow the file to be downloaded to your computer.
- Run the installer. This will be different for the various versions of Windows or Mac. For Mac, it comes as a disc image (.dmg). Just open the image and copy the application to the Applications folder. For Windows, run the executable file (.exe) to install.
Converting videos:
- Run the Miro Video Converter program and you will see a grey box like the one above.
- Drag a video file into the box or click on ‘Choose Files…’ and select a file to convert. Your video should appear in the box like the image above. You can add more than one video.
- Select the video output you would like by clicking on a button at the bottom. I choose Apple and then iPod Touch 4+ since this is the most compatible with smartphones, tablets, and computers. I want my students to be able to view the video on whatever device they would like.
- Click on the ‘Convert Now’ button to start the process. You will see an indicator showing how much has been done.
- Once it has finished, you can click on ‘Show File’ to see the video on your computer. You can watch it to make sure it plays properly before posting it for your students.
Notes:
- You will lose some quality and your video may be cropped slightly. If this happens, choose a different format and do it again.
- You can extract the audio as an MP3 if you click on ‘Format’ and then ‘Audio’.
I hope that helps! Feel free to post a comment below or send me a message through the contact page on this site or tweet me at @nathanghall. Thank you!
Nathan Hall 