Video guides
Video guides: edit, compress, convert and caption
Video is the heaviest thing most people ever handle on a computer, which is why so many online tools make you upload it first. These guides cover the jobs you actually run into, from shrinking a file to fit a limit to fixing a clip that will not play, and show how to do them on your own device with free tools that never take your footage.
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Video
Forty minutes of footage should become ten posts, not one
Find the best moments in a long recording, reframe them for phones, caption them and check the safe zones, all in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and you approve every clip before it is saved.
All Video guides
Video
Pausing and pressing screenshot saves the player's buttons too. Here is how to get the real frame.
A screenshot captures your player, not your video. Decoding the frame itself gives you the file's full resolution, with nothing drawn on top.
Video
Reading a script off a screen looks like reading, unless you set it up like this
Speed, text width and where the words sit decide whether you look like you are talking or reciting. Here is the setup, with the arithmetic for a three minute script.
Video
The same video is the wrong shape on every platform. Here is how to fix that without stretching it.
An aspect ratio is just width compared with height. Once you can do the arithmetic, choosing between cropping, fitting and scaling gets much easier.
Video
You exported a clean file and the platform turned it to mush. Here is why, and what helps.
Every upload is compressed again, so you cannot stop the loss, only hand the platform a better starting point. Here is what to check before you post.
Video
Captions take a long time by hand. Here is the version that runs on your own device and never uploads your video.
A speech model runs inside your browser, so your video stays on your device. Here is how to generate, fix and export subtitles, and when to burn them in or keep a separate file.
Video
GIFs are huge and ugly unless you make them right. Here is the recipe that works.
A GIF stores every frame as a picture with at most 256 colors, so the settings you choose decide everything. Here is how to pick them, and when to skip the GIF altogether.
Video
You pressed record, and the video has no sound. Here is how to get it right.
Browsers decide what sound a page may capture, and the answer depends on your browser, your computer and one checkbox. Here is what works, what does not and what to do afterwards.
Video
How to edit a video for free in your browser: cut, crop, merge and more
Most edits people need are small and specific. Here is how to do each one in your browser, on a Mac or a PC, and where a full video editor is still the better choice.
Video
How to compress a large video file for free, down to a size you choose
A video compressor for big files does not need an upload or an account. Here is how to bring gigabytes down to 50 MB, 10 MB or whatever limit you are facing.
Video
How to change a video's format for free: MOV, MKV and WebM to MP4
A free online video converter that does not upload your file. Here is what each format is for, when conversion is instant, and what to do when a file will not open.
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YouTube chapters: the rules, good titles and why they go missing
A few lines of timestamps make a long video easy to navigate. Here's what YouTube requires, how to title chapters well, and how to fix ones that won't appear.
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Going vertical: 9:16 video for Shorts, Reels and TikTok
One 9:16 export can work on all three apps if it's framed for a phone screen and laid out around the buttons. Here's how to get each part right.
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Jump cuts without the jumpiness: removing pauses from talking videos
Cutting dead air is the fastest way to make a talking video feel professional. Here's how to decide what to cut, how much breathing room to leave, and how to hide the joins.
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Captions people actually read: a practical style guide
Most viewers scroll with the sound off, so your captions are doing half the storytelling. Here's how to size, place, time and style them so they help instead of getting in the way.
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Shrink a video without wrecking it: bitrate, resolution and codecs explained
Every compressor throws detail away. The trick is throwing away the detail nobody will miss. Here's how the main settings work, and how to choose them.
Free video tools
Silence Remover
Find the pauses in a recording, cut them automatically and fine-tune every cut.
Opens MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, MP3, WAV · Saves MP4, M4A, MP3, WAV, EDL
Open toolVideo Compressor
Make a video file much smaller, or hit an exact size for Discord, email or chat apps.
Opens MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM, MKV · Saves MP4 or WebM
Open toolResize for Social
Change any video to 9:16, 1:1 or 4:5 with blur, color or crop fill.
Opens MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV · Saves MP4
Open toolVideo Repurposer
Turn one video into vertical, square, portrait and landscape versions with face-following crops and captions.
Opens MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV · Saves MP4 (9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9), SRT, ZIP
Open tool