Video: tools and formats

Everything we can do with Video files. Most of it right in your browser, with nothing uploaded.

Tools

Convert videoTurn a video into MP4, WebM or MKV. MP4 plays everywhere, WebM is for the web, MKV is what you usually need to open somewhere else.
Crop video frameCut the frame to the ratio you need — vertical for a feed, square for a post. Nothing is stretched: only the excess is removed.
Compress videoFit a recording into a given number of megabytes — to send by email or messenger. We work out the bitrate for your limit and encode in two passes to hit it.
Resize videoConvert a recording to 1080p, 720p, 480p or 360p. Width follows the original proportions, so nothing gets stretched. Upscaling is refused: it adds no detail and only inflates the file.
Trim videoCut out a fragment by timecodes. The stream is copied without re-encoding, so it is fast and lossless. If the cut cannot land on a keyframe, we re-encode and say so.
Remove audio from videoDrop the sound track. The picture is copied as is — no quality loss and no waiting.
Video to GIFBuild a GIF from a fragment. The palette is generated for your specific video in a separate pass — without that you get noise instead of a picture.
Add subtitles to videoBurn subtitles into the picture or attach them as a track. Burned-in subtitles show everywhere, even where nobody turns them on; attached ones the viewer can switch off, and the picture is not re-encoded.
Video thumbnailGrab a frame for a cover or preview. Exactly one frame is decoded, so an hour of video costs no more than a minute.
Video for a messengerSqueezes the recording to 24 megabytes — a size that passes both mail and messengers. The bitrate is computed for your file; the audio stays.
Video for shortsTurn a horizontal recording into something a vertical feed accepts: crop the frame to the centre and bring it to 1080 pixels tall.

Formats, and when each one fits

MP4since 2001: — The video is being sent or published and has to open for everyone
— Footage from a phone that people will simply watch
— One audio track is all you need
Matroskasince 2002: — A home archive where everything should be kept as it was
— Several audio languages and subtitle tracks in one file
— The file is watched on a computer, not on household hardware
WebMsince 2010: — The video goes on a web page and is watched in a browser
— You want the smallest file with the picture still alive
— A screen recording or a short clip for a page
QuickTimesince 1991: — The footage came off an iPhone and goes into an edit
— The whole workflow stays inside Apple software
— You need the best-quality master before compressing
AVIsince 1992: — The file came out of an old archive and just needs to open
— Some program insists on it and understands nothing newer
— In every other case it is worth turning into MP4

Common conversions

Each page compares the formats by facts and shows compression figures we measured ourselves, not generalities.