Resolution has the biggest effect on a video's file size. A 4K clip holds four times the pixels of 1080p and nine times those of 720p. If the video will be watched on a phone or in a small window, scaling it down saves a lot of space with little visible difference.
How does resizing handle the aspect ratio?
You enter a target width and height, for example 1280 by 720. The video is scaled to fit inside that frame while keeping its shape. If its shape does not match the frame, the leftover space is filled with black bars, so the output is exactly the size you asked for. A vertical phone video resized to 1280 by 720 therefore comes out as a narrow picture with bars on both sides.
To avoid bars, match the frame to the video's orientation: for a vertical video, use 720 by 1280.
Common sizes: 1920 by 1080 (1080p), 1280 by 720 (720p), 854 by 480 (480p) and 640 by 360 (360p).
Does resizing reduce quality?
Scaling down removes pixels, so fine detail is reduced, but on a small screen the video looks just as sharp. The result is an MP4 with H.264 video at a good default quality and AAC audio, which plays everywhere.
Scaling up is not useful. It makes the file bigger without adding detail.
Is my file stored?
Resizing runs on our server. Your video is uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed in Germany and deleted automatically within two hours.
Is it free?
Up to a point. Video is a heavy tool: 3 free videos per day without an account and 5 with a free account, up to 50 MB each. Pro raises the limit to 500 MB with no daily cap, or you can pay one credit for a single large job. When a set of clips all need to come down to 720p before compressing, chain Resize and Compress in the pipeline builder and run them together; you can try a pipeline on up to 3 files for free.
How to resize a video
- Drop your video onto the drop zone.
- Enter the target width and height, such as 1280 and 720.
- Click Resize and wait for the encode.
- Download the resized video.
FAQ
How do I resize without black bars?
Use a width and height with the same shape as your video. For 16:9 landscape video, 1280 by 720 works; for vertical video, 720 by 1280.
Does resizing also compress the video?
It usually makes the file much smaller, because there are fewer pixels to encode. For more control, run Compress Video afterwards.
Can I crop a video to a square?
Not with this tool. Resizing to a square frame adds bars rather than cropping.
Is the audio affected?
It is re-encoded to AAC so it fits the MP4. At normal listening it sounds the same.