File size

[ipstatico]

Hi all, I have reduced the length of some videos recorded using SimpleScreenRecorder. Unfortunately I’m not able to export the files in the proper way since the new videos have a file dimension pretty bigger compared to the original ones. I really don’t understand what it’s wrong, the settings look like to be the same of the original files. Changing the file extension, the result doesn’t change.

Thanks. Have a nice day.

[ejmillan]

Hello:
can you provide more information about:

• format and characteristics of the videos recorded with SimpleScreenRecorder (you can see such information in the Info window of Shotcut when you have the video clip selected). You can also use MediaInfo software or even in VLC you can access the characteristics of such video files.
• Shotcut Version and Operating System
• Export setting you select in Shotcut
• Final expectations you want for these recordings

You can also add some screenshots.

[ipstatico]

below my comments:

• codec H.264/AVC/MPEG-4-AVC/MPEG-4 part 10
• 21.03.21, linux
• both matroska and youtube
• have the same quality video and audio of the original file, just shorter

Thanks.

[ejmillan]

I understand that you cut the length of the videos but that when you export them with Shotcut the file size is larger than the initial original video.
There are multiple factors for this to happen.
Firstly, if you export at a higher video bitrate than the original video bitrate, you are artificially (and without any quality benefit) increasing the size of the exported video (more data).
Quickly, if you recorded your video at 1200 kb/sec and export it at 5000 kb/sec your video will have much more data (it will take up more space) but it will not have more visual quality.
That’s why I was asking for the characteristics of the video.
Something like this:
Searching for clip information in Shotcut (you can save the file and share it here)

You can also use an alternative method external to Shotcut to find out the characteristics of the clip, using the free MediaInfo software.

Although we often focus on the video, the audio track also has an influence (albeit a minor one) on the increase in size. If you recorded the audio at a bitrate of 128 kbs and export it at 384 kbs you will increase the size of the audio part without increasing the quality.

So it is important to know the parameters of the original videos and the export preset you have used.

Additionally, this is not like trimming and associating shorter duration with the smaller file size. This is not always the case. Shotcut is a non-linear video editor and is not like a transcoder.
Shotcut re-encodes the content of the timeline according to the export parameters we choose.