Should You Compress a Video Before Uploading It to Cloud Storage?
When cloud uploads are slow, the reflex is "compress it first". But cloud videos serve different purposes: archives need the original, while review and sharing only need something watchable. Decide the purpose first.
Separate master and proxy
The master keeps full quality and editability; the proxy is optimised for upload, online playback, and collaboration. Keeping both is safer than permanently shrinking the original.
- master/original: for archive and post-production.
- proxy/review: for review and comments.
- delivery: for final publishing.
Suggested proxy settings
| Purpose | Resolution | Preset | Frame rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Framing and rough-cut review | Longest edge 1280px (720p) | Balanced (CRF 23) | Max 30fps |
| Detail review before grading | Longest edge 1920px (1080p) | High quality (CRF 18) | Keep original |
| Screen recordings, small text | Original or 1920px | High quality | Max 30fps |
| Listening only | Longest edge 854px (480p) | Maximum (CRF 30) | Max 15fps |
Output is always MP4 (H.264 + AAC), which mainstream cloud storage services can preview online.
Compress first, or upload directly?
Smaller files upload faster, but transcoding takes time too. A rough comparison:
- Direct upload time ≈ original size ÷ your upload speed.
- Compress-then-upload time ≈ transcoding time + compressed size ÷ upload speed.
- For short clips on fast connections, uploading directly is often simpler; for long videos, slow uploads, or files many people will download, a proxy costs less overall.
- Transcoding speed depends on your device: the browser's hardware encoder is used by default and is usually much faster than software encoding. Compress one video, see how long it takes, then decide for the batch.
Large files and batches
Videos are processed one at a time, so they never compete for memory. Large outputs are written to the browser's local storage rather than held entirely in memory, which makes long videos more reliable; multi-gigabyte footage is still best handled on a computer with plenty of RAM.
You can download the results as a ZIP. A single ZIP is limited to 4 GB, so download files individually if the total is larger.
Versions and permissions
Separate masters and proxies with consistent naming, project folders, and access permissions. Compression does not make sensitive footage less sensitive — but because transcoding happens in your browser, the original never has to be uploaded to a third-party compression service.
Your files are processed in the current browser and are not uploaded as article samples.