Should You Resize Video by Longest Edge or by Ratio?
The tool offers two ways to shrink video dimensions: by longest edge (uniformly to 1080p/720p/480p) or by ratio (1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 of the original). Both scale proportionally with no stretching — the difference is in how the target size is decided.
How each mode calculates the result
| Mode | How it works | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Resize by longest edge | Scales the longer dimension (width for landscape, height for portrait) down to a target pixel value | Videos of different original resolutions end up with the same longest edge |
| Resize by ratio | Multiplies both width and height by the same fraction (1/2, 1/3, 1/4) | Shrinkage is consistent, but the final size differs by each video's original resolution |
When to use which
If your footage comes from a mix of devices (some 4K phone recordings, some older 1080p captures) and you want the final batch to share a uniform resolution, resize by longest edge is the better fit — regardless of the original resolution, every video ends up at the same target.
If you just want to shrink the overall file size by a consistent amount and don't care about the exact pixel count, resize by ratio is more direct — for instance, uniformly halving a batch of videos without first figuring out each one's original resolution.
Resolution usually affects file size more than CRF does
Resolution determines how many pixels need to be encoded, and it's usually the single biggest lever on file size — shrinking a 4K video to 1080p often reduces the size more than a modest CRF adjustment. If the file is still too big, lowering resolution is generally the first thing to try before tweaking quality settings further.
- Confirm what screen or window size the video will actually play at before shrinking it more than necessary.
- For important footage, test the resized look on a short clip before processing the whole video.
Your files are processed in the current browser and are not uploaded as article samples.