Compress a video for Discord

The limits

Discord allows 10 MB per file on the free tier, 50 MB with Nitro Basic and 500 MB with full Nitro. The settings here are aimed at the 10 MB case, which is the one that actually causes trouble.

If it is still too big

• Trim it first. Length is the single biggest factor, 30 seconds fits comfortably, three minutes does not.
• Drop to 480p. On a chat window nobody will notice.
• Raise the quality number to 33 or 34. It will soften, but it will fit.

The result panel shows the finished size, so adjust and run again until it is under.

Why gameplay is the hard case

Ten megabytes goes much further on some footage than on others, and the difference is not resolution, it is how much of the frame changes between frames. A video codec stores one full picture and then, for everything after it, only the differences. A talking head against a static background gives it almost nothing to record. Gameplay gives it everything: the camera swings, the whole scene translates, particles and lighting change every pixel, and the encoder is effectively storing full frames over and over.

The practical consequence is that 45 seconds of a conversation fits in 10 MB comfortably while 20 seconds of a shooter does not. If you are clipping gameplay, assume you have half the budget you would otherwise, and trim harder rather than pushing the quality number into the thirties, where the picture goes to mush precisely in the fast-moving scenes you were trying to show.

Trim first, always

Length is the one factor that scales the file linearly with nothing to offset it, so it is the first thing to cut and the one most people leave alone. Ten seconds of context before the moment costs you a quarter of your entire budget on a 40 second clip. Run the file through cut video or trim first, get it down to the part you actually want to show, and then compress. A tight 15 second clip at 720p and quality 28 looks noticeably better than a rambling 45 second one at quality 34, and it is a better clip regardless.

The other tiers

Nitro Basic raises the limit to 50 MB and full Nitro to 500 MB, and if you have either, these presets are more aggressive than you need. Set quality back to 23 and leave the height alone; a 50 MB budget is enough for a couple of minutes at 1080p. For a file going to email rather than chat, the email preset targets 25 MB with the base64 overhead accounted for.

Common questions

Further reading

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