# Trying to compress video to send in e-mail **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778 "2004-05-12T13:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/1 "2004-05-12T13:00:48Z")
I have a video that is 8239kb long that I want to e-mail to my friends. I tried e-mailing it and my MSN mail keeps freezing up (I guess its too long), so I tried compressing it. I right clicked the file on my desktop and clicked on save to, then compress folder. I now have a little folder with a zipper on my desktop. I tried sending that, figuring it must be a smaller file now; however, when I try to send it as an attachment, MSN still says its 8239kb and keeps freezing up. What am I doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/2 "2004-05-12T13:13:17Z")
Almost all graphics/video files are already in a compressed format, so there’s not much left to squeeze out of them. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/3 "2004-05-12T13:15:01Z")
Nothing. I don’t know exactly which codec (compression scheme) was used to make the video in the first place, but rest assured that the video is _already compressed_. You’ll get the same results if you try to compress an MP3 - standard PCM audio is around 10MB/minute while most MP3 files are 1MB/minute - you just can’t compress it any more. There are compression programs (like ACE) that might make your compressed file _slightly_ smaller than the ZIP format most people (and Windows itself) use, but it’s not gonna be _that_ much more than what you’re getting now. The best way to reduce the size would be to re-encode the video, but keep in mind that the picture quality will suffer if you do this. Lemme know if you wanna do that and I’ll find a HOW-TO for you. ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/4 "2004-05-12T14:27:10Z")
You could use a file splitting program to reduce the file to a series of smaller chunks along with a little executable that would reunite them. The you send each fragment in a separate email. Do a search on [download.com](http://download.com) or wherever for “file splitting”. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/5 "2004-05-12T14:50:19Z")
I take fairly large .mpeg movies with my digital camera and I can compress them down a bit with Windows Movie Maker. It does degrade the video quite a bit, but it makes them small enough to email/post on the web. It can make a 5 MB clip under 1 MB. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/6 "2004-05-12T14:54:02Z")
I should add, it changes the .mpegs to .WMV files, but windows media player opens them. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-compress-video-to-send-in-e-mail/244778/7 "2004-05-12T17:08:48Z")
It is easier for everyone if you just post it on a web site for others to download. If the file is too big for the web site, split it up, post the individual parts one at a time, along with instructions in the several emails you send out. Sending large attachments in emails is never a good thing, except as a possible last resort.