File Compression Ultimate Guide
As a video editor, you will come across lots of different types of video files. Some are more useful than others, some are much higher quality than others. But each file type has its own pros and cons. MKV files are common file types, and they can be pretty large files, so let’s take a look at how to work with them.
Table of Contents
What is an MKV file?
An MKV file is a package that contains both video and audio files, but importantly an unlimited number of files. Unlike other file formats, it can contain descriptions, ratings, cover art, chapters and subtitles so it is commonly used for packaging multimedia onto DVDs. Because it can pack so much in, the files themselves can be pretty enormous and take up a lot of space on hard drives.
Why you should convert an MKV file
Compressing files is all about sacrificing an element of quality in favor of saving space. Compressing MKV files makes them smaller so they take up less space. You can hold more files on your hard drives without having to purchase more, and smaller files require less processing power for your computer to run.
The compromise is that compressing a file also reduces the quality. Compressed video files can become more grainy or noisy than other files since the visual data has been squeezed as much as possible. So when compressing files it is a balancing act between maintaining quality and reducing size.
With files like MKVs, it can be difficult to compress them on their own, and the alternative is to convert them to a different file type such as an MP4 or an MOV. By converting an MKV file into a format that can handle more data in a compressed way, you can reduce the size and also make it more likely that other computers will be able to play it without issues.
It’s easy to convert MKV files into other file types using VideoStudio Pro.
How to convert an MKV file
- Open VideoStudio Pro.
- Import your MKV file into VideoStudio Pro by selecting the “import from disc or external drive” button on the Capture screen.
- Drag the video onto the timeline in the video layer.
- Navigate to the Share screen.
- Select your chosen output format from the grid, such as AVC/H.264.
- Next to Preset you should be presented with a drop-down menu. Here, VideoStudio Pro provides you with a list of premade settings that you can choose from.
- If you want to create your own custom settings, click on the Plus icon and enter the details to create your own custom profile, reducing the size of the file accordingly.
- Select the destination of where you want your new file to end up.
- Finally, simply hit Start to begin compressing the file.
Convert MKV files to a more accessible format
MKV files are high quality video files that pack a lot of data, but the downside is they can be heavy and difficult to work with. If compressing them is not possible, convert an MKV file into another type such as MP4 or MPEG-2 to reduce the size while retaining the quality of the data. Download a free trial of VideoStudio Pro to start converting MKV files today.