Compressing a Video (Mac)
When uploading a video for sharing, it may be helpful to compress the video to reduce buffering and download time. This can be done with a free program called VLC.
Install VLC from Self Service
Log into the Mac Computer Self Service Cart:
Open Finder (blue smiley face icon in the Dock).
In the left frame, choose Applications > Self Service Cart.
Enter your username (firstname.lastname OR firstinitiallastname)
Enter your password.
In the list of applications, scroll down to VLC. Click Install.
Compress Video with VLC
When VLC opens, it should look like this.
From the top menu, click on File > Convert / Stream…, or hit Shift + Command + S on the keyboard.
In the Convert & Stream window that opens, click on the Open media… button.
Then, navigate to the file you want to compress and hit Open.
Under Choose Profile, select Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4), then click Customize.
Under the Video codec tab, change the Resolution Width to 720.
This will resize your video to a maximum width of 720 pixels.
Under the Audio codec tab, make sure Audio is checked, as well as Keep original audio track. Click Apply.
Under Choose Destination, click Save as File, then browse for a location where you would like to save the file. Give it a name, then click Save in the bottom right corner to start converting your video.
VLC will return to its initial window. At the bottom of the window, you will see the timeline indicator moving, showing the progress on the video conversion. When the video is finished converting, the completed file will appear in the location to which you saved it.
When the conversion is done, you should see that the size of the video has been reduced. If the size of the file is still too big, try reducing it to a smaller video resolution or compressing the sound as well.