Video file sizes and formats

Question

Aloha. I've been using Photoshop Elements for a long time, but this is my first time using Premiere Elements. I have some basic questions, and I hope someone can help me. Last weekend I gave two Christmas harp performances and made videos on my iPads. Both concerts were 90 minutes long. I filmed the Saturday concert on my iPad Pro and it turned out as about 5 MB. Sunday's concert was on my mini iPad and is over 10 MB. Any ideas of why this happened? The only difference I can think of is that on Saturday the iPad was very close to the stage, and on Sunday it was at the back of the audience, and it was zoomed it. Would that matter?

The Sunday concert turned out better, so I'd like to use that 10 MB video. I'm only planning to send it to my friends and family members to watch on their computers or iPads. I'm not going to post it on YouTube or any social media. I'm planning to upload it to my DropBox account, or send it through a Google Drive Link. Some of my family are not particularly computer savvy. Is 10 MB too big? Should I divide it into smaller files? If so, what size is optimal? Also, I'm not familiar with the various video formats. Is there a specific format I should use when I save the video in Premiere Elements?

Thank you so much for your help!

Steve Grisetti · Answer

Video is not a solid object. There are so many variables that can affect your file size including audio and video codec, compression level, the existence variable or constant frame rates and even the content of the video. (Video with a lot of variety will create a larger file than video of a more constant scene.)

We often see posts from people who can't figure out why they put, say, a 50 meg MP4 and then output a 100 meg MP4 even though it looks like the same video.

10 mb is certainly not a big file. I just uploaded a 30-minute MP4 to DropBox and it's 3 gb. I'm actually pretty amazed you shot a 90-minute video on your iPad and the video file was only 10 mb! Are you sure that number is right?

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