How to make smaller file size by cropping just part of the video

Report · Nov 07, 2022

I have a video from a nature camera trap which I would like to email to several people. Unfortunately the files size is too big to email. The subject is at a distance so I really need just the centre of the view.

Can anyone recommend how to reduce the file size.

I thought I might be able to crop to just the centre but although the monitor shows just the centre of the video, the shared file size is not diminished.

I dont think that my interpretation of crop is the same as Premiere's (10 in my case)

Any thoughts?

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Filesize = bitrate x duration.

Lowering bitrate is your best option but email is not the way to go.

Filesharing is: Dropbox, WeTransfer etc.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Ann, the video will be shared to a seniors natural history group. NONE of them will have even heard of filesharing, and definitely will not have Dropbox accounts!

Unfortunately, to identify the wildlife I need to keep as much detail as possible where the subject is. So lowering the image quality probably wont work

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Not all seniors are computer illiterate. 😉

All they have to do is download a file (from Wetransfer which posts a link in one's email)

If not , well, I am a bit out of options.

These wildlife images if they have very low movement you could send stills captured from the file.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

this will probably sound weird unless you know about this stuff already. I'll try to explain in nutshell:

Let's say your project is 1080p 16:9 24FPS progressive, square pixels...

Open new project of 720p, same specs.

Import your 1080p stuff ( either the orignal or the exported mp4 )

Now make the video overflow the 720p frame size ( make it 100% )

This will crop the image to the center.

Export and see if file size is small enough.

If not export another smaller size from the 720p project, which might mean going into custom settings on export to make sure it's 16:9, square pixels, 24fps, etc.

???

make sense a little ??

Report · Nov 07, 2022

So Yanna, you believe that Premiere Shares only what can be seen in the monitor pane? Is so, that would be a very easy way of cropping. But unfortunately not true when I try it with v10

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Yanna, for some reason 'Export' is greyed out in the File menu. To be honest, the Adobe manual does not explain the difference between 'Export' and Share.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

for some reason 'Export' is greyed out in the File menu.

By @davids40456265

Make sure the sequence is selected.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Bob, thanks for that but there is only one file in the timeline and it is selected

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Please post a screenshot.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Why not just upload the videos to YouTube or Vimeo (or similar) and then just email the link? There are privacy options if that's a concern. That's been SOP for years. On Vimeo there is even the option to download the video if they want to.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

smrpix, I think that's the option I have to use. I suppose I was assuming that a powerful program like Premiere would allowed you to crop a video down to just one area which would reduce the file size.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

I think maybe this thread is devolving into 2 separate issues.

1) make "crop" because action is in distance and poster only needs to show animals in distance

2) how to export and attach that file ( if small enough) to emails for nice old people to enjoy.''

This first problem hasn't been solved because poster doesn't realize the black bars of full frame along with image that was manually scaled down is also 'shared' , which means the file size will not decrease demonstrably. The poster doesn't seem to know how to create a smaller project size and let the source material overflow the full frame of the smaller project ( hence essentially cropping the image ).

It may take some time to figure out all this stuff but I'm really happy the poster is obviously trying hard and responding quickly to suggestions by fellow users of the program.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Yanna, a good summary.

"1) make "crop" because action is in distance and poster only needs to show animals in distance" sums up what I thought would be simple in Premiere. Interesting quote marks around the word "crop"

Report · Nov 07, 2022

And Yanna your second point;

"2) how to export and attach that file ( if small enough) to emails for nice old people to enjoy.''

"This first problem hasn't been solved because poster doesn't realize the black bars of full frame along with image that was manually scaled down is also 'shared' , which means the file size will not decrease demonstrably." Thats probably true because Photoshop crop removes all the cropped out areas and I assumed that Premiere would too. It appears that I may be misunderstand what "crop" means in Premiere?

Report · Nov 07, 2022

You say "The poster doesn't seem to know how to create a smaller project size and let the source material overflow the full frame of the smaller project ( hence essentially cropping the image )."

Thats exactly correct. I have experimented by creating a 640x480 project and bringing the 1280x720 camera video into the timeline. I have then tried "magnification" on the monitor window to show just the area I want. But when I 'share to computer I still get the full scene generated.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

david, yes this thread got a little complicated. The pixel size information in this post is helpful:

> 640x480 project and bringing the 1280x720 camera video into the timeline

The 640x480 pixel is the action area of the full frame original. That is the right approach. Set the Program Monitor to "fit." That will show you what will be exported. If the "action" is right in the middle of the original, you may be all done. If not, you have to move the original frame so you can see the action.

To do that, select the video clip in the timeline, and go to the Effect Controls panel. Left click on "Motion" and then left click and drag in the Program Monitor to get the content you want.

> "magnification" on the monitor window to show just the area I want.

That only affects what PR is showing you on the screen; not what will be exported. Leaved the Program Monitor magnificaiton set to "fit." To magnify/reduce what will be exported, you set the "Scale" in the Effect Controls. At 100% (the default) you are seeing a 640x480 section of the original 1280 x 720. If you decrease the scale (e.g. 80%), you'll see more of that original. If you want to upscale, you increase to, for example, 120%. But over 100% you are decreasing quality.

To export, first determine what quality you have - export higher quality, even though it may be too big to email. If that quality is not good, then you'll know what email is not going to produce good results and you can work on plan B.

What export format and preset are you using?

Stan

Report · Nov 07, 2022

if you put the 1280 stuff into a 640 project and make sure it's set to 100% you'll get an essentially cropped image. You're right photoshop crop is way different.

Increasing monitor magnification will have no effect on PPro full frame size exports.

Is the result in the 640 project at least a little better in terms of seeing animals closer ? Is the file size low enough to share with email ?

Report · Nov 07, 2022

OK Yanna, I followed your instructions.

Set up a 640x480 project

Imported the nature camera 1600x904 pixel video into the timeline

Monitor window magnification set at 100% showed all the scene

Set monitor window magnification to 400% - showed just the bit I am interested in.

'Shared' to 720 preset and changed output size to 640x480

Result: Generated video file small, shows all the scene; but at 640x480 - so definition poor.

Not really what I was looking for. No evidence that zooming in the monitor window crops the video.

It now beer o'clock here in England so will resume tomorrow afternoon. Thanks everyone for your help so far.

Report · Nov 07, 2022

good luck and thanks for trying to share nature animal stuff with seniors, cause they don't get out much like they used to and love that stuff.

It's been beer thirty in my apt. for 3 hours already, so I have a head start

🙂

Report · Nov 07, 2022

Lingo in Premiere:

full frame

Cropped

Scaled up / zoomed in

Report · Nov 08, 2022

OK folks, by using bits of all the answers I have been given I have managed to make the file size smaller by cropping just part of the video.
What I did was;

create a new project 640x480
import the cameras 1600x900 file (16:9) file
Use edit/video effects/clip
Clip the image to the closest I could guess would be 16:9
Increase magnification to 400% so that the clipped area fills the monitor panel
'Share' the file to a 720 mpeg file but changing the size to 640x480

And bingo! The resulting video file shows just the cropped area and the file size is reduced from 57MB to 3MB no with no apparent loss of definition.

I suspect that I would have achieve much the same result if I had missed out some of the steps. For instance maybe steps 1 and 5, but these were all the steps recommended in several posts so I included them all for luck!

This is how I did it in V10; maybe later versions have made it simpler.

Thanks again everybody.

Report · Nov 08, 2022

good going !

It may help, if you do this in future, to think about it like this:

imagine a photo you have framed on a wall ....and you want to just see the center area.

take an empty frame that is smaller ( same aspect ratio of 16:9) and hold it over the already larger framed photo. Now you just see the center if you "export" the smaller frame contents.

The frames represent the project sizes ( 4k, 1080p, 720p, etc. )

: )

Report · Nov 08, 2022

OK folks, by using bits of all the answers I have been given I have managed to make the file size smaller by cropping just part of the video.
What I did was;

create a new project 640x480
import the cameras 1600x900 file (16:9) file
Use edit/video effects/clip - 'clip' by accident, I meant to use 'crop' but 'clip' worked !??
Clip the image to the closest I could guess would be 16:9
Increase magnification to 400% so that the clipped area fills the monitor panel
'Share' the file to a 720 mpeg file but changing the size to 640x480

And bingo! The resulting video file shows just the cropped area and the file size is reduced from 57MB to 3MB no with no apparent loss of definition.

I suspect that I would have achieve much the same result if I had missed out some of the steps. For instance maybe steps 1 and 5, but these were all the steps recommended in several posts so I included them all for luck!

This is how I did it in V10; maybe later versions have made it simpler.

Thanks again everybody.

Report · Nov 08, 2022

You can skip step 4 and 5.

Use the position properties in the Effect Controls to position the clip into the smaller frame.

Everything that fall outside of the frame wont be used.

Make sure the clip is set to SET to Framesize and not Scale to framesize.

Better yet in the Preferences set it to NONE.