How to Compress a MOV File: The Ultimate Guide

MOV files are one of the most common file types you’ll come across when working with videos, particularly if you are working with Apple products. When creating and sharing MOV files you might find that the size is often quite large, particularly when you’re dealing with long videos. So how can you reduce the size of a MOV file into something more manageable? With Pinnacle Studio you can compress a MOV file to reduce the file size.

What is a MOV file?

A MOV file is an Apple Quicktime Movie that is excellent for storing high quality video. It’s a fairly uncompressed video type that retains a lot of data, ideal for showcasing the best version of a video possible. Although it was created by Apple for use with Quicktime, it has been universally adopted as one of the most common video file types although it’s not necessarily supported by every platform.

Typically, a video editor would choose to render a video as a MOV rather than an MP4 or something more compressed when they want to keep the video as high quality as possible. But large files can be slow to work with, and what can you do if you receive a MOV that’s simply too big to share, and quality isn’t as important as getting it sent somewhere quickly? That’s when compressing a file type comes in.

The benefits of compressing a MOV file

Compressing a MOV into a much smaller file is great for when you don’t need to prioritize video quality. MOV files can be huge, particularly when the video is long, so if you need to transfer it to a client or a colleague quickly or just want it to play a bit easier on your system, then compressing it will create a smaller file that’s much more manageable to work with.

The quality won’t be as high, but the file will be smaller, faster, quicker to transfer, and take up much less space.

How to compress a MOV file

It’s easy to compress a MOV file within Pinnacle Studio, and all it takes is just a few clicks to export the project as a new file.

  1. To start with, open up Pinnacle Studio.
  2. Import your MOV file into Pinnacle Studio by selecting the file in the Import screen.
  3. Drag the video onto the timeline in the video layer.
  4. Navigate to the Export screen.
  5. Select MOV from the Extension tab.
  6. Next to Preset you should be presented with a drop-down menu. Here, Pinnacle Studio provides you with a list of premade settings that you can choose from. Explore the options and choose a smaller file size such as 720p to compress your MOV file.
  7. If you want to create your own custom settings, hit the Edit icon and adjust the settings accordingly. Reducing the size and the bitrate will reduce the size of the file.
  8. Select the destination of where you want your new file to end up.
  9. Finally, simply hit Start Export to begin compressing the file.

This will create a new, smaller, compressed file in your chosen location.

Compress MOV files to reduce their size

MOV files are incredible Apple-created file types for storing high quality video files, but when quality isn’t the highest priority they can be cumbersome. If you want to make a MOV file smaller and easier to store and transfer, compressing it within video editing software like Pinnacle Studio is the best way to create a lower quality, but much more manageable video file.

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