Compress multiple videos for mobile - Snippet

Shell

4 hr. ago

Batch compress MP4 videos into smaller mobile-friendly HEVC files with preserved audio.

batch

compression

ffmpeg

video

# Input file: "$f"
# Duration limit: first 7 seconds (-to 7)
# Dynamic scale filter: sets max width/height to 480 while keeping aspect ratio (handles  landscape & portrait)
# Video codec: x265 (HEVC)
# CRF: 28 (constant rate factor quality setting)
# Tag: hvc1 FourCC flag for native macOS / QuickTime / iOS compatibility
# Audio: copy stream directly without re-encoding
# Output file: replaces .mp4 extension with _small.mp4
for f in *.mp4; do
  ffmpeg -i "$f" -to 7 -vf "scale='if(gt(iw,ih),480,-2)':'if(gt(iw,ih),-2,480)'" -c:v libx265 -crf 28 -tag:v hvc1 -c:a copy "${f%.mp4}_small.mp4"
done