Optimising videos for eStream – using Handbrake

Before you begin

This article is intended to provide ways of compressing or optimising video files to make them smaller and easier to upload to eStream, which should help address a number of issues that arise when trying to post content to eStream. This guide should be used if you’ve already got a video (e.g. from Zoom, on your computer, etc) that you’re trying to upload and are experiencing difficulty.

Your internet upload speed is key to determining how long a file will take to upload. We would always recommend running a speed test before attempting your first upload from a new location and then possibly transcoding the file as described below depending on the Upload speed. If possible, use wired connection to the internet when uploading files, as these tend to be more consistent in their speeds.

One very reliable speed test is available at https://www.speedtest.net/

Once you know your upload speed, you can run a quick calculation at https://downloadtime.org/ to see how long it will take to upload a file.

We would strongly recommend downloading and installing the free Handbrake application.

Installing Handbrake

Handbrake is free, and works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is available to download from https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php.

Once you have downloaded the installer:

• Windows: Open it and follow the onscreen instructions to install.
• Mac: Open the dmg file and drag the Handbrake icon to your Applications folder.

You should then be able to launch Handbrake via:

• Windows: Start Menu -> All Apps -> Handbrake
• Mac: Launchpad -> Handbrake (or via the Applications folder in Finder)

Using Handbrake

Step 1: Open the Handbrake application, and select Open Source

Step 2: Browse to the folder where the file you’d like to optimise is, select the file and click Open

Step 3: You should then see the file load into Handbrake, and a preview thumbnail of the file appears.

Step 4: Select the Presets button from the Handbrake’s top toolbar

Step 5: Select the appropriate preset for your internet upload speed:

• If your upload speed is greater than 5mbps: use Fast 720p30 setting
• If your upload speed is less than 5mbps: use the Fast 480p30 setting

Step 6: Once selected, you should see that the preview screen has changed a little and the preset you selected should be visible in the preset area of the preview window

Step 7: You should also check a couple of other things:

In the Summary tab:

• Format: MP4 File
• Align A/V Start: Checked

Step 8: At the bottom of the window, you can specify what you’d like your optimised file to be called, as well as specifying the folder in to which it will be saved.

Step 9: When you are ready to start optimising the file, press the Start button.

Step 10: You should see a progress bar at the bottom of the Handbrake window indicating the encode’s progress, and you will be notified when the process has been completed.