Guide · Video
Compress videos and game clips offline
To make a video smaller without uploading it, add it to Crunchy (or point it at your whole recordings folder), pick a preset or a resolution, frame rate, codec and speed (or just keep the defaults), and press Crunch. Crunchy re-encodes each video on your own PC, on the graphics card or the processor depending on the speed, and saves a smaller copy in a Crunchy folder in your Downloads folder; the original stays as it was.
01 / What Crunchy does
Smaller videos, on your terms.
Crunchy re-encodes the picture with FFmpeg at the level you pick (Light, Balanced or Maximum) and lets you trade resolution and frame rate for size when you want to.
Pick the resolution
Keep the original, or choose 2160p (4K), 1440p (2K), 1080p (Full HD), 720p (HD), 480p (SD) or 360p. Crunchy only offers sizes up to the video's own, so nothing is ever upscaled.
Cap the frame rate
Keep the original frame rate, or cap it at 60 or 30 fps. The frame rate is only ever lowered, never raised.
H.264, H.265 or AV1
H.264 plays everywhere. H.265, the default, makes much smaller files. AV1 makes the smallest, but is slower without a recent graphics card.
Speed: card or processor
Faster and Fast use the video encoder of your NVIDIA (NVENC), Intel (Quick Sync) or AMD (AMF) graphics card when it works: quick, but bigger files. Fast, the default, uses the card at its best quality setting. Balanced and Best use the processor (x264, x265, SVT-AV1): slower, with much smaller files, Best being the slowest. If the graphics card can't do it, the processor takes over.
Audio and HDR kept
Every audio track stays, so NVIDIA recordings keep both the game and the microphone track. HDR video keeps its colours. MKV files stay MKV; other videos are saved as MP4.
Never bigger
If a video doesn't get smaller, Crunchy keeps it as it is and marks it Already optimized. Your originals stay untouched unless you choose Replace originals.
Supported video formats
- MP4
.mp4 - MOV
.mov - MKV
.mkv - WebM
.webm - AVI
.avi - WMV
.wmv - FLV
.flv - TS
.ts .mts .m2ts - 3GP
.3gp - MPEG
.mpg .mpeg - M4V
.m4v
Videos wait in line, one at a time on the graphics card and one at a time on the processor, while documents and images keep compressing alongside.
02 / Pick your settings
Which settings to use for a video.
- Keep the defaults (original resolution and frame rate, H.265, Balanced level, Fast speed) for a quick, good everyday result.
- Faster when you need it as quickly as possible and bigger files are fine; Balanced or Best when you can wait for much smaller files.
- 1080p or 720p when a clip only has to look good on a phone or in a chat, and a 30 fps cap when smooth motion doesn't matter.
- H.264 when the video has to play on old devices too.
- AV1 or Maximum when space matters most; Light for videos you want to keep near-transparent.
Or start from a preset
- Discord: every video under 10 MB, 720p, 30 fps, H.264, so it plays right in the chat.
- Email: every video under 25 MB, 720p, H.264.
- Share: 1080p, H.264, Balanced level and speed, so it plays on every phone, TV and website.
- Archive: original resolution and frame rate, H.265, Light, Best speed: visually lossless.
- Smallest: 720p, 30 fps, AV1, Maximum, Best speed.
Change any option and the preset switches back to Custom. The Videos page remembers your custom compression choices across batches and app restarts, separately from Settings. Reset to default appears below the custom-options hint and restores your latest Settings defaults.
Need it under a size limit?
Switch on Target size and type the limit, for example 25 MB for email. For videos, Crunchy works out the bitrate that fits, with the frame rate and codec you picked, in at most three encodes.
Got a multi-gigabyte game recording and a much smaller goal, like 100 MB? When that goal would starve the picture, Crunchy picks a lower resolution by itself (2160p, 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 540p, 480p or 360p, never above the one you chose) so the result stays as sharp as that size allows. A target never lowers the frame rate by itself, and if even the smallest picture can't reach the goal, the smallest result is kept and marked over target.
Then drag the before/after slider: for a video it shows a frame from the original and from the compressed copy.
03 / Game recordings
Your clips folder, sorted by game.
NVIDIA ShadowPlay / the NVIDIA App, Steam and OBS save clips in a folder like Videos with a sub-folder per game. Crunchy understands that layout.
- Open your recordings folder on the Videos page (Ctrl+Shift+R). Crunchy lists every video in it, grouped by game.
- Tick whole games or single clips. Clips Crunchy already compressed are recognized, so you don't do them twice.
- Same folders in the output. Each game keeps its own folder inside the Crunchy folder in your Downloads folder, or wherever you chose to save.
- Or let it watch. Make the folder a watch folder and new recordings, even in a new game's folder, are compressed automatically while Crunchy is open.
Folders in, same folders out
Videos\Rainbow Six Siege\clip.mp4
Videos\Minecraft\clip.mp4
↓
Downloads\Crunchy\Videos\Rainbow Six Siege\clip.mp4
Downloads\Crunchy\Videos\Minecraft\clip.mp4Example layout. A .mov clip comes out as .mp4, and the original is never overwritten.
04 / How to
Compress a video in three steps.
Add the videos
Drag clips or a folder onto Crunchy, right-click in Explorer and choose Compress with Crunchy, or open your recordings folder and tick the games you want. Videos always land on the Videos page, even when you drop them with other files.
Choose how small
Pick a preset, or set a resolution, frame rate cap, codec and speed yourself. Switch on Target size if the video has to fit a limit.
Crunch
Press Crunch and watch the progress per video. Compare a frame before and after, then share the smaller copy from your Crunchy folder in Downloads.
crunchy -R 1080p -f 30 "C:\Users\me\Videos\Rainbow Six Siege"crunchy -c h264 -t 25MB clip.mp4crunchy -s balanced -R 1080p "C:\Users\me\Videos\War Thunder"-s takes faster, fast, balanced or best; the default is fast. Add --cpu to never use the graphics card, at any speed. crunchy --deps shows the installed FFmpeg and whether an update is available.
Powered by FFmpeg. Video compression uses FFmpeg, a free, open-source video toolkit. After installing, the setup offers to download it in the background (about 46 MB), and Crunchy keeps it up to date after asking you. Said no? Crunchy offers it again when you add a video. About the video and audio tools.
FAQ
Common questions.
More answers in the main FAQ.
Which resolution and codec should I pick in Crunchy?
Crunchy's defaults are a good start: the original resolution and frame rate with H.265, which makes much smaller files than H.264. Or pick a preset on the Videos page and let it set everything. Pick 1080p or 720p when the video only has to look good on a phone or in a chat, and a 30 fps cap when smooth motion doesn't matter. Choose H.264 when the video must play everywhere, including old devices, and AV1 for the smallest files; AV1 is slower without a recent graphics card. Crunchy only offers resolutions up to the video's own, so it never upscales.
Does Crunchy use my graphics card to compress videos?
That depends on the Speed you pick. Faster and Fast use the video encoder of NVIDIA (NVENC), Intel (Quick Sync) or AMD (AMF) graphics when one works for the chosen codec, which is quick but makes bigger files; Fast, the default, uses it at its best quality setting. Balanced and Best use the processor (x264, x265 or SVT-AV1), which is slower and makes much smaller files. If a graphics card encoder doesn't work, Crunchy falls back to the processor automatically. On the command line, -s sets the speed and --cpu never uses the graphics card, at any speed.
What do Crunchy's video presets do?
On the Videos page, a preset sets the resolution, frame rate, codec and speed, and some also the level and a target size. Discord fits every video under 10 MB at 720p, 30 fps, H.264. Email fits 25 MB at 720p, H.264. Share is 1080p, H.264, Balanced level and speed, which plays everywhere. Archive keeps the original resolution and frame rate in H.265 on Light with the Best speed, for visually lossless archiving. Smallest is 720p, 30 fps, AV1, Maximum, Best speed. Changing any option switches back to Custom.
Can Crunchy bring a multi-gigabyte game recording down to, say, 100 MB?
Yes, as far as the video allows. Set a Target size such as 100 MB. Crunchy works out the bitrate that fits and, when that would starve the picture at the resolution you chose, steps down to a lower resolution by itself (as low as 360p, never above your choice), so the result stays as sharp as that size allows. The frame rate is not lowered by a target. If even the smallest picture can't reach the size, Crunchy keeps its smallest result and marks it over target.
Will Crunchy keep my video's audio tracks and HDR colours?
Yes. Crunchy keeps every audio track, so NVIDIA recordings with a separate game and microphone track keep both. HDR video keeps its colours; if you picked H.264 for an HDR clip, Crunchy saves it as H.265 instead so the colours survive. MKV files stay MKV, and other videos are saved as MP4.
Ready to crunch?
Free for Windows 10 & 11. No uploads, no account, no size limits.