How to Compress & Flip Video

Compressing a video file minimizes the file size while still retaining as much of the video quality as possible. Flipping a video changes the orientation, so that if the video appears sideways or upside down on your screen, it can be re-oriented to the upright position. Both compressing and flipping a video file can be accomplished with the tools provided in some video-editing applications, such as Movie Maker, Windows' native software, and iMovie, which is native to the Mac.

Instructions

Compress in Movie Maker

1. Launch Movie Maker on your computer by going to "Start," "All Programs" and then "Windows Movie Maker." Then, open the video that you want to compress in Movie Maker by clicking "Import Media," finding the file in the window that opens and double-clicking the file.

2. Move the imported video from the "Media" pane down to the timeline. To move the video, click on it, hold down the button on the mouse and drag the clip from the pane to the "Video" track.

3. Go to the "File" menu and select "Save." Click the radio button by "Best fit to file size" and enter the size that you would like to make the file in the box provided. The file compresses, using the best bit rate to retain quality for the file size you entered.

Compress in iMovie

1. Click on the iMovie icon in the Mac dock bar to launch iMovie. Click "Import," find the video you want to compress in the window that opens and double-click the file.

2. Open the "File" menu and choose "Export" from the list of options. Choose "QuickTime" as the file format.

3. Pull down the menu by "Compress Movie for" and choose "Email." The file is compressed to the smallest possible size to allow for easy transfer through e-mail.

Flip in Movie Maker

1. Open Movie Maker from "Start," "All Programs." Click "Import Media," find the video in the window and double-click the file. Drag the imported video clip to the timeline.

2. Click the "Tools" menu. Choose the "Effects" option to display the "Effects" option.

3. Find the "Rotate" options in the "Effects" pane. Drag any of the "Rotate" options from the "Effects" pane to the video in the timeline to flip the video. Options for rotating in Movie Maker include "Rotate 90" to rotate the video clip a 90 degree turn and "Rotate 180" to flip the video over completely.

Flip in iMovie

1. Launch iMovie from the dock bar. Click "Import" and open the video clip you want to flip. Click on the video clip in the "Media" pane and drag it to the timeline.

2. Click on the "Crop" tool on the iMovie toolbar to select it. Rotating options appear on the screen.

3. Use the right arrow to flip the movie 90 degrees to the right. Use the left arrow to flip the movie 90 degrees to the left.

References

• City University of New York: Compressing Video With Windows Movie Maker
• VirginiaTech: Compressing a Video File with iMovie
• iClarified: How to Rotate a Video Clip Using iMovie