Resize video: settings and best results

What does Resize video do?

Resize video changes the picture size of your videos on your own computer, for example from 4K down to 1080p, or to the exact size a platform asks for. In the app the tool is called Resize Video.

You set a width and height in pixels and choose how the picture fits that size. Resize Video gives back one MP4 file for each video, with the same name, sound, length and frame rate.

01Step 1: Add your videos

Click Tools in the sidebar, open the Video tab and click Resize Video in the Edit section. You can also type "resize" in the search box at the top.

Drop your videos on the queue, or click it to pick files. Resize Video takes MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, M4V, MPG, MPEG, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP and WMV files. Other files are listed under Not applicable and are skipped. Use Add more to add files later.

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1. 1Resize mode
2. 2Width (px)
3. 3Presets
4. 4Run resize

04Step 4: Run, then check the result

Check where the files will go: Default output folder saves them in your workspace’s output folder, in a resize folder with a subfolder for today’s date, such as 10-15. Click Change to pick another folder for this run. Then click Run resize.

When the run ends, each video shows Done with its new file size. Click View on a file to compare the Original and the Output, and Open folder to go to the new files. See See and compare your results and Where your files are saved.

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1. 1Done
2. 2View
3. 3Saved to
4. 4Open folder

Every setting, and when to change it

Resize mode

Fit keeps the whole picture inside your size. Fill covers your size and trims the edges. Stretch forces the exact size and can distort.

• RangeFit, Fill, Stretch
• DefaultFit

Width (px)

The target width in pixels. Odd numbers are rounded down to even.

• Range2 to 7680
• Default1280

Height (px)

The target height in pixels. Odd numbers are rounded down to even.

• Range2 to 7680
• Default720

Presets

Fill in both numbers for a common wide size: 1920 × 1080, 1280 × 720 or 854 × 480.

• Range1080p, 720p, 480p
• Default720p

How do I get the best results?

• Use Fit to shrink footage for the web or a phone. Nothing is cut off, and the shape stays right.
• Use Fill for an exact frame, such as 1080 × 1080 for a square post. Check that nothing important sits near the edges, since they are trimmed. For full control over which part stays, use Crop Video instead.
• Avoid scaling up. A 720p clip made 1080p is bigger but not sharper.
• Compress afterwards if size matters. Resize Video saves at the highest quality, so a resized file can be larger than you expect. Run the results through Video Compress to make them smaller.

Why is the resized file bigger?

• It is saved at the highest quality. Resize Video favors a clean picture over a small file. When the original was strongly compressed, as phone and web videos often are, the new file can be larger even at a smaller size.
• You scaled it up. More pixels make a larger file.
• The fix: run the resized videos through Video Compress.

Limits

• Resize Video takes MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, M4V, MPG, MPEG, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP and WMV files.
• It always saves an MP4. To get another format, use Video Convert afterwards.
• The MP4 uses H.264 when Hangar finds video encoding hardware: the encoder built into a Mac, or NVIDIA, Intel or AMD graphics on Windows. Without it, the MP4 uses AV1, which can take longer to save and may not play on older devices.
• Width and height go from 2 to 7680 pixels, in even numbers.
• The same size applies to every video in the run.
• Add video files, not folders.
• Everything runs on your computer. Nothing is uploaded.

Use Resize Video in a chain

Resize is available as a step in chains, under the Video steps, with the same Resize mode, Width, Height and presets as the tool.

A useful pair is Resize, then Compress: the first sets the size, the second makes the file small. Because Resize always saves MP4, put a Convert step after it if you need another format. To run the same chain on new files each week, see Run a chain on many files.