Recorded Videos have Large File Sizes
When recording videos there are few different factors that determine how large a video will be. There are ways to also compress these videos so they don't take too much space. We will briefly go over that here.
Aspects of a Large File
File Size (or Filesize) is correlated with 3 major aspects of a video stream. 2 of these are mainly for quality but we'll go over them anyway.
These are settings you find in your camera's settings, not in Shinobi itself. To configure try accessing the web panel for your IP Camera or use the official mobile or desktop app for your camera brand.
| Frame Rate (FPS) | The number of frames per second. Higher framerate means a smoother visual experience. |
| Resolution (Dimensions) | The height and width of the video stream. |
| Bit Rate (or Bitrate) | The amount of data per second. The quality of each frame is directly tied to the Bitrate. A higher bitrate will provide a clearer picture for each frame. Technically a lower bitrate sends you less of the image to make the amount of data per second lower. |
Naturally if you raise either Frame Rate or Resolution to something large you will want to raise the Bit Rate to ensure you get a clear picture.
Summary
Turn the Bitrate down if your files are too large. When raising either FPS or Resolution you need to adjust your bitrate. Don't set it too low or the picture quality will become unacceptable.
See our Optimization guide for suggestions.
Work around the problem with Compression
In some cases modifying the camera's internal settings won't be easy or possible. In this case you can let Shinobi compress these videos for you after they have been recorded.
- Open the Monitor Settings in Shinobi for the Monitor you want this enabled for.
- Enable Compress Completed Videos in your Identity section.
- Press Save.
Learn more about the requirements for the compression feature here.