How to prepare your video file for uploading

This article covers how to prepare your file for upload.

In this article:

• Acceptable file formats
• To compress or not to compress
• Choosing an upload method

Acceptable file formats

ZenVideo supports just about any kind of video file, including these common formats: MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, and FLV. In the rare circumstance that a format is not supported, an Invalid File error is displayed on the video page. All videos uploaded to ZenVideo will be converted to square pixels. Regardless of format, all videos will be displayed at the correct aspect ratio.

ZenVideo does not accept audio files, image files, or other non-video formats, such as MP3, WAV, WMA, JPG, and PNG. Project files such as imovieproject and dvdproj files are also unsupported since these are not video files.

To compress or not to compress

While it’s technically possible to upload an uncompressed video to ZenVideo, in many cases, it isn’t a good idea. Uncompressed files consume more weekly quota and take longer to upload; more importantly, they may not result in significant visual improvement over properly compressed videos.

If you decide to compress your source file prior to upload, we recommend following the guidelines outlined in 'Video and audio compression guidelines'. Check out these compression tutorials for several popular video editing programs.

Choosing an upload method

There are several ways to upload to ZenVideo:

• Using the video upload page.
• Using a supported hosting service (Dropbox, Google Drive, Box). This option is for those who store their videos in the cloud or are looking for a bulk uploading option. 
• Using a mobile app (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) or third-party software integrations (iOS, iMovie, Windows 10, and more). 
• Using a custom-built application. This option is for unique uploading needs, and coding skills are required. Read more at 'ZenVideo Developer resources'.