Choosing a camera

If you’re recording new footage, we suggest you use an app that records super-low-bitrate video on your phone, like:

• 0.3mp Camera by Dmitry Shatilov, for iOS and Android
• Low Camera-Low Resolution by Shuya Komiya, for iOS
• LOWER - 0.02 - 0.3MP Camera by Vweeter Limited, for Android
• Apricamera 100Kb, for Android
• These will limit the amount of compression you need.

Or, set the resolution on your camera or phone as low as it can go

Planning your shot

Since a lot of detail is lost in compression, we like to make aesthetic decisions that anticipate compression. You can make sure that your shot composition is bold and interesting, with a good balance of brights and darks. Compression can make colors muddy, so you might include one or two colors that pop.

Animating

The Small File Media Festival features a lot of great-looking animated movies! Many animation techniques are low in bitrate, like hand-drawn animation, 2D vector animation, and typography animation.

Folks who do 3D animation will appreciate the tips further down from Ghazal Majidi; they might not reduce your bitrate to small-file size, but they will be lighter on your hard disk.

Obsolete technologies

We encourage the use of obsolete technologies as an avenue for low-energy compression. Upwards of 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste is generated globally each year and that number is only going to climb higher in the face of planned obsolescence. Old cell phones, webcams, mini-dv video cameras, scanners and and point-and-shoot cameras are a great place to start.

Not a lens-based media artist? Great! We encourage the submission of any moving image that can be displayed on a screen, from GIF art to demoscene. Interested in submitting something and don’t know where it fits in? Email us at [email protected] and we will let you know.

Shoot for small files

Certain techniques are more suited for small file clarity. Try techniques that reduce the amount of information captured, this will lead to less compression further down the road. Examples of this are recording and editing in mono, using minimal camera movements or a tripod to capture a still shot (static backgrounds result in the overlap of data from frame to frame) and using a shallow depth of field.

When filming a small-file movie, the use of a tripod makes it easier to capture a static background. When there are less dynamic elements on screen your video will compress into a smaller file as there is less data shared across frames. If using actors and performers, ask your performer to move slowly and smoothly.

Introduction

Handbrake is a front-end to FFmpeg and is a bit simpler. Here is how we converted a 50 second 90mb .mov file to a 1.2 MB .mp4

First, download and install Handbrake. It’s free.

Next, open Handbrake and drag a movie file into it. A preview of the video should show up and it should default to the SUMMARY tab. We recommend compressing it as an .mp4 file but feel free to explore other formats!

2) Dimensions

First, we will move to the DIMENSIONS section and change the video quality from 1080p HD to a lower 480p standard definition. To do this, just adjust the RESOLUTION LIMIT to 480p and the dimensions will adjust automatically. If you are compressing a vertical (or portrait) video, set the resolution limit to "None" and set the scaling to 854X480 (this is for a vertical format, 9:16 standard definition video) or to your desired dimensions.

4) Audio Compression

Lastly, we need to compress the audio. Mixing the sound down to "Mono" reduces the audio embedded in the video by half. We can also reduce the file size by choosing an MP3 codec and by setting the BITRATE to 32kbps.

1) Getting started with Handbrake

Download and install Handbrake. It’s free.

Next, open Handbrake and drag a movie file into it. A preview of the video should show up and it should default to the SUMMARY tab. We recommend compressing it as an .mp4 file but feel free to explore other formats!

3) Bitrate and compression values

Lastly, we need to compress the audio. Mixing the sound down to "Mono" reduces the audio embedded in the video by half. We can also reduce the file size by choosing an MP3 codec and by setting the BITRATE to 32kbps.

5) Export

Okay, however you got here, now you are ready to get your bitrate down to 1.44 or less! To limit bitrate we use video compression to reduce the amount of data needed to represent the content of the media file. In many cases video compression isn’t very noticeable, but with Small-File Ecomedia we reduce the bitrate to about 1-3% of the bitrate of standard video.

Some artists work to retain image quality, and we have tips to help you with that. Other artists are interested in compression aesthetic, including pixelation, distortion, grain and dithering. These qualities are coveted by small-file enthusiasts and are commonplace in datamoshing, glitch art and demoscene.

There are many readily available cross-platform and free video compression tools for desktop devices, including Handbrake, Any Video Converter, FFmpeg, and AVIDMUX.

Take advantage of flexible timelines

Render farms (networks of high-powered machines working in parallel) are widely used to shorten production time. But they consume enormous amounts of electricity. If you’re not under a tight deadline, rendering locally on your own machine is a much more sustainable approach. Given enough time, you can avoid the environmental cost of render farms and reduce hardware strain, extending the life of your GPU or CPU. In short, flexible timelines make sustainable rendering possible.

Bake simulations and lighting

Simulations like cloth, water, or particles are computationally expensive when calculated dynamically. The same goes for advanced lighting techniques such as ray tracing and global illumination. “Baking” these elements, thereby pre-calculating them and storing the results in a cache, can dramatically reduce the load during the final render. While global illumination can add beauty and realism, it also consumes a lot of energy. Depending on the visual style you're going for, baked lighting or simpler lighting setups might be sufficient and far more efficient.

Energy-efficient render tools

Not all render engines are created equal. GPU-based rendering engines tend to be faster and more energy-efficient than CPU-based alternatives. Choosing the right software setup for your machine can make a big difference. Additionally, some compression and editing tools, such as Wondershare Filmora, now include generative AI features, which come with their own hidden carbon costs both during training and while in use. Be mindful of the tools you use and avoid unnecessary AI-driven features when simpler alternatives exist.

Strategic aesthetics and formats

Some animation styles and effects are simply more energy-hungry than others. CPU-based effects like 3D fractals are extremely time-consuming to render. Likewise, pushing ultra-high resolutions, high frame rates, and complex simulations often results in negligible visual benefit compared to their cost in energy. Whenever possible, let the content and context guide your choices. Sustainable rendering doesn’t mean compromising your vision, it means making intentional decisions that balance visual impact with environmental awareness.

Lower polygon counts

The more polygons in your 3D models, the longer your computer needs to calculate each frame. While hyper-realistic animations often rely on high-poly models, you can often achieve similar results with low-poly meshes and detailed textures or maps—such as normal, displacement, and bump maps. In game engines and stylized animations, a deliberate “low-poly” aesthetic not only eases the hardware load but can also be an intentional creative decision. Reducing geometry where it won’t be noticed is one of the most effective ways to cut down render time.

Only render what is needed

Any geometry, effects, or animations outside the camera’s field of view still require processing unless they’re hidden or disabled. Hiding unseen elements is a simple but powerful step in optimizing your scene. Similarly, avoid using heavy motion blur unless it serves a specific purpose. Motion blur can greatly increase render times, especially for long-duration scenes. Being selective about what’s active in your scene helps reduce both processing time and energy consumption.

Smarter codecs and software

The choice of codec has a big impact on final file size and playback efficiency. H.264 is a common and relatively efficient codec, but H.265 (HEVC) provides even better compression at comparable quality. Tools like Adobe Media Encoder (especially when paired with After Effects or Premiere) offer a wide range of rendering and compression options. Handbrake is another solid open-source option. Remember: lower resolutions, reduced frame rates, and shorter durations all contribute to more sustainable outputs.

Patrick Düren's High Quality Compression Guide

Patrick Düren of Apron Films in Berlin handled the expert compression of Dave Lojek’s films, including Do Kwan Tae (SFMF 2021).S

tarting with uncompressed master files, he used the encoding software Hybrid on a 2012 Linux laptop. The process involved HEVC compression, a DivX encoder, reducing resolution to one-quarter of the original, and applying multiple audio and video filters to reduce artifacts and preserve quality.

Each film was compressed in approximately one hour after significant testing and fine-tuning. The resulting files, available as .mp4 and .mkv containers, are impressively small.

We tested playback across Windows 7, Windows 10, and Linux using VLC and MPC-BE, as well as on a modern Samsung smartphone. While the files perform well locally, they may not stream smoothly on platforms like Vimeo or YouTube.

Standard resolutions used were 640×360px for 16:9 films and 640×264px for 2.4:1 cinemascope. The frame rate is 25fps, standard in Europe.

For best results during presentations or screenings, we recommend using the MPC-BE media player.

Using Any Video Converter

Any Video Converter is another program with a free option that also allows you to compress a video into a super small size. These steps enabled us to take the same video file as above and compress it to 1mb per minute. Any Video Converter is one of the best programs for keeping image quality while reducing CPU workload.

First, drag and drop the video you wish to compress into the task window and under profile and select customized AVI Video.

Next, click on the AVI icon to change the video compression settings.

The settings should be as follows:

VIDEO
Codec: x264
FrameRate: 15
Bitrate: 64
Size: 1280x720

AUDIO
Codec: MP3
SampleRate: 44100
Bitrate: 64
Channel: 2

Once the settings are correct click CONVERT NOW and your video will be compressed to a Super Small File Size. If your video isn’t shrinking properly try reducing the dimensions of the image even further.

Because we are doing strange things to video files they may not open in all video players. We found that VLC Player is able to play most video formats.

Video Compression

To limit these file sizes we use Video Compression to reduce the amount of data needed to represent the content of the media file. In many cases video compression isn’t very noticeable, but with Small-File Ecomedia we reduce the image and audio quality of an average video file to about 90% that of an HD video file streamed on any major platform.

While much fidelity is lost, this opens media up to many aesthetic directions, including pixelation, distortion, grain and dithering. These qualities are coveted by small-file enthusiasts and are commonplace in datamoshing, glitch art and within the demoscene.

There are many free tools available to compress video to the Small-File Ecomedia standard including Handbrake, Any Video Converter, AVIDMUX and FFMPEG. Some small file creators use these applications to reveal the aetheric possibilities of lo-fi media, manipulating video through pixelation, dithering, distortion, and intentional glitching. Others attempt to retain the highest quality possible within the constraints of Small-File Ecomedia.

Demoscene

We are encourage the use of obsolete technologies as an avenue for low-energy compression. Upwards of 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste is generated globally each year and that number is only going to climb higher in the face of planned obsolescence. Old cell phones, webcams, mini-dv video cameras, scanners and and point-and-shoot cameras are a great place to start.

Datamoshing

Refers to the process of manipulating the data of media files (including images) in order to achieve visual effects when the file is decoded. The process of datamoshing can often include the removal of data, which can create interesting effects while lowering file size, especially when combined with other compression techniques. Basic experimental datamoshing can be done by simply opening an image file with a text editor and manipulating the text, or similarly, manipulating an image with an audio editor like Audacity. The full breadth of datamoshing techniques can be explored in online communities, including resources like datamoshing.com.