How to send videos without losing quality

Why videos are so large

The size of a video depends mainly on resolution, frame rate and bitrate. A smartphone records 300 to 400 MB per minute in 4K, and a camera in professional mode considerably more. A finished cut for a presentation is smaller, but it too is often several hundred megabytes. Raw footage for editing, meaning files straight from the camera, is usually the largest.

For sending, this means that even a short clip no longer fits in an email. With several clips or a whole day of shooting, you quickly reach double-digit gigabytes.

What happens when you send via messengers and social networks

Many messengers and platforms accept large videos, but they shrink them before sending. They scale the resolution down, lower the bitrate and sometimes remove metadata such as recording date or location. For a quick greeting that is fine. For a client, an agency, editing or archiving it is a problem: the video looks blurry, colors change, and the original file no longer exists at the recipient.

Anyone who passes on videos professionally should therefore always send the original file and not the version an app makes from it.

Send videos by link in original quality

With a file transfer service you upload the video file unchanged. The recipient gets a link and downloads, byte for byte, the same file you uploaded. Nothing is converted and nothing is shrunk.

• Drag the video files or the whole project folder into the upload field at fairsend.de.
• Enter the recipient's email address or create a link.
• Your browser encrypts the files and uploads them, even several gigabytes.
• The recipient downloads the original files. You see when that happened.

On the free plan, files up to 5 GB are possible, on the paid plans up to 100 GB per file. That is enough even for long recordings in high resolution.

You do not need to pack the videos into an archive beforehand. Simply drag in the whole folder, and the folder structure is preserved. This way the recipient finds raw footage, audio and the preview version where you put them.

Formats and codecs: what to check before sending

Whether the recipient can play a video does not depend on the way it is sent, but on the format. A few tips help avoid follow-up questions:

• MP4 with the H.264 codec plays on almost all devices and programs. For viewing at the client, this is the safest choice.
• H.265 (HEVC) saves a lot of space but is not supported everywhere. Older computers then show no picture.
• MOV files from cameras and smartphones often contain professional codecs such as ProRes. They are suited to editing, not to quick viewing.
• For editing, always send the raw footage, and for approval an additional, smaller preview version.

If you are unsure, send both in one transfer: the original and an MP4 version for viewing. The recipient chooses what they need.

Completing long uploads reliably

With large video files, the upload speed of your connection decides how long sending takes. On many connections it is considerably lower than the download speed. Ten gigabytes can take an hour or longer.

Fairsend uploads files in chunks and over several connections at the same time. If the connection drops briefly, the upload continues afterwards at the same point. Keep the browser window open and prevent the computer from going to sleep. On a smartphone, it helps to keep the display on.

Rights and confidentiality

Videos often show people, rooms or unreleased products. Not everyone should see them. Do not send such recordings through public links that can be passed on anywhere. Instead, limit the number of downloads, set a short period and, if needed, protect the transfer with a password. You give the recipient the password by another route.

With Fairsend, videos are encrypted in the browser like all files before they are uploaded, and are deleted automatically when the period ends. If you regularly work for the same clients, the download page shows your logo and your colors on the plans with custom branding.

Videos for clients and approvals

Anyone who produces videos professionally usually sends them to clients for approval. Besides quality, the impression matters here. On the plans with custom branding, the client sees your logo and your colors on the download page, not those of a third-party service. A short message in the transfer explains which version is which.

For several contacts at the client, you enter several recipients. You then see for each one individually whether they have collected the files, and you receive a notification on download. This way you know when to expect feedback and do not have to ask whether the link arrived.

Collecting videos from clients

Often it works the other way around: a client, a colleague or a participant is supposed to send you recordings. Instead of hoping for messenger versions, send them an upload link. They upload the original files directly from the browser to you, encrypted and without an account of their own. How this works is described in the guide on requesting files.

In short

• Messengers and social networks shrink videos, and email rejects them because of their size.
• By link, the original file arrives at the recipient unchanged.
• MP4 with H.264 is the most compatible format for viewing, and for editing the raw footage counts.
• For confidential recordings: short period, few downloads, password by a separate route.