Resize GoPro 4K Video: 6 Methods to Reduce GoPro Footage File Size Without Quality Loss

GoPro HERO camera will deliver stunning video footages if we set the recording resolution to 4K. But what follows is the unreasonably huge file size. For example, recording a 60-second 4K@30fps video with GoPro HERO4 will occupy approximately 493MB of memory. Although GoPro HERO6 Black uses more advanced HEVC format to encode 4K, the file still remains big. When we shoot a 1-minute 4K@60fps video, it eats about 529MB memory when ProTune is off, and 643MB with ProTune turned on. In addition to taking up too much space, big file will result in choppy playback and edit, uploading time to increase, and failure to send video to WhatsApp, Snapchat, Email and other programs which have strict limitations on file size and length.

To help you solve uploading, playback, editing, and storage problems caused by bulky 4K video files, next we will explain how to resize GoPro 4K video without quality loss. This is an exclusive solution guide on compressing GoPro 4K videos on Windows and Mac computer.

In this article, we will focus on the following things. You may jump straight to your most interested part:

How to Resize GoPro 4K Videos and Maximally Preserve Original Quality

As said above, VideoProc comes with many great features to resize GoPro 4K videos. It allows users to cut off unwanted parts to shorten video length, split a video into parts to fit for short file-sharing platforms, convert GoPro H.264 to HEVC/H.265 to shrink file without compromise of quality, and tweak video audio parameters (resolution, bit rate, frame rate) to compress GoPro video, etc. It is the strongest and fastest video processing software owing to the flawless support for any UHD 4K and even 8K videos, the highest level hardware acceleration technology, and High Quality Engine.

Now we'll show you six methods to resize GoPro 4K videos with VideoProc while preserving original quality maximally. You can choose any method below to process GoPro video compression. Click the proper download button below if you have not downloaded the setup file. Our operation below is based on Windows version. The procedure on Mac follows the similar rule.

Method 1: Re-encode GoPro video

To reduce power consumption, GoPro applies a fast yet inefficient algorithm for video compression and encoding. For this reason, the size of GoPro video is extremely large. Luckily, we will see a significant reduction in file size and no quality loss if we re-encode GoPro video using VideoProc which is built with an advanced compression algorithm. Below are our test results. Re-encoding is processed without changing all the original parameter settings.

Well, how to re-encode GoPro video without quality loss?

Step 1. Download and install VideoProc, Open VideoProc and you will see four options - Video, DVD, Downloader and Recorder. To re-encode video, you should select "Video".
 Download VideoProc to Windows |  Download VideoProc to Mac

Method 2: Transcode H.264 to highly compressed HEVC

If you use an old GoPro model, HERO 5 for example, your 4K video is encoded with H.264. By converting H.264 to H.265 (aka. HEVC), the file size will be reduced by 50% or more while the quality won't be impacted at all. If you don't know which format your GoPro 4K footage is, you can check it through VideoProc. Load your footage into VideoProc and you'll see the video codec and audio codec under the title. If it is H.264, now follow the guide below to convert it to more advanced HEVC.

Step 1. Open VideoProc and then you should select "Video".
 Download VideoProc to Windows |  Download VideoProc to Mac

Method 3: Compress 4K to 1080p

Theoretically, the quality will be degraded after downscaling from 4K to 1080p. However, you won't notice any quality loss when you play the compressed file on 1080p TV or mobile devices.

Step 1. Start up VideoProc and choose "Video".
 Download VideoProc to Windows |  Download VideoProc to Mac

Method 4: Cut off unwanted clips to reduce GoPro video length

When we just cut off extra clips while keeping original parameters, the original quality will be 100% preserved.

Step 1. Launch VideoProc and click "Video" button on the main window.
 Download VideoProc to Windows |  Download VideoProc to Mac

Method 5: Tweak video audio parameters

This is also a useful way to resize GoPro 4K video. After loading target footage, simply click "Option" button and then you'll get access to the panel where you can adjust bit rate, frame rate, GOP and other parameters.

 Download VideoProc to Windows |  Download VideoProc to Mac

1. Lower bit rate

Bit rate is an important factor that affects video quality and file size. In theory, the higher the bit rate, the better the video quality and the larger the file size. However, when the bit rate reaches a critical point, our eyes will no longer notice enhancement of quality, but only increase of file size. Therefore, we can choose a relatively low bit rate to reduce the file size of GoPro 4K video.

To decrease bit rate:

- Locate "Bit Rate" and choose "Manual" from its dropdown menu.

- Choose "ABR" and then you can change the "Target Bit Rate". For example, assume that you want to upload a GoPro 4K 30fps video to YouTube, you can set the bit rate to 35000 kbps.

2. Reduce frame rate

Frame rate can also impact file size and fluidity of a video. You're suggested to choose a high frame rate when you need to record sports videos. However, it is not necessary to set too high to record a video that isn't full of action scenes. So, change your GoPro 4K 60/50fps to 30fps when necessary. To lower frame rate, tap "Option", locate "Frame Rate (FPS)", and then choose "30".

3. Increase the value of GOP

GOP, short for group of pictures, is comprised of I-, B-, and P-frames. Assume that the GOP is 250, there will be 1 I-frame and 249 B- and P-frames. When we increase GOP to 500, I-frame is still 1 and B- and P-frames increase to 499. The size of 1 I-frame is far larger than that of 249 B- and P-frames. So, when we increase the value of GOP, the number of I-frames in a video will be decreased, thus reducing the file size. Click "Option", find "GOP", and now enter a desired GOP value.

4. Uncheck Force Copy

After clicking "Option" and then you'll find "Force Copy" under Audio Codec Options. When you transcode your GoPro 4K video with "Auto Copy" selected and "Force Copy" disabled, it will transcode the audio only and deliver a smaller file.

5. Remove audio track

If audio track doesn't mean much to you, you can remove the audio track off your GoPro 4K video to reduce the file size. Now, let me show you how to delete the audio track. Click audio track info in the pending file and uncheck it. Hit "RUN" and you will get a new file without audio. Additional tip: how to fix GoPro video audio out-of-sync issue

Method 6: Split a video into several small parts

Splitting is another workaround if you don't want to compress GoPro video by converting format, downscaling resolution, tweaking parameters or other methods we introduced above. After splitting, you will get some smaller video clips. Then you can send those files at different times to your friend or YouTube and the like.

Step 1. Start up VideoProc if you have already installed it on your computer. Next, choose "Video".
 Download VideoProc to Windows |  Download VideoProc to Mac

Now, specify how many segments you want to split your video into, and how long each segment is. Click "Done" after you finish settings.

As you can see, VideoProc does provide so many great ways to resize videos without damaging the image and audio quality severely. Now download it and try it yourself!

Best GoPro Settings to Shoot Video with Great Balance Between Quality & Size

Apart from enhancing GoPro video quality by post processing, you can also get GoPro videos with good balance between quality and file size by changing the settings in camera. Here're some best GoPro video settings for a variety of activities.

Other tips:

GoPro cameras feature ProTune with which you can control white balance, ISO, color capture, exposure value compensation (EV) and sharpness. When Protune is on, your files will be easier to edit with professional editing software, but will be much larger than if ProTune is off. Therefore, if you don't want to spend much time in editing, leave it off to save space.