FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is Compress My Videos (CMV)?

CMV is a free service that allows for anyone to easily compress their videos. Users are able to compress from video recording devices or preexisting files and can choose to compress to 100MB or "Just make it look good", which provides the highest video quality regardless of file size. Users are also able to have the compressed file output to their computer or transferred to a server via ftp.

2. How do I get started?

You can get started by first signing up for a free account, and then start easily compressing your videos from your Digital Video (DV) camcorder, web cam, mobile phone or media files stored on your computer.

3. How do I compress from my DV camcorder?

You need to have your DV camcorder connected through FireWire (IEEE 1394). When you have it connected, make sure to have the camcorder set to Play/Edit mode. The CMV interface will then ask to verify the brand name of your camcorder. You can then start to control your camera from the CMV interface and start recording at any point while your camera is in Play mode. Press the CMV stop button when you want to stop recording and then verify that the footage you captured is what you want. Simply click the continue button and CMV will automatically begin to compress your video.

4. Where does my video go?

Before the compression starts, CMV prompts you to tell us where you would like your video put. You can have the video put in any folder on your computer or sent to any location via FTP.

5. I selected to compress from my web cam but why do I not see the live video?

Make sure your web cam is properly connected through USB or is activated if it's built in to your laptop. After selecting the web cam option, CMV will ask you to select the make of your web cam and what device you will use for recording audio i.e. Microphone. Make sure you are using your webcam in a properly lit area and that nothing is covering the lens.

6. Can I compress a file I have on my computer?

Yes. Select the File option from the CMV source menu and simply drag and drop your video file on the interface or click the Browse button and locate the file on your computer.

7. I tried to compress from a file but I got an error, what's wrong?

Sometimes the File option will not work if the format of the file is very old or you do not have the "decoder" installed on your computer. For instance, if you are trying to compress a QuickTime file but do not have the QuickTime player installed, CMV will not be able to decode the file in order to compress it.

8. Does CMV work on a Mac?

Right now our service only works on Windows XP running Internet Explorer 7 and above. We plan to have our Mac version available soon.

9. Why would I want to compress my video to 100MB?

Most video sharing sites such as YouTube and MySpace require that video files be no larger than 100MB before uploading. Using 3rd party software to get your videos to this file size, while still retaining good quality is quite challenging. CMV was invented to automatically compress your videos to this file size regardless of the original size, all while maximizing the video quality. However, if file size is not limited, you can also simply choose to "Just make it look good" for even better quality.

10. What format does CMV output?

Right now our service compresses your video to Windows Media V9. Other formats such as Mpeg 4 and h.264 will be available soon.