Compress Hundreds of Videos Without Fancy Software Using FFmpeg on Ubuntu

If you record tutorials, gameplay, lectures, or meetings, you've probably noticed how quickly video files consume storage. A few recordings can easily take tens or even hundreds of gigabytes.

The good news is that you don't need expensive video editing software to reduce file sizes. With FFmpeg and a simple Bash script, you can compress every video in a folder automatically while keeping excellent visual quality.

In this article, I'll show you how to install FFmpeg on Ubuntu, explain the compression settings, and share a script that processes every MKV video automatically.

Why Use FFmpeg?

FFmpeg is a free, open source command line tool used by developers, video editors, and streaming platforms worldwide. It supports almost every video and audio format while offering professional grade compression.

Benefits include:

• Completely free
• No watermark
• No file size limits
• Works offline
• Supports batch processing
• Available for Linux, Windows, and macOS

Install FFmpeg on Ubuntu

Update your package list:

sudo apt update

Install FFmpeg:

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Verify the installation:

ffmpeg -version

If you see version information, you're ready to start compressing videos.

Create the Compression Script

Create a new file:

nano compress.sh

Paste the following script:

#!/bin/bash

mkdir -p compressed

for file in *.mkv; do
    echo "Compressing: $file"

    ffmpeg -i "$file" \
    -c:v libx265 \
    -preset medium \
    -crf 28 \
    -c:a aac \
    -b:a 128k \
    "compressed/${file%.mkv}.mp4"

done

echo "Done"

Make the Script Executable

chmod +x compress.sh

Run the Script

./compress.sh

The script will automatically:

• Create a folder named compressed
• Find every MKV file in the current directory
• Compress each video
• Save the new MP4 files inside the compressed folder

Understanding the Compression Settings

Expected Results

Actual results depend on the video's resolution, frame rate, and content. Videos with little movement generally compress much better than fast action scenes.

Can You Compress Without Any Quality Loss?

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about video compression.

If you're re-encoding a video using codecs like H.264 or H.265, there is always some quality loss. However, by choosing a sensible CRF value such as 22 to 28, the difference is often impossible to notice with the human eye while achieving significant file size reductions.

If you need truly lossless compression, your file size reduction will be minimal. For most users, visually lossless compression offers the best balance between quality and storage savings.

Tips

• Keep your original files until you verify the compressed versions.
• Use H.265 for maximum storage savings.
• Use CRF 22 to 24 for higher quality.
• Use CRF 28 for smaller files with excellent quality.
• Store compressed videos in a separate folder to avoid overwriting originals.

Final Thoughts

You don't need premium software to manage large video collections. FFmpeg is powerful, reliable, and completely free. Combined with a simple Bash script, it can automatically compress hundreds of videos with just one command, saving both storage space and upload time while maintaining excellent visual quality.

Written by A.M. Rinas