While there are many free utilities for converting video files we recommend Handbrake for compressing large files or re-encoding unsupported file formats.

Converting Video Files for Panopto Unison

Unison (the service that allows you to upload video files to Panopto as sessions) will only accept certain file formats for upload. If you have a file you want to upload via Unison that is not in a compatible format, you will need to convert it for use in Unison. This method makes use of HandBrake, a completely free, open-source transcoder that will run on Windows or Mac OS. There are numerous other converters that you may use if you wish; HandBrake is merely one solution that has proven to work.

1. Download and install HandBrake.
2. If you plan to encode more than one video at once, click Tools – Options – Output Files – select “Automatically name output files” – choose a path then click Close

   Click Source and choose either Open Folder (for more than one file) or Open File (for a single file). In this example, we will choose Open Folder.

   

   Select the folder containing your video files and click Select Folder (note: subfolders within this folder will not be recognized)

   

   Select High Profile

   

   If the source resolution matches the Display Size, skip the next step

   

   If it doesn’t match (like in the above example), change Anamorphic to None – set the Width & Height to match the source

   

   Click Add To Queue

   

   These steps need to be repeated on each file. To move on to the next file, click the dropdown next to Title and choose the next video file

   

   After all the video files have been properly configured and added to the queue, click start

   

   Then batch upload the new m4v files to Panopto. Click here for instructions on batch upload