Sharing Smaller Screen Recordings

Often I share a screen recording so that others can follow along with tips, processes and generally shared knowledge. However the screen recordings produced by macOS are huge! Here’s how to share smaller recordings, using the command-line version of HandBrake and Hazel:

Rule details

By default new recordings are dropped on the Desktop. Create a new Hazel rule monitoring new files in the Desktop directory:

If all of the following conditions are met:

• Name starts with “Screen Recording”
• Extension is “mov”
• Size is less than “500 MB” (this excludes large recordings)

Do the following to the matched file or folder:

• Add tags “Red” (to indicate the file is being processed)
• Run shell script “embedded script” (see below)
• Move to folder “Trash” (delete the original)

Embedded Script

handbrakecli --preset="Web/Gmail Large 3 Minutes 720p30" -i "$1" -o "$1.mp4"

My last 48 second recording clocked in at 408KB, not bad.