Compress a video - Rendi - FFmpeg API

Reduce video file size by re-encoding at a higher CRF value and lower audio bitrate. Useful for faster uploads, email-friendly sizes, or bandwidth-limited playback.

Code

Node.js
Python
cURL

const API_KEY = process.env.RENDI_API_KEY;

const submit = await fetch("https://api.rendi.dev/v1/run-ffmpeg-command", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "X-API-KEY": API_KEY,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    input_files: {
      in_1: "https://storage.rendi.dev/sample/sample.avi",
    },
    output_files: {
      out_1: "compressed.mp4",
    },
    ffmpeg_command:
      "-i {{in_1}} -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 96k {{out_1}}",
  }),
});
const { command_id } = await submit.json();

while (true) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://api.rendi.dev/v1/commands/${command_id}`, {
    headers: { "X-API-KEY": API_KEY },
  });
  const data = await res.json();
  if (data.status === "SUCCESS") {
    console.log("Compressed URL:", data.output_files.out_1.storage_url);
    break;
  }
  if (data.status === "FAILED") throw new Error("Command failed");
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 2000));
}

import os
import time
import requests

API_KEY = os.environ["RENDI_API_KEY"]
BASE = "https://api.rendi.dev/v1"
headers = {"X-API-KEY": API_KEY}

submit = requests.post(
    f"{BASE}/run-ffmpeg-command",
    headers=headers,
    json={
        "input_files": {"in_1": "https://storage.rendi.dev/sample/sample.avi"},
        "output_files": {"out_1": "compressed.mp4"},
        "ffmpeg_command": "-i {{in_1}} -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 96k {{out_1}}",
    },
)
command_id = submit.json()["command_id"]

while True:
    res = requests.get(f"{BASE}/commands/{command_id}", headers=headers).json()
    if res["status"] == "SUCCESS":
        print("Compressed URL:", res["output_files"]["out_1"]["storage_url"])
        break
    if res["status"] == "FAILED":
        raise RuntimeError("Command failed")
    time.sleep(2)

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.rendi.dev/v1/run-ffmpeg-command \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'X-API-KEY: <api-key>' \
  --data '{
    "input_files": {"in_1": "https://storage.rendi.dev/sample/sample.avi"},
    "output_files": {"out_1": "compressed.mp4"},
    "ffmpeg_command": "-i {{in_1}} -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 96k {{out_1}}"
  }'

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.rendi.dev/v1/commands/<command_id> \
  --header 'X-API-KEY: <api-key>'

How the FFmpeg command works

-crf 28 — higher CRF = smaller file (23 is default, 28 is visibly compressed but acceptable; push to 30–32 for aggressive size reduction)
-preset slow — slower encoder uses more analysis and produces a smaller file at the same quality
-c:a aac -b:a 96k — AAC audio at 96 kbps (down from 192 kbps)
{{out_1}} — output file

Tune -crf first; only drop the audio bitrate further if size is still too high.

Response

{
  "output_files": {
    "out_1": {
      "file_id": "c1a4e3f7-...",
      "size_mbytes": 5.8,
      "duration": 596.459,
      "file_type": "video",
      "file_format": "mp4",
      "storage_url": "https://storage.rendi.dev/temp_files/.../compressed.mp4",
      "width": 854,
      "height": 480,
      "codec": "h264",
      "bitrate_video_kb": 72.3,
      "bitrate_audio_kb": 96.0
    }
  },
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "command_type": "FFMPEG_COMMAND"
}