Video on copium.pics

You can upload clips to copium.pics the same way as pictures: drop them on the upload page, send them from Clink, the Stream Deck plugin or ShareX, or use Save to Copium in Discord. See copium.pics for all the ways to upload.

Formats

copium.pics accepts MP4, MOV and WEBM video. Videos up to 4K are supported. Only the first video track and the first sound track are kept, which matters for multi-track OBS recordings. MOV files are saved as MP4, and so are VP9 and AV1 WebM files that get re-encoded (their link ends in .mp4 from the start). WebM files with VP8 video or Vorbis sound stay WebM. The video inside must use H.264, HEVC, VP8, VP9 or AV1, and the sound AAC, MP3, Opus or Vorbis. Files are checked by their contents, not their name. If a format isn't supported you see "Only MP4, MOV and WEBM videos are supported".

Hidden details are removed from the video file.

Limits

If a video is too big you see "File is too big - videos can be up to 200 MB", and free accounts are told that Copium+ members can upload bigger videos. A video that is too long gives "Videos can be up to N minutes long".

The same limit of 100 uploads every 10 minutes applies to all uploads. See Your account and plans for what Copium+ includes.

Re-encoding after you upload

Your link works as soon as the upload is accepted. After that, copium.pics re-encodes the video in the background so it is smaller and plays everywhere. Nothing waits for it, and you don't have to do anything.

• What you get. An H.264 video with AAC sound in an MP4 file.
• The link stays the same. The new file takes the place of the old one at the same link. Caches can show the old file for up to about 10 minutes.
• Your original is not kept. When a re-encode replaces your upload, the file you uploaded is deleted. If you need the original, keep your own copy.
• When a video is left as it is. Video that is already H.264 in an MP4 file, with normal sound (AAC or MP3), within your resolution limit and at a bitrate of about 11.5 Mbps or less for 1080p (18 Mbps for 1440p, 40 Mbps for 4K), is not re-encoded. HDR video is also left as it is. Uploads you lock in a team's evidence locker are never re-encoded.
• Only when it helps. A video that is only too large (a very high bitrate) is replaced only if the new file is smaller. Fixes always apply: HEVC, VP9 and AV1 video becomes H.264, and Opus sound becomes AAC. WebM files with VP8 video or Vorbis sound are kept as they are (not re-encoded). If your sound is the only problem, only the sound is converted.
• Resolution. Free accounts keep videos up to 1080p (measured on the short side). A bigger free video is scaled down to 1080p, never rejected. Copium+ keeps videos up to 4K. Nothing is scaled up.
• If it fails. You keep the video you uploaded.

A re-encode can take a while for long or heavy videos. Until it finishes, your link plays the file you uploaded. While a video is waiting its turn, other work such as the clip tools can go first.

Still processing

Until processing finishes, usually within seconds, the file you uploaded is kept privately on our server in its original form. After about 3 minutes the upload page says "Still processing. Your link will work as soon as it's done, and you can close this page." While the page stays open it checks again every 20 seconds, then every minute after about half an hour.

Uploads that are waiting survive restarts and updates of copium.pics. They carry on afterwards, so "Still processing" can last longer after maintenance.

• Short outages. If storage or the safety scanner has a short problem, the upload stays pending and is tried again after 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 30 minutes, about an hour in all. After that it fails. An upload never waits more than 24 hours.
• Crashes. An upload that crashes the server 3 times is given up. If you see "That upload was interrupted and couldn't be finished - please upload it again", upload the file again.
• Deleting. Deleting your account also removes uploads that are still processing.
• Busy server. If the server is short on space, uploads are refused with "Copium is short on space right now - try again in a few minutes". If you have a lot of uploads still processing, you see "You have a lot of uploads still processing - try again in a minute". Both come back as an error that tells your app to wait 60 seconds (Retry-After). Try again after a minute or two.

Watch and share

Press a video in My uploads to play it in the viewer with the usual controls. Every video has a direct link and a share page, like a picture. The share page shows a player and works as a video preview in Discord and other apps. See Your links, and the same privacy options (password, expiry and delete after viewing) work for videos with Copium+.

A video can't have a watermark added.

Big videos in Discord

Discord won't play a linked video over about 100 MB. When an upload is over 95 MB, copium.pics makes a copy of 95 MB or less in the background, at most 1080p (on the short side), and Discord gets that copy. Very long videos, over about 50 minutes, don't get one. Uploads with a password or Delete after viewing get no Discord copy. Your link stays the same, and people who open it get the video as it is stored on copium.pics. The copy is made after the re-encode, except for very long or heavy videos, which get theirs right away.

If a video is too big for the server's working space, no copy is made and Discord gets the link to the video itself.