Media optimization

Optimizing your media files reduces download times and improves the visitor experience, especially for offline use.

Audio optimization

Recommended settings

Why these settings?

• 128 kbps is ideal for speech—higher bitrates don't improve voice quality
• Mono saves 50% file size with no perceptible difference for narration
• M4A (AAC) provides better compression than MP3 at the same quality

Using FFmpeg

FFmpeg is a free tool for audio conversion.

Convert a single file:

ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ac 1 output.m4a

Batch convert all WAV files:

for f in *.wav; do
  ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ac 1 "${f%.wav}.m4a"
done

Convert MP3 to optimized M4A:

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ac 1 output.m4a

File size estimates

Image optimization

Recommended settings

Why these settings?

• WebP offers 25-35% smaller files than JPEG at the same quality
• 800-1200px width is sufficient for mobile screens
• 80% quality balances file size and visual quality
• sRGB ensures consistent colors across devices

Using ImageMagick

ImageMagick is a free tool for image conversion.

Convert to optimized JPEG:

convert input.png -resize 1000x -quality 80 -strip output.jpg

Convert to WebP:

convert input.png -resize 1000x -quality 80 output.webp

Batch convert all PNG files:

for f in *.png; do
  convert "$f" -resize 1000x -quality 80 "${f%.png}.webp"
done

Using Squoosh

Squoosh is a free browser-based tool from Google for image optimization. Drag and drop images to compress them without installing anything.

File size targets

Bulk optimization workflow

For tours with many files, consider this workflow:

1. Organize source files in a folder structure
2. Run batch conversion scripts for audio and images
3. Upload optimized files to your hosting provider
4. Verify quality by testing a few files in the browser

Example folder structure

tours/
├── audio/
│   ├── 01-welcome.m4a
│   └── 02-history.m4a
└── images/
    ├── cover.webp
    └── stop-01.webp