Git LFS

Keeps big binaries out of the repository history and stores pointers instead.

What it does

Git stores every version of every file forever, which makes a repository containing video, RAW photos or disk images unusable within months. LFS replaces tracked binaries with small text pointers; the real objects live on a separate LFS endpoint and are fetched on checkout.

git lfs install                 # one-time, per machine
git lfs track "*.mp4" "*.braw"
git add .gitattributes
git lfs ls-files

Notes

Tracking must be set up before committing the file; converting existing history needs git lfs migrate (a history rewrite).
GitHub’s LFS storage and bandwidth are metered separately from repository size, and bandwidth is the quota people actually hit.

Alternative to

Alternative	Type	Trade-off
git-annex	Open source	More flexible, considerably harder to learn
DVC	Open source	Built for datasets and ML pipelines rather than assets
Perforce Helix	Paid	What studios use when binaries are the majority of the repository
Keeping binaries out of Git entirely	—	Object storage plus a manifest, and often the right call