OrbitBoyBob

I've successfully converted a classic sci-fi movie (War of the Worlds) from VHS Video Tape to AVI, but the resulting file is 22+ GIGS! I need to shrink this down, not only in screen size but in file size. My target is in the 300Meg range and screen size 320/212 or 240/160. I've tried Virtualdub with both Divx and Xvid codecs but the closest I can come is a projected size of 825Meg for the final AVI. This is even after using the calculator to set the final size to 300M, reduce audio to 96K and include the "overage." Virtualdub unofficial forum is not being too helpful, other than to say "try something else..." or "try some other settings..."

Is there any software out there (hopefully free) that can shrink an AVI to a predetermined size, screen as well as file?

Thanks for any input.

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themaxx

Originally Posted by OrbitBoyBob

I've successfully converted a classic sci-fi movie (War of the Worlds) from VHS Video Tape to AVI, but the resulting file is 22+ GIGS! I need to shrink this down, not only in screen size but in file size. My target is in the 300Meg range and screen size 320/212 or 240/160. I've tried Virtualdub with both Divx and Xvid codecs but the closest I can come is a projected size of 825Meg for the final AVI. This is even after using the calculator to set the final size to 300M, reduce audio to 96K and include the "overage." Virtualdub unofficial forum is not being too helpful, other than to say "try something else..." or "try some other settings..." Is there any software out there (hopefully free) that can shrink an AVI to a predetermined size, screen as well as file? Thanks for any input.

i'd be paying www.digital-digest.com a visit

they have a metric shitload of proggys and advice on how to encode stuff

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axzilla

how long is the video? if its over 2 hrs long then that projected size aint too bad plus you can cut it down to 15fps instead of 30fps and that will save you alot of space and the quality will still be good.

OUBeaver

PocketDivxEncoder is my favorite.

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DagMiller

Originally Posted by OrbitBoyBob

I've successfully converted a classic sci-fi movie (War of the Worlds) from VHS Video Tape to AVI, but the resulting file is 22+ GIGS! I need to shrink this down, not only in screen size but in file size. My target is in the 300Meg range and screen size 320/212 or 240/160. I've tried Virtualdub with both Divx and Xvid codecs but the closest I can come is a projected size of 825Meg for the final AVI. This is even after using the calculator to set the final size to 300M, reduce audio to 96K and include the "overage." Virtualdub unofficial forum is not being too helpful, other than to say "try something else..." or "try some other settings..." Is there any software out there (hopefully free) that can shrink an AVI to a predetermined size, screen as well as file? Thanks for any input.

Point AutoGK at the avi file and tell it what size you want. It will do the rest.

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OrbitBoyBob

Originally Posted by DagMiller

Point AutoGK at the avi file and tell it what size you want. It will do the rest.

AutoGK? What is AutoGK? Where do you get it?

OUBeaver: I have PocketDivxEncoder, but something is not right with it. I can't get it to change from a 2meg output file, no matter what the settings I use. I think it might want some sort of unlock code... Otherwise I'll have to reinstall and see if I can set to a more realistic/desired output file size.

Axzilla: Length after cuts and trimming is 1h 25min. Where to set at 15fps? What program are you using?

Thanks!

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axzilla

use virtualdub it is free and it will convert avi to divx or xvid and you can change the framerate and it even has settings for pdas

DagMiller

Originally Posted by OrbitBoyBob

AutoGK? What is AutoGK? Where do you get it? OUBeaver: I have PocketDivxEncoder, but something is not right with it. I can't get it to change from a 2meg output file, no matter what the settings I use. I think it might want some sort of unlock code... Otherwise I'll have to reinstall and see if I can set to a more realistic/desired output file size. Axzilla: Length after cuts and trimming is 1h 25min. Where to set at 15fps? What program are you using? Thanks!

seek/google and ye shall find

http://www.autogk.me.uk/index.php

It's free, easy to use and there are stickys in this forum explainning how to use it.

What more do you want??

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OrbitBoyBob

Found both AutoGK and Super but had differing results.

AutoGK was easy enough to setup but when it came to the actual conversion, it kept shutting down for some reason! 5 or 6 tries - Nothing!

With VirtualDub I was able to cut out all commercials and clean up the video. I could successfully compress to 1150Meg but could not get it below 76fps which I believe was keeping the final file size as large as it was. Target was 256Meg. No matter what settings were used it defaulted back to 76fps. I'm using a Divx codec. Resizing filter to 320x240. It's in the Divx codec calculator where I can't drop below the 76fps. Anyone familiar with this?

With Super I could reduce the final file size to the target size but not edit out the commercials. Super does retain great video and audio by itself, but VirtualDub loses alot of quality on video.

Why AutoGK just shuts down, I don't know....

VirtualDub is the only one I have found that allows for editing frame by frame - any others that compress well in one step like Super but still allow for editing like VirtualDub?

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saint-francis

How did you manage to get a 22 gig file for one movie? This is the question to ask. If you managed to squash 22 gig into 800 meg the quality loss must be astounding. I think that what you should first do is try to capture the video again. If worse comes to worse get a dvd copy of it from the video reantal place down the road and rip that. Then you'll end up with a 4 gig file and you can get it pretty small before it will look bad on a screen as small as the ones on a pda.

stevenator65

Go to My Pda and read the Fairuse Tutorial. That will help you get your movie onto your pda.

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OrbitBoyBob

stevenator65 -

Used your Fairuse tutorial before - it was EXcellent ! ! !
Thank you for writing that up!!!!!

Originally Posted by saint-francis

How did you manage to get a 22 gig file for one movie? This is the question to ask. If you managed to squash 22 gig into 800 meg the quality loss must be astounding. I think that what you should first do is try to capture the video again. If worse comes to worse get a dvd copy of it from the video reantal place down the road and rip that. Then you'll end up with a 4 gig file and you can get it pretty small before it will look bad on a screen as small as the ones on a pda.

StFrancis --

The original movie was taped on VHS years ago. I found a way to connect the VCR to my Sony HandyCam through analog connections in the base. I then fed the camera output through a firewire to my PC. Windows Movie Maker was the default program that popped up upon connection, so that is what I used for the capture. The result was an AVI file the size I reported.
I used the "Digital Device Format DV-AVI" check box to get an AVI instead of WMV file. Specs on the capture are :
File Type: Audio Video Interleaved (AVI)
Bit Rate: 25.0 Mbps
Display Size: 720 x 480 pixels
Frames per Second: 30
Video Format: NTSC
Each Minute of Video saved with this setting will consume 178 MB
(which is where the file got so big???)

Here is the break-down that VirtualDub gives on the file:

avi.JPG

Using FairUse, VitualDub and Super I've finally gotten the size down to 196MB, but the video quality could be better. It looks excellent at the 800MB size, but below that (anywhere in the 150 to 400MB size) I start getting a lot of (mainly white) horizontal spikes (interlacing?) during scene changes and a little fuzziness of the overall video. Sound is excellent even on the smaller file size....

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lorrborr

AVI is just a container (which could contain many things, including divx). What you have done as you have noted is create DV-AVI. The file size huge because the frames are not compressed at all. This format is great if you need to do any editing.

Anyway, your digital camera may have come with software for digial editing. You can first create a dvd (mpeg2) with that editing software. This may be a good idea anyway if you want a nice copy of your VHS movie for your library.

Now, with your dvd copy you can create your divx/xvid using Fairuse or other programs. This method may produce the best quality for you.

Some video editing software allows you to directly go from DV-AVI to DivX-AVI, but I assume you don't want to pay for new software, so the above method is certainly something to think about.

rsaturn9

I suggest Renting a copy of the movie in DVD form, then Use Fairuse Wizzard to compress it to any size you like, this should be ok since you already own the movie