"Virtualdub requires a VfW codec..." for file from

[Callbutton]

Let me start at the beginning.

I have used Premiere to create a home movie from my mini DV camera and outputted the file as an uncompressed avi file - I didn't want to lose any quality before I knew what compressed output to use.

I have since made a DVD from the avi file but now I want to save a compressed version of the file to keep on the computer. I don't care in what format, just good quality and (much!) smaller. (Original 4GB!)

I tried Virtualdub to convert the avi but it doesn't have a Video for Windows codec. I tried to use the Canopus converter (as suggested on the site) but Virtualdub still would not open the resulting file.

My questions are:

1. What format/codec should I use when ouputting from Premiere so that I have a high quality record/backup of my home videos/movies?

2. How do I convert/compress this file to a smaller version (whether avi, mpeg, Divx, etc) suitable for displaying on the computer?

Any help appreciated.

[snowmoon]

1) Huffyuv...

2) Read conversion guides first... then come back with questions.