Reduce AVi file size

[froggger]

Hi,

Just wondering if someone can help. I am using Pinnacle Studio Plus to take the movies off my DV camcorder. I am then saving them as AVIs and have selected XviD Mpeg-4 codec sized at 720x576. My problem is that the file sizes are very large. A video clip that goes for 3 minutes is around 150mb.
Is there something that I can do to reduce the file size?
I intend to transfer the avi files to my media player so I can watch them on a HD plasma. I have seen other movies that are 700mb, go for 2 hours and are fantastic quality. How do I get my home movies to that ratio file size and quality?
Have attached details of video.

[JohnnyMalaria]

150MB for 3 minutes is pretty decent. The orignal DV would be 620MB or so. You probably need to just keep decreasing the target bitrate until you can no longer accept the reduction in visual quality. Alternatively, use an MPEG-2 variant if possible.

[froggger]

Thanks. So what are the best way to reduce target bitrate for video and audio?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Trial and error - because it is ultimately down to what you personally will tolerate. Fiddle with the video first (not too much point dealing with the audio at that point). I'm not familiar with Pinnacle Studio Plus so can't really advise you on how to change the settings.

[froggger]

From reading other posts it looks like my bitrates might be too high. If I reduce this will this help. Also what is the best way or software to reduce this with?

[JohnnyMalaria]

I'll have to defer to someone more familiar with MPEG-4 (though I'm sure your software must be able to let you adjust the settings).

[Baldrick]

Yes, reduce the bitrate to lower the file size. You must be able to this in pinnacle...check for settings/configuration/etc when you export.

[hingis]

if you had just a mac, you will probably need no help, imovie quickly solves this sorry for out of topic...