Best way to re-encode 13GB DV file to 4.5GB avi/mpeg/wmv

[ColKurtz]

I'm backing up all of our home-video onto DVDs (avi/mpg/wmv format, not DVD/SVCD). Even though it's just for backup, I'd like to preserve as much quality as possible while still allowing it to fit on a single-layer DVD. The raw DV runs 12.6GB/hr. I tried Virtualdub with Xvid, but even when I specify 4.5GB as output file size, the resulting file doesn't get above 2.4GB.

I thought I'd ask here to get an educated opinion on whether one format is better than others for this situation. Should I be looking at WMV or MPEG-2 instead of mpeg4?

Any opinions are appreciated.

[gadgetguy]

IMHO, if you plan on editing it in the future you should keep it in DV-AVI format to ensure best quality. Break the files into 20 minute segments using VDub in Direct Stream Copy for both Video and Audio.