What program will compress AVI's

[maleek]

Hi all,
I'm using Mencoder to rip and convert to AVI. The problem I have is that most of my AVI's are coming out at over 650 MB. I just need a little compression to archive them @ under 650-680 to fit on a CD. What program should I use to do this & at what settings? Thanks in advance for your time-M

[MacDSL]

The easiest thing would be to just get 700MB blank CD's the costs should be the same. Then you don't have to do anything...

[maleek]

what about the 2 AVI's I have that are 840MB and 780MB?

[ZeroSix]

short of re-encoding or splitting, you could just burn multiple .avi files to DVD-R.

[maleek]

don't own a DVD writable, but while we're on the subject, can anyone suggest a good dvd writer for a G4 AGP 400?

Also will Divix Doctor II bring down the file size?

[galactica]

don't own a DVD writable, but while we're on the subject, can anyone suggest a good dvd writer for a G4 AGP 400?

Also will Divix Doctor II bring down the file size?

This is an amazing price for a DVR-106

and I dont think divix () doctor will bring down the file size any.

sorry

[ZeroSix]

in my experience, divx doctor will make the file larger. :/

[maleek]

[/quote]

This is an amazing price for a DVR-106

[/quote]

Where are the drivers to get this to work with my Mac?

[galactica]

i believe you just plop it in and boot up. no drivers needed.

i got my drive from esbuy.com and it didnt come with anything but the drive (reason price is low) and just put it in and booted up, there it was ready to go.

[tgpo]

i believe you just plop it in and boot up. no drivers needed.

i got my drive from esbuy.com and it didnt come with anything but the drive (reason price is low) and just put it in and booted up, there it was ready to go.

Same here. IT detected it perfectly with Toast and SYstem Profiler.

[WiseWeasel]

Yes, most upgrades like HDs, RAM, optical drives, monitors, FW peripherals, USB storage devices, and many PCI cards will work on Macs with no problems, even when they don't advertize Mac compatibility. Those are all standard peripherals, and use the built-in drivers in the MacOS to work w/ the computer. You just have to make sure to get one that's compatible with the I/O connections on your computer (SATA vs. UATA, PCI vs. PCI-X, FW 800 vs 400, VGA vs. DVI, etc.). The most notable exceptions to this are video and sound PCI cards, which either need to be flashed w/ Mac-compatible firmware (if available), or have Mac drivers (if available) to function.

[maleek]

Nice. Thanks Guys..Should I just replace the CD/DVD Rom that's already in the tower, or remove the Zip Drive?

[WiseWeasel]

The zip drive is in a 2.5" bay that only fits zip and floppy drives. You'll have to replace your optical drive if you want to make it internal. You could always get a FW enclosure to put your current optical drive in, so you can have 2.

[galactica]

ive seen it done, where you can put the 2nd drive down there, but it requires some tools that most people are uncomfortable using on your mac. ie dremel, blades, drills etc...

best bet is to either use an enclosure (will cost more) or just replace the one you have already (which you can sell on ebay or somewhere else) and you will have brought the cost of youre dvd-rw down even more!

[maleek]

If I replace my existing, will I still be able to watch DVD's on my computer?

[galactica]

sure, superdrive is a dvd read drive also...

[maleek]

Thanks to all for the great advice....I think now we should all put this thread to rest!