20:15 min .AVI (4 GB) -> 700 MB CD?

[Jumbie]

Which codec to use for best quality?

Hi, I have a short video file (20 mins like I said in the topic title) that I've transferred to my HD from my video camera via i.Link (firewire).

The filesize is slightly greater than 4 gigs and I'd like to transfer it to a 700 meg CD. I am aiming for the best possible picture quality I can get within this size limit. I do not care if the format can be played on a DVD player as I will most likely be using my PC to watch the video.

I have tried a test encode using the DivX® 5.1.1 codec with a 1-pass constant bit rate of 4601 kbit/s (MP3 audio at 192 kbit/s) and the resulting file came out quite pretty well.

However, I do not have very much experience with encoding video (although I do have some) and was wondering if any of you experts could give me some advice. It's such a short clip that it shouldn't be too difficult to get a really good quality result, right?

Would a multi-pass encode be better? Or another type of coded such as Xvid?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Oh yeah, one more thing. The original file is 720x480. I did not do a resize in my encode. Is this advisable or does it not make a difference?

[pete2828]

to make that movie fit on cd according to bitrate calculator. Your average bitrate will be 3600Mbs. So I would encode the whole thing either with windows movie maker and have it save the file to CD (easiest way to do it; but it will take like 2-3 hours). Or encode to MPEG2 with your favorite encoder with 1 pass variable bitrate. MIN 2500 AVG 3600 MAX 4500. If the file size is slightly too big I would just overburn unto the CD. You can easily burn 720MB on 700MB CD. I would prefer MPEG2 b/c the file will be DVD compliant.