Converting To Lower Quality (more important smaller size)

[Minka]

I just had some questons on what programs to use to convert some Simpsons episodes to smaller size. I have the majority of the software, but NO IDEA how to use them effectivley! I am running out of room on my harddrive since a lot of these files are 220MB+! Thanks for ANY info you can give me.

[Mirror_Image]

For starters, look over on the left at the "how to" links.

[theDruid]

Minka,

what format are your files in the first place?

Do you want to watch them just on your PC, or also on a standalone DVD etc..?

TMPGEnc and a template is a good place to start, but if they're .avi's (like DivX's for example) you might want to use VirtualDub to frameserve into TMPGEnc.

There are loads of guides here for both of these programs.

How you use all the different software available really depends on what format you start with, and what format you want to end up with.

Post again if you get into trouble or need more advice.

cheers,

mcdruid.

[Minka]

Thanks McDruid. As for Mirror_Image, I have tried ALL the How To topics they have, but as I said in my original post, I can't get them to make the file size smaller. It's easy to convert them, but playing with the controls to make them smaller aren't very user friendly.

[ajrecs]

Let's start out simply...
For a given file, how long is the program, what format is the file in now (avi mpeg etc) and what resolution are you using? Do you want to watch the show only on the computer or on a stand-along DVD player?

[Minka]

The files are MPG and MPEG, and I am wanting to watch them on my computer, but looking to change them to a smaller avi file or something like that. As for resolution, I'm not sure. Where do I go to find that?

[Tommyknocker]

http://www.vcdhelp.com/vcd.htm#comp for file size comparisions.

Anyway, since the Simpsons are going into their what, their seventh season, and you are content to watch them on your computer, have you considered investing in a CD-RW? You can move all your episodes to CD-Rs, and reclaim your hard disk space for other uses.

[ajrecs]

MPG is normally smaller than AVI, so you may have the best size already. I agree that moving them to CD-R would be the best bet. Simple way to see the resolution size it to just play them in Windows Media Player, at normal resolution, and see how big the window is!

[ahfairley]

How about re-encoding at a lower bitrate?