Use TMPGenc for file size reduction?

[Djinn252]

I have a number of video files, mostly AVI and MPG, that I want to pare down in size. For the most part, they're each about 22-24 minutes long, and have file sizes exceeding 200MB.

I've seen similar AVI/MPG files (22-24 minutes long) that are only about 50MB, and the quality is quite acceptable. What's the easiest way for me to make the conversion to this type of format?

I need specifics here... I've been mucking around with DivX codecs, TMPGenc, and similar software for some time now with little success. I either get minimal reduction in file size, or the quality rapidly becomes unaccpetable.

What's the best way to do this, preferably using free/cheap downloadable software tools?

Thanks,

- N

[Djinn252]

Still no luck here... Any thoughts?