2 .avi files into 1

[rahl]

Hi all. How do I shrink a 2-cd (2-file) .avi into one, i.e. from about 1.5 GB to something like 700+ MB? Need to free up some space on my HDD.

I have the following tools:
VirtualDub (latest version)
Bitrate Calc

I know how to compress, convert and merge .avis, just unsure how to get them down to a specific size. A dummy's guide would help.

TIA.

[pijetro]

If your 2 vids are the exact same, then open the first one in Vdub, and the go to File>append, and open the second vid., and scrub the timeline underneath to make sure the videos are joined correctly. If your audio is okeedokee, then click the direct stream copy option. If you want to further compress it, then you'll have to go to audio>fullprocessing, audio>compression, and select what you want.

Same with video. Go to video>fullprocessing>, video>compression, and pick Divx. Select the bitrate you got from your calculator, and the File>save as .avi. Basically you're recompressing your original Divx to a smaller bitrate. You'll lose quality, so be forwarned.....

[pijetro]

I know how to compress, convert and merge .avis, just unsure how to get them down to a specific size. A dummy's guide would help.

Well then I guess you're almost done. What's the results on your bitrate calculator????

[rahl]

I guess the bitrate bit is where I'm stuck. What is a recommended rate to essentially halve the file size and yet have reasonable video quality?

TIA.

[mats.hogberg]

Read some recommendation saying 400 kbps DivX being the lowest "acceptable" value. Add to this 128 kbps MP3 audi, and we end at 528 kbps. This will give you about 3 hrs AVI on a 80 min CD. The problem is: "acceptable" is very subjective. As your source is already an AVI (DivX?) I wouldn't expect too much if I'd reencode it at 400 kbps...

/Mats

[rahl]

Thanks, will try it.

I'm trying to downsize .avi files such as Caligula, Titanic etc. Do you mean to say the quality will be much poorer or that I won't be able to reduce the size by much?

[mats.hogberg]

You can reduce the file size as much as you want by choosing a sufficently low bit rate, but quality will suffer. It will suffer even if you keep the bit rate the same as the original, but lowering it (halving it, in your case) will surely give you much lower quality. Only you can judge if it's still at an acceptable level.

/Mats

[depeche101_Brazil]

Hi all.
I was gonna post a similar question about this, but now I have other doubt:
I'm trying to use Bitrate Calculator to get the correct bitrate and then, make the final video. The problem I found was the fact I can't calculate it due the fact of the resolution isn't apparently suported by this software. I can't put 576x304 in Bitrate Calculator. What am I supposed to do?

[ZippyP.]

I can't put 576x304 in Bitrate Calculator.

Resolution is irrelevant to the bitrate calculator.

Movie length (in time) x bitrate (bits per second, video and audio) = total file size (bits)

or

time in seconds x bits/second = filesize

[dez93_2000]

Hi all. I'm trying to reencode an avi i joined from 2 (2x~800mb=1X1.8gb). See the pic for gspot stats. For some reason it's at 30fps, even so nic's minicalc reckons 765kb/s will reencode to 700mb, but that doesn't take into account the audio, which is currently at a huge bitrate.
When i've been trying (haphazardly) to reencode in the same way pijetro says, but i keep getting this error:

>q= (spins through some numbers)
>applying vbv constraints
>video compression error: an unknown error occurred (may be corrupt data). (error code -100)

i hit ok & it goes back to the main screen like nothing's wrong.
Has anyone got any ideas? My current thoughts are:
Audio is PCM not MP3, so convert that (how? can i download a filter?)
AVI type is OpenDML not straight AVI with i/l (interleave?) unsupported
Video codec fine, aspect fine, FPS 30 not 25 but that shouldn't be a problem (right?)
So, yeah, has anyone got any ideas as to what might be causing the error & what's the best thing for me to do? Cheers in advance.
Dez

[pijetro]

It's nice to see somebody using a search engine before posting...

Anyhoo, it's been a while, so I'm rusty..
Before you get led down the garden path, try to detect any bad frames..
That's done by going to Audio>Direct stream copy, Video>Direct stream copy, Video>Scan video streams for errors. If errors are found, simply go to File>Save as AVI, and a new video (hopefully with no bad frames) will be created.

I've read on other posts, in where people scan for bad frames with mp3freeze (or something like that).

First thing's first. Try it out, or do a search for bad frames...

Good luck!!!

[ZippyP.]

I've read on other posts, in where people scan for bad frames with mp3freeze (or something like that).

Like in my link below.