Question on shrinking an AVI using VirtualDub

[Lafawnduh]

Hey guys, I am new here, and my question may be a stupid one, but I can't seem to figure out how to do this.

I created a video using the program Sony Vegas 6.0 which renders the output video as an avi. I set it to "uncompressed" so that I wouldnt lose quality. Now what I have is a 1 min 46 second avi file that has amazing quality, but is 385 MB!

I have heard alot about this program "VirtualDub" which is apparently good at converting files, so I downloaded it, but I don't know how to work it.

My movie file has the following stats:

Image:
720 x 480 pixels

Audio:
0:1:46 long
Bit rate: 1536 kbps
Audio sample size: 16 bits
Audio format: PCM

Video:
Framerate: 29 frames/second


Now, I want to be able to get this to around 20 MB, while keeping the best quality possible.

So my question is what do I do? (Now, I am a noob at this stuff, so the more detailed help you can give the better.)

I have heard of Bitrate Calcs, would I need one for this? If so, whats a good, free one.

If I do use VirtualDub, I see that I may need to separately install codecs. If so, which ones?

Again, the more detailed the better.

Thanks in advance!!!

[Baldrick]

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1662400#1662400 and continue read the entire topic.

[Lafawnduh]

Cool, very good read. I'll be checking out that AutoGK program.

Still a couple questions that weren't answered in that though:

1. My audio is this PCM thing, should I be converting it to some outher audio type? I keep hearing about this ac3 or something.

2. Is there any reason to use VDub over AutoGK? It seems like AutoGK is like an automatic, and VDub is a manual (Car analogies, lol). Does manually doing it in VDub account for any increase in quality?

3. I don't understand whats the difference between Xvid and Divx. Which is the better one to use if I want to keep the most quality?


Thanks again!

[45tripp]

1. My audio is this PCM thing, should I be converting it to some outher audio type? I keep hearing about this ac3 or something.

Definitely.
It's uncomressed audio and you need to compress it.
I wouldn't recommend AC3. I believe the free encoders aren't so good.
Also I don't like AC3 playback on a pc.
The only reason to have AC3, for me, is when going from 5.1 dvd to xvid/divx avi. You avoid audio conversion and keep 5.1.
You want to convert to mp3.
I don't use AutoGK but I'm sure it encodes to mp3 with lame.

2. Is there any reason to use VDub over AutoGK? It seems like AutoGK is like an automatic, and VDub is a manual (Car analogies, lol). Does manually doing it in VDub account for any increase in quality?

Not really.
Actually Gordian Knot (GK) is the manual version.
Manual=control. Which means you can get better quality or results that are tailored more to your needs if you know what you are doing.
Also I think people use nandub more than vdub.
Stick with AutoGK for now.
Let it do it all.
I personally always process audio seperately but that's just me.

3. I don't understand whats the difference between Xvid and Divx. Which is the better one to use if I want to keep the most quality?

I believe the latest version of Divx is better.
It has a cost though.
Xvid is free and open source.
If one where doing conversions often it would be worth getting divx. No reason to if you are not . I doubt the difference would be appreciable to you (or me).