Need AVI Compression Recommendation

[Endemoniada]

Hi guys,

I have lots of one-two hour videos I need to encode. I'd like to be able to store the initial captures but the AVIs come out to 10-20 gigs, I can't even put them on a data DVD and I run out of hard drive space fast.

So I'd like to compress them to about 1/4 the size and use those as my 'masters' (and keep a copy on a data DVD), then from those I can cut/edit/encode.

I was thinking about xVid, is that a good idea ? I have Premier Pro 2.0, should I do it in that or maybe there is something better. Any guidence would be appreciated because I really don't know what I'm doing.

Thanks.

[jagabo]

Xvid is generally not a good intermediate codec for editing. You could set the codec to produce all keyframes or very short GOPs and no B frames. But then you won't get very high compression rates.

It sounds like you are capturing as DV AVI, ~13 GB per hour. You can easily split those into <20 minute segments for future editing. Then save those on DVD as an archive.

If you won't be doing extensive filtering (no brightness, color adjustments, no sharpening, etc.) you might consider converting them to DVD compliant MPEG2 now. There are a lot of "smart" MPEG2 editors that will only reencode parts that must be reencoded when doing simple things like cuts/pastes, transitions, etc.