Newbie conversion help

[chiller15]

I am a novice when it comes to converting video files, so please bear with me.

I have a TV series as AVI format, taking up 8.7GB...but I can't get 8.7GB onto a single dual layer disc, and I don't want to have to waste more for a mere 200MB.

These want to go from AVI to H.264 in preferably the MP4 container.

HandBrake is what I have installed, though I don't really know how to use it correctly.

I want to keep as much quality in the video and audio as possible, but making the files as small as possible.

How do I go about this?

[jagabo]

Consider trimming the opening and/or closing credits off a few episode instead -- they're probably all exactly the same anyway. That will save you time and retain the quality since you won't have to reencode anything. You can do this by opening a file in VirtualDub, selecting Video -> Direct Stream Copy, cutting out the sections you don't want (mark-in, mark-out, cut), then File -> Save as AVI.

[usta]

I agree. Alternatively, you can use Avidemux to do the trimming (I like it more than VirtualDub).