Converting videos -> smaller file size

[karib]

I have many videos in avi-mpg-mov-wmv formats.
I would like to know if there is any possibility to convert them in order to achieve smaller file sizes without severe change in quality and without change in dimensions.

I made several tries to convert them to mp4 but the resulting files where the same size or even bigger. Is it a matter of settings or not? Do these files take any more compression or not?

So, is there any chance to make these files smaller? What can I expect? Is it worth to try something and what is this?

[Baldrick]

You must lower the video bitrate to get smaller size. In some apps it's same as adjusting the quality setting or you can set the file size directly.

I would try xmedia recode or winff. Good batch converters. Convert to mp4 with h264 video and aac or mp3 audio. You probably have to adjust the file size for each video because video with higher frame size requires higher bitrate.

[karib]

Do you suggest manually set destination's file size? I think it would be easier because I do not know how to set bitrate.
If I set mp4/h264 and mp3 audio, how much smaller file size should I set? (percentage or something similar).
Will I achieve good results?

[karib]

Unfortunately, once again there is failure.
I converted several videos with xmedia recode
to mp4-h264 / mp3 audio, but converted videos were bigger than the original ones!

There should be a way to make them smaller file-sized. Can you please help me?

[Baldrick]

In xmedia recode under the video tab->general->bitrate adjust the size. Lower bitrate = lower file size. Use a simple bitrate calculator to calculate the bitrate like BitrateCalc.


You could also use other converters where you can set the output file size directly like handbrake (under the video tab).