how to compress mpg files

[kenny1999]

I've got a mpg file, which was generated by recording in VLC player. The resolution is not high and the length of the clip is only around 1 hour. The file size is 2.8GB. It doesn't make sense to me. Is there any program to compress this file while preserving the quality? I don't necessarily need a very small file resulting from poor quality, but an optimization between size and quality is expected. Thank you for any advice.

I expect freeware. Thanks

[hello_hello]

Try Vidcoder or Handbrake.

[Cornucopia]

6.37Mbps (what your file is calculated to be) is not out of the ordinary for an MPEG1 or MPEG2 SD file. Re-encoding to a more efficient codec (Xvid, AVC) will certainly allow you to reduce the bitrate, though there will be a minor quality penalty from re-encoding.

Try what hello_hello suggested, or possibly MeGUI (if you are comfortable with AVISynth scripts).

Scott