# How to Reduce Video size



## javier200 (Apr 19, 2010)

I am new to this video stuff. I connected my old Sony camcorder to my new PC with windows 7 in order to transfer my old videos to the computer. I used Windows Live Movie Maker and choose import from device. Now that I have the entire tape on my PC, the size of one file of one hour and half is 19 GB the frame is 720 x 480 and the size of the bitrate is 29877 kbps. I want to transfer this video to a CD and also to keep a copy on my PC. How do I compress this video to make it smaller to fit on a CD and to use less space on my PC hard drive? Is there any free program I should download to do this? Thanks for your help.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Hi javier200, and welcome to TSG.

I am going to ask a moderator to move your question to the Multimedia forum. The Tips and Tricks forum is for sharing tips and tricks you have found and wish to share with other members.


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## javier200 (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks for your help. This is the first time I am using this great website so I still have a lot to learn. Your help is appreciated.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

What file format are you using to save the file on the computer?

Trying to fit 90 minutes of video onto a single CD will need a major amount of video compression with a lot of degradation of the picture quality. Do you have the option of burning to a DVD+R or DVD-R disc? Recoding 90 minutes worth of video to make a DVD movie disc should give you fairly good results.

I use a paid program package called Nero for making DVDs and CDs. Somebody else here may be able to recommend a free program.


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## javier200 (Apr 19, 2010)

Hi Chuck:

The file format saved in my PC is Video Clip (.avi) I do not want to loose the quality of the video because the tapes were old already so they are not that sharp to begin with. I do have a very good and new PC and I have a burner that can brun on a DVD+R or DVD-R. What is the capacity of these DVDs? I also have Nero on my PC. It came with it. How do I use it to make the DVD movie disc you mentioned? Sorry to bother you with all these questions. As I said, this is my first time st doing this video stuff and I don't know anything about it. I do want to learn though. Thanks for your help.


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## johnebadbak (Feb 28, 2002)

dvdflick will compress and create a standard dvd size video_ts folder ready to burn to a dvd disc
if the video file is mpg format then a good program to edit the mpg file is videoredo its not free one but does an excellent job..


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

A DVD+/-R can hold about 2 hours of good quality video (usually better than VHS) and is compatible with many consumer DVD players. If you have a newer computer with a Dual Layer burner, you can burn about double the amount on Dual Layer disc.

If your version of Nero came bundled with your computer, it may be a light version without out all of the features of the full retail version. You need to see if your Nero software includes Nero Vision. Here is a link to a PDF file of the user manual for Nero Vision that comes with the full Nero 10 package:

http://ftp6.nero.com/user_guides/nero10/vision/NeroVision_en-US.pdf

It can explain better than I ever could on how to author a DVD that can play on many DVD players and on computers. As far as I can tell, it supports directly importing AVI and converting files. The Nero web site (www.nero.com) may have similar manual for older versions as well.


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## javier200 (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks a million Chuck. I will follow the link and advice you gave me and see what happens. I want to preserve those great memories and I am afraid to do the wrong thing and loose them. Just one more question. How do I know if my cd/dvd burner is dual layer or not? My desktop PC is quite good and I bought it only three months ago, but it came without a manual. Also, according to what you mentioned, I don't need to convert the video files from the current AVI format to any other format. Right? Thanks again.


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## javier200 (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks for your help John, I appreciate the advice. By the way, once I burn the files to a DVD +R or DVD-R, how can I compress the PC video files so they don't take so much space in my hard drive? I saw that if I right click on the folders, there is an option on windows 7 that you can put a check mark on it and it will compress the file on that folder. Will this diminish the quality of the AVI video?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

I don't have a way of getting on Windows 7 computer at moment to figure out the quickest way to determine your burner's capabilities. You could use a free Nero utility called InfoTool that will report on all of the capabilities of the drive.

http://www.nero.com/enu/support-nero8-tools-utilities.html

As far as I can tell, Nero Vision should be able to directly import AVI files and then create the VOB files needed to burn a movie DVD.

I believe that having Windows compress files may make them smaller but will also require decompressing the files before you can play them. Someone else here may be able to suggest a video editor or converter that can recode the AVI files to a different format that are smaller and without degrading the quality.


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## johnebadbak (Feb 28, 2002)

AVI files are all ready compressed so if you want to store those files invest in a external HDD to store the files..when you start into video stuff you will need one..


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## faiz (Nov 20, 2001)

In Win Xp there is a program called Windows Movie Maker, for Windows 7 please see here http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091216182117AAb4lxd

This makes it very easy for the kind of simple capture + edit + encode feature steps. There are numerous editors like Ulead Video Studio, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas etc. But for you the simple tried and tested is WMV.

Normally hour of capture dv would be 12 gb in size. 
All you have to do is goto help and the complete procedure would be explained or use this http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/moviemaker/a/mov_mak_beg.htm

finally after encoding you would get a file size of approx 4 gb and the dvd quality would be consistent. You could use dual layer dvd to burn your full 1.5 hr video.

Hope this helps.


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