Please help me make an AVI file an itsy-bit smaller.......

I'm new to the forums; so, forgive me if I've posted this in the wrong place.

I'm trying to back-up all these AVI files to one standard-sized DVD. The problem is: the AVI files take up 99% of the DVD, which is only 10 megs too small to fit them all.

How can I make at least one of these AVIs an itsy-bit smaller? I don't want to have to burn all of the AVIs to one disc, save for one, which I would have to put on another DVD.

I just need to shave off ten or megabytes off one of the AVI files. I don't want to lose any quality, if that's possible. There are some parts I would just take out, and I want to know if its possible.

What would be the best way to solve my problem?

thanks in advance.

 

Remuxing to mkv should do it. No loss of quality or content. To keep them as avi, you would probably need to trim some of the start/end off.

 

If by remixing one of the files to MKV makes it another format, then that's not what I want to do.

I could trim some of the start or ends off. But what program can I use that will let me do this easily without losing any of the AVI's quality?

 

Oh, and make that an easy to use program that I can download off the net, if possible.

thanks.

 

Remuxing to mkv means that it would no longer be an avi. Audio and video would be unchanged though. The reason that it would be smaller is because mkv uses less overhead than avi. Still it means you basically forget standalone compatbility.

For trimming avi's try VirtualDubMod or AVIDemux. If you only want to cut the end you could also try AVI-Mux GUI.

 

How about just compiling the whole DVD at over 4.7 gig...compile to a Folder on HD(i.e. save the new Video_TS, etc) then simply use REBUILDER to compress it all to just under 4.7 to fit the DVD-5. It would spread that little bit of compression evenly throughout the whole copulation..and not over burden just one of the files. Or as suggested virturaldub could trim one of the .avi's but that would be more complicated.

 

I tried VirtualDub but it didn't help: I loaded the video and went to crop, but I don't know how to use the crop function: it's different to anything I've used before.

Could a program like Adobe Premier or Ulead allow me to take parts out at will?

Thanks.

 

I found some sites that show me how to crop in Virtual Dub, and it might work. Will I lose some quality if I crop, because it says I have to re-compress afterwards.

 

Be careful with the term "crop". It usually refers to cropping pixels, which yes means re-compressing. You don't want that, what you want is to trim the start/end. Also I suggested VDubMod over regular VDub since there is a decent chance that your files use VBR audio.

@Headborg, that would only work if we were talking about DVD video.

 

Second thought, I wouldn't use VirtualDUb...on count of every .avi I've ran thru it..has came out much larger(but better quality) than the one I started with...so by just trimming some off, unless you really know how to use sett the settings(and this doesn't seem to be the case) You'll end up making it larger! Do you have DVD_Shrink or Rebuilder? Nero Recode? Just compile it...save it to HD, then use one of those programs to make it fit the DVD_5.

Ok, I see the error in my thinking...you're just using the DVD for storage not actually authoring...Hmmmmm What happens when you try Packing all those .avi in a WinRAR archive? (I know it doesn't do very good with media)then copy to DVD.

 

Thanks for the help. I'll try and pack into a winrar file and see if that does any good.

Honestly, I didn't think there would be so much hassle with such a problem. I thought I might just be able to use a program like Ulead or Adobe Premier and just edit bits out at will. Can someone tell me if this will work? I don't have my copy of Adobe Premier or Ulead on me right now, but I'll get it back if it'll help.

 

I tried zipping the files: it shaves off several megabytes, but then when I want to play one, it has to extract the file first - which takes ages - and I want it just normal.

 

ANyone?

 

I already gave you several suggestions. There are plenty of guides on trimming with VDubMod to if you can't figure it out.

@Headborg, the output would only be larger if you don't have the audio/video set to direct streaming and it isn't any better quality.

 

Okay, thanks. I'll give VDubMod a try. Will that let me take segments out wherever I want, or only let me trim the start or end?

 

When I tried VDubMod, I got weird results: parts of the video came out all distorted and what not.

The files are about 160 - 180 mbs in size. Would they be better if I just made them into DVD files? But that would mean I would only be able to fit one or two per DVD, right?

thanks.

 

Yes your right about the same size; if she/he used direct stream..which in this case should have worked. But I only use VDM on *full process* and i do believe decompressing/moding the audio improves the quality. But that's not what he/she is after.

Yes to the question VirtualDubMod will allow you to clip/trim any selected range of frames you wish..in the middle, front,end. Also, If you're not a audiophyle and could live with less detail in the Audio department you might think about converting you Audio stream to take up less space.

AS the Senior Member suggested a .mkv container would work nicely if it compressed those DivX Xvid files any? (which I'm not sure if it does???) It does reduce the size of the header tag..Right?Wrong? you could pick up a copy of MKVtoolnix and the splitter at their site:

http://www.matroska.org

It would be nice to see the difference in size in actual figures after merging them into the MKV.

or maybe convert them to .rmvb and play on Real Player?

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone, but I got it working. I used Solveig AVI trimmer which let me take out sections real easily, and didn't have to re-encode or re-compress.