SUPER help....what bitrate to use for conversion....want smallest file without losing quality

SUPER is the name of the program I'm using to convert my video files.
This would also be a good time to ask if h.264/AVC is better or worse than mpeg4 for my needs?

So what I want to do is find the smallest file size I can get without losing quality.

I'm converting alot of different file types into h.264/AVC to put on my iPod. There are alot of different options in SUPER and I'm fairly new to video conversion so I need some help deciding on the minimum bitrate. Obviously the higher the bitrate the bigger the file. I just want to match the original bitrate so I dont lose any more quality or gain unnecessary size, since I've noticed some of my converted files are larger than the original.

Since I'm dealing with all sorts of files, how can I find the original bitrate for the video? Also since I'm changing the format, does the bitrate mean the same in the new format? For instance, will an avi with a bitrate of xxx mean the same as a h.264/AVC file with the same bitrate?

SUPER gives me the option of bitrates of 64 all the way up to 29040.

I hope I explained myself clearly.....thanks for the help!

 

Maybe get some answers here.


http://www.erightsoft.com/Supforum.html

 

Thanks, but that site isnt working properly. Wont let me log in, so I can't post a question.

Anyone else?