video editing: how to compress .avi files taken with my S3

[Aharami]

not sure if this is the right forum but thought id ask it here since the vids were taken with my S3

anyways, I have a lot of short videos that i took with my S3 while on vacation. S3 saves all vids in uncompressed avi format which takes up about 100+ megs for 1 min worth. What can i use to compress them w/o losing much quality? And to what format?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm far from a video guru, but I use RadTools to convert files into avi using DiVX or XVID compression. To compress into DiVX or XVID you've gotta have the codecs first, which can be had by downloading the CCCP.

EDIT: Actually I'm not sure if you even need the CCCP pack. Everything might already be included in RadTools.

 

[Aharami]

which one (divx or xvid) do you think is better?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Aharami
which one (divx or xvid) do you think is better?

They're both quite good. I guess DiVX? Just play around with the quality settings and bitrates and see which one you like better for the size.

 

[Aharami]

actually, i just came across virtualdub. Seems pretty robust. anyone have any experience with this program?

 

[AmigaMan]

I used MPEG Streamclip: http://www.squared5.com/

Works well for me for compressing videos taken with my S2IS and putting them on the web. The site I use, phanfare.com converts any videos I upload to flash movies, so the format I convert to really doesn't matter. However, I usually decrease the res to 320x200 and make the audio mono so the filesize isn't so large which in turn decreases the amount of time it takes to upload. The originals stay on my wife's PC in full 640x480 stereo audio though.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I have the S3 IS myself... I'm still amazed at how good the damned thing can be - the video recorded with it is comparable with my Digital8 footage.

For less pretentious work (no added visual elements, just straight compression to MPEG2) try TMPGEnc Xpress 4.0, which also does an excellent job.

Since I'm looking for maximum compatibility and minimum of hassle, I usually convert all my video footage to MPEG2 and create nice DVDs with it (while adding transitions, visual elements such as captions or pop-up bubbles etc.)

The advantage of using DVDs, beyond their compatibility with virtually any piece of equipment out there (computers, DVD players etc.) also comes from the cheap prices and availability of good storage media. I also have the possibility of creating menus, chapters and other goodies, which are great for navigation.

I make all my conversions with Ulead VideoStudio 10 (with the added bonus of being able to create a very convincing 5.1 DD track from the original 2.0 audio)... You can also use Sony Vegas, another excellent piece of software.

Both Vegas and Ulead currently use the MainConcept MPEG encoding engine, one of the most established names in the field.

Since the Canon S series records video at 640x480, which is a bit less than the regular NTSC 720x540, when you're converting to DVD you're doing a bit of upscaling, but don't worry, you won't be creating unpleasant anti-aliasing artifacts. A good encoder will do the job flawlessly, and you'll end up with a video file indistinguishable from the original - I have a 37" LCD monitor, and I can't tell the difference... BTW, for MPEG2 you should *always* use 2-pass encoding!

Use the free bitrate calculator from www.videohelp.com, in order to figure out what bitrate you want to use (depending on the length of the final video)

It's also a good idea to bookmark www.videohelp.com, and refer to it regularly, since it's probably the best video site on the Web.