Using Tivo to go, I transfer HD MPEG files from my S3 Tivo onto my PC. These files are hogs on storage room. An hour long MPEG file can take upto 9 Gigs. Is there a good way to reduce the file size with out any or minimal loss of audio and picture quality? High quality is important to me. Maybe an Xvid converter? Please include link for how to guide for the beginer, Thanks.
There are probably quite a few options. I recently downloaded some free HD samples from Microsoft. You can code up a very simple one-line avisynth file like this: DirectShowSource("F:\Documents and Settings\Dave\Desktop\FighterPilot_720\fighterpilot.wmv",fps=23.976,audio=no) and drag and drop it into Virtualdub. From there you can frameserve it or re-encode it directly to xvid/divx, etc. right there.
Try Dr.Divx 2.0, it will reduce your file down to size and it has a HD setting. It has always provided the best quality for me, almost DVD quality. It's fairly easy to use. In my case, I also record on my PVR, but I use WINAVI Converter to change my mpegs to xvid. I prefer speed over quality. http://labs.divx.com/DrDivX
Since my recordings are High-Def, then going to below DVD quality would be unacceptable to me. Will Dr.Divx 2.0 keep HD quality on highest setting? How much space will I save?
I've never used the high settings on Dr.Divx 2.0, I always stick to "home theatre quality" which produces a very good image on my 27 inch lcd tv. But it has 2 settings above "home theatre" , the next one is "high definition" which is 720 resolution, and the one above that is "1080 HD mode" and then you can tweak it some more by adjusting the quality, the default quality is "balance" which is what I use, then there is "better" , above that is "extreme" and if you want the maximun it has the "insane" setting. The Dr.Divx 2.0 program is free, but you need to have a Divx encoder available in your computer to use it. On my big screen when I watch a Divx movie it looks as good as a DVD, if I watch an Xvid I notice the difference right away. It can compress a 4000mb file down to 800mb on "home theatre mode. You probably will have to run some tests to see if it will work for you.
Thanks for the detailed description. In your experiance Divx looks better than Xvid? Using Dr.Divx 2.0 with high quality setting I should have no problem exceeding DVD quality right? Since DVD is only 480 and my concerts are 1080 rez. I'll give it a try. I'm curious How much space I'll ending up saving, but won't bother if I can't produce similar quality to the source.
