best avi compression codec for archiving

arie wrote on 10/22/2003, 3:31 PM
I really wanted to compress my AVI files so they would be easier to backup on DVD. I tried as MANY codecs as I can find and I wasn't satisfied with the result. Tried the "holy" DivX, as well as many others. Even maxing out, they just didn't cut it.

Solution: I found one really great, archive worthy, codec that will compress AVIs down by 1/2 or more. I found it at http://www.pegasys-inc.com/e_main.html. It's called TMPGEnc, and really works great. Not too expensive either.

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/22/2003, 3:50 PM
TMPGenc isn't a codec. it's a mpeg encoding/editing program.

What codec did you use to archive your AVI's?
Jsnkc wrote on 10/22/2003, 4:26 PM
I wouldn't go any lower than a AVI-DV File, anything less than that and you will suffer quality loss.
arie wrote on 10/22/2003, 4:30 PM
OH, ok. I guess they use a proprietary codec then?

Under VirtualDub, I tried using XviD mpeg-4, Media9, MS mpeg4 v1/2, LEAD codec, DivX (hacked and legit), and a few others. Maybe I'm not doing it right, but I've tried different settings, and they all look like crap IMO for shrinking AVI. For porting to the web, they do fine, but that's not what I need. I need a good archive quality codec.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
arie wrote on 10/22/2003, 4:33 PM
Well, like I said, the TMPGenc looks pretty darn good compared to the native DV-AVI captures. Just be sure to use the high quality (Constant Quality - CQ) setting.

Maybe there is a downside. I'm not sure yet!
Jsnkc wrote on 10/22/2003, 4:50 PM
The downside is that MPEG is a highly compressed format, if you then go back and want to work with this video, edit it or anything like that you will suffer a big quality hit. You're better off keeping it as a AVI file if you think that some time in the future you might need to re-import this footage and use it again. If you can absolutely guarantee without a doubt that you won't need the footage again, still save it as an AVI because someday you probably will need it again :)
Chienworks wrote on 10/22/2003, 5:26 PM
Then again, if you're absolutely sure you'll never need the footage again, then why save it at all?
Ron Lucas wrote on 10/22/2003, 5:54 PM
I don't have any tape drives to archive my rendered AVI file to. I simply videotape on MiniDV, capture, edit, and render to AVI. The finished AVI usually runs about 1 -2 hours. Then I use DVDA to make my DVDs.

To backup my AVI file so that I maintain the best quality in case I need it again, I just use Veritas Simple Backup (actually it's HP Simple Backup) which spans my AVI file to multiple DVD+R disks. It's slow, but affordable. I use Ritek DVD+R disks which cost about 1.20 each. So backing up my project costs less then $10 in materials. But it takes a few hours to complete.

Ron
TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/22/2003, 6:15 PM
Can you record them back onto DV tape? That would be a good archive format. Or.... you could buy a huge removable hard drive. That would work.

Rendering them and burning onto DVD isn't pretty reasonable right now. Sorry.
johnmeyer wrote on 10/22/2003, 6:45 PM
If you are happy with TMPGEnc, I assume you are using one of their DVD templates that encodes in MPEG2. Vegas can encode in MPEG2 as well. Quite frankly you are much better off staying Vegas. I've used TMPGEnc extensively, but when I did comparisons with the MPEG2 Vegas encoder, the Vegas encoder produced better quality, it is faster, and it integrates directly into the Vegas workflow (fewer steps to get the project finished).