How do I reduce a wmv's file size?

[nand]

Hey everyone,

I have a WMV file I want to post but it's pretty large (228 megs). It's only 12 minutes at 640 x 480 (our old camera) with a bitrate of 2991 kbps. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to reduce the overall file size? Having 13 HJSplit files to upload at 19 megs a pop is just taking WAAAAAY too long.

Not to even mention the 2.52 HD .MTS file we have that I want to upload!! I don't even know how I'm going to condense that down to a usable size...

Thanks!
D

[nand]

Crap, I realized I just posted this in How To's and not "Tech Central."

Could a kindly mod please move it over to the right forum? Sorry for the mix-up!

[franklynxxx]

I'll show you 2 ways quickly
1 ) You can use Windows own Movie Maker , seen here is version 2.1
Drag and drop the wmv movie icon or thumbnail onto the Movie maker window.
Click the thumbnail that loads and drag that to the timeline below ( 1 )
Click the " Save to my Computer " from the list at the left ( 2 )



The following window just asks for where to save it , browse and choose one.
The settings window then appears , for what you stated I would select what
is seen Video for LAN ( 1.0 Mbs ). See below the boxed section I highlighted
to see the projected file size. You can also try " High quality video ( small ) "
that will reduce to 320 by 240 size.



2 ) Use Super Video Converter , seen here is version 2006 build 19
There's an old thread on this here _ ( my post is last )
http://www.facialforum.net/showthrea...uper#post94481
Current Source for this _
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/general/download_splash.cfm/super?software_id=761&version_id=1655
Drag and drop the wmv movie icon or thumbnail onto the Super window.
From the leftmost top drop list select ( .avi ). Everything you see should
automatically appear. You can also change H264/AVC in the center drop list
at the top to Xvid instead , it's last on that list , produces smallest file size
at good image quality. Click - Encode - at the bottom left , and let it run.

[The Shape]

Nice tutorial Franklyn, thanks for taking the time and helping out there

[nand]

Thanks a ton, Franklyn!! You kick ass!

I'm going to give VLC's transcoding tools another shot before I move on to Super Video Converter.

I tried Windows Movie Maker, but it was still making the videos way too large.

[safn1949]

Also format factory,it's free and then you just convert them to FLV and they will be a third or less in size.

My experience has been Super Video Converter does not like Vista or Windows 7.

[nand]

So, I looked into Super Video Converter and it really didn't look legit. I snooped around and found some security blogs which stated that it was making home calls to a server and downloading some binaries. No good.

Instead (as you can see, I have posted some vids), I ended up having to use a two prong approach:

1) For the videos I already had in .avi format I used VLC to convert them to mp4 format. That shrunk them from 2 gigs to 65 megs without TOO MUCH of a loss. Which blows my fucking mind, I'm gonna be honest.

2) To get my m2t files into something small and usable I used Wondershare Video Converter to convert them into an avi, which I then used windows movie maker to edit and chop down into a wmv. Finally, I repeated step 1 to convert them into mp4s.

All told I'm pretty satisfied with the results. I mean, seeing the giant fucking 4 gig m2t file played right next to the 90 meg mp4 file makes it look artifacty as shit; but whatever...

If anyone has any other solutions I'd love to hear them.

[safn1949]

I might add that format factory will edit the video while it converts it so you don't need 2 or more programs.Just dial in the start and end time,then the format and go.

Did I mention free....

[BB]

Hi guys

I have a couple of vids I'd like to share with you guys - but alas, they are about a gig each. How can I reduce the size on a Mac?

Hope you guys can help

[tabbi]

Can you split it into parts with HJ Split? That is a free download and pretty easy to use.