Video File Compression

[Tommyboy]

Does anyone have or know of a good way to compress video files without losing quality. I downloaded a 1 hour DV tape to my server and it took up 13GB. Is that normal? Just trying to save some space if possible.
Thanks for input

[ATR]

Since I do not see Premiere Elements 7 or any other video editing program mentioned in your arsenal of software, what is the fate of the contents of this "DV tape downloaded to your server"? You might want to go into more details/explanations on that.

But, yes, for DV AVI (AVI being the wrapper and DV the compression), 13 GB/hr is right on.

miniDV tape is generally considered the media for DV storage (archiving/backing up) of your original DV footage. What format to change the DV footage to in order to save space is less agreed upon. Some say, you best bet is to leave it as, DV on the tape and DV AVI stored to disc or external hard drive so as to be in a form for your video editor. Others have varying opinions. Check out the following online chat on the issue:
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/best-way-to-convert-dv-file-to-something-that-have-smaller-file-size-t368372.html

Have you done any online searches on the topic? There is much out there.

ATR