Reduce the size of my .avi files

[chachp]

I recently received a Handycam as a gift and I have been playing around with creating videos. I have copied them to my drive and find that these .avi files are HUGE. One I created was 1 minute 28 seconds and was 331MB. I have done some research on compressing these files and wonder what you folks use to reduce yours? The compression software appears to be relatively inexpensive (around $40 or so) I just want to buy the right software.

Any comments on what works and doesn't work?

 

[Kevinpreston3]

I have Pinnacle Studio

I can import avi files, then "make a movie" and output it to mpg 2, 1, or smaller sizes for distribution...even a rough low res for "email" purposes. Studio is easy to use and I believe I paid less than $100 for it, it is a complete editing system.

 

[Unimatic1140]

I use the Microsoft Media Encoder, it works well and really compresses those files. Its a free tool from microsoft.com.

 

[chachp]

Thank you!

Thank guys. I went for the free option, and it works really well. I made my first movie with a title and credits! It was pretty easy. This 331 MB file is down to 2 MB and it doesn't appear I have lost much in the way of resolution?

I knew you guys would have the answer!