Best free compression software

[TMRayfield]

I am looking for good compression software that is able to compress my HUGE MPEG files down to a reasonable size. Please help.

[doctorgonzo]

I like WinRAR, but I don't know if any compression software is going to help you. If I remember correctly, MPG files are already compressed, and using another utility won't help much.

[TMRayfield]

WinZip got it down by about 2%

[doctorgonzo]

Originally posted by TMRayfield
WinZip got it down by about 2%

You're not going to be able to do any better than that. Like I said, MPG files consist of data that is already compressed.

[TMRayfield]

Hmmm, how annoying, anyway, thanks for the help.

[bailey]

what is it that your trying to do that needs compression

[TMRayfield]

I have downloaded a number of Television episodes that are about 448mb each, and a friend also wants to see them and wanted me to put them onto CD for her.

[james8547]

I read somewhere that there are softwares out there that can cut those movies into segments. I personally haven't use one but it might help.

[imbest123]

On winzip 9.0 beta you can adjust how much you want to compress the file. Try that.

[doctorgonzo]

Originally posted by imbest123
On winzip 9.0 beta you can adjust how much you want to compress the file. Try that.

That's not going to work. You can't compress random data, because there is no redundant information there to squeeze out. MPEG files are already compressed by the algorithm that encodes them to remove redundant data.

You can't compress compressions, no matter what software you use.

[imbest123]

Originally posted by doctorgonzo
That's not going to work. You can't compress random data, because there is no redundant information there to squeeze out. MPEG files are already compressed by the algorithm that encodes them to remove redundant data.

You can't compress compressions, no matter what software you use.
I did not know that. Thnx for the info.

[Force Flow]

winRAR allows you to split compressed files, although as already mentioned several times, there will be next to no compression.

[RayH]

Use TMPGEnc to split the MPEG files and then burn them.

[CarolZambrano]

I am looking for good compression software that is able to compress my HUGE MPEG files down to a reasonable size.

[TheMajor]

forget it...you can't compress MPEG or MP3 or any other kind of compressed audio/video.....but for other stuff WinRAR is the best!

[rios__]

you can alway re-encode it. that will reduce the size, but also the quality

[bryris]

7-zip is pretty good I hear, gotta good review in the Opensource Spotlight column. Not sure about MPEG files though.

[KilluminatiStyle]

You could always use a program to RE-ENCODE them. I recommend..

WINDOWS MEDIA ENCODER

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/1/f/81f9402f-efdd-439d-b2a4-089563199d47/WMEncoder.exe

I use this to reencode in game video that I've captured with FRAPS. The original video starts out at like 400MB and in the end Windows Media Encoder gets it down to about 4-8MB (usually about 10% of original file size) and it has GREAT quality. It actually seems to clean the video up some. Plus it's really easy to use and the best part.... IT'S FREE!

[M.D.]

I think winace is the best in the field. but what you guys think, what are the cons?

[TheMajor]

its too big

[KilluminatiStyle]

As far as I know there is NO WAY TO MAKE VIDEO FILES SMALLER UNLESS YOU REENCODE. That being said, my favorite compression software is WinRar. As good as this prog is it still won't make video smaller.

As I've mentioned before, Windows Media Encoder rocks. Tons of features and easy to use.

[VideoDumb]

KilluminatiStyle...I downloaded the Windows Media Encoder and your right. It is somewhat easy to use. I was able to compress an mpg from 139mb to 28mb without much difficulty, but I am still not acheiving the results that you talk about. Without taking to much of your time I was wondering what are some of the settings you used to get that 10%. What did you use for the "New Session" and what kind of output option did you use. What I am tring to compress is an informative video from a chiropractic doctor. I have about 5 videos that range anywhere from 139mb to 522mb that I am trying to get on the web. I really appreciate any advice you may be able to give.

[glc]

139 down to 28 is pretty impressive. Is the quality still acceptable?

[VideoDumb]

To the naked eye or the novice you could not tell them apart. I had to go back and forth from the old file to converted one to really pick out the differences. Thanks to KilluminatiStyle for suggesting it.