Preferred tool for DVD -> MPEG/AVI/MOV/Other?

[upallnight]

Hi-
I had some home-brew video footage given to me by a friend. I'd like to convert it for posting on the web, but I don't have access to the source.

Since it's going to be on his (business) web site, I need to balance quality vs. file size.

What format is going to yield the smallest file size? What tool do you recommend? I've been experimenting with a variety of trial software ("ImTOO DVD Ripper" seems pretty good), but the resultant file sizes for MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG4 / AVI are all coming in at about 50mb for 5 minutes of video.

Any thoughts? Is Quicktime's MOV format much more efficient? I have not been able to do a trial run, and I don't want to shell out the $$ for QT Pro if (a) it won't convert a DVD and (b) it won't save any space in the end-file size.

[wildstyle]

You can use the Windows media encoder. Its free.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx

With it you can convert the 50Mb avi files to windows media format.

The best way to reduce the size of the files while still being able to actually see whats going on is to create a custom encoding session, make the video 640x480 , 15fps with the lowest quality audio you can set( voice quality audio setting) as the sound probably isn't that important.

Reducing the resolution and/or frame rate has the most effect on final file size.

Get a small 20 second clip and play with that one until you are happy with the results. Then convert the larger file. That will speed up the process immensely.

[upallnight]

Thank you! I will definitely try it out!!

[upallnight]

Worked like a charm with my test AVI files. Thanks!!

[Free Range Lobster]

divx divx divx divx divx

or xvid

[upallnight]

I like divx, but doesn't it require users to download/install something (a codec) for playback? i want to capture the broadest group of users without requiring another download for them.