Compress/Stuff .DV file

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Level 2

350 points

Compress/Stuff .DV file

Hello,

I have a lot of .dv files that I made in iMovie. They are the normal high quality that you would burn onto a DVD for viewing. I want to "stuff" them for storage on an external hard drive. I tried stuffit deluxe but it didn't save any space. The file I used to test it started off at 17Gb and after it was "stuffed" it was the same size. I'm hoping to get a 17Gb file "stuffed" as small as possible.

Any other software out there that you can recommend that will "stuff" a .dv file and then when I go to "unstuff" it it will be approx the same quality as the original?

Thanks much!

Mike

macpro 2ghz dual core, 2gb ram, Mac OS X (10.5.7), 2 super drives, 160gb hard drive, 500gb hard drive

Posted on Jun 18, 2009 8:38 AM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

741,881 points

Jun 18, 2009 8:59 AM in response to Michael Glink

DV files are already tightly compressed and cannot be reduced any further without losing quality accordingly.

(44689)

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Answer 2

Michael Glink Author

Level 2

350 points

Jun 18, 2009 9:11 AM in response to Niel

Shoot, thats what i was afraid of...thanks!

Mike

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Answer 3

Klaus1

Level 9

52,879 points

Jun 18, 2009 10:52 AM in response to Michael Glink

Any other software out there that you can recommend that will "stuff" a .dv file and then when I go to "unstuff" it it will be approx the same quality as the original?

There is the rub!

The obvious way to do it is to compress the file by simply turning it into a standard DVD, which is mpeg2 format and a quarter of the size BUT that does not allow for future or further editing, because if you convert back you get considerable quality loss.

Best solution is to store them on an external hard drive.

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Answer 4

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Jun 18, 2009 10:56 AM in response to Klaus1

Best solution is to store them on an external hard drive.

... or back to tape, if you're not planning any immediate edits.

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Answer 5

Michael Glink Author

Level 2

350 points

Jun 18, 2009 10:58 AM in response to Klaus1

That is what I'm planning on doing. I'll need to get a two terabyte drive for these files which is why I had thought of somehow stuffing the files as I do with psd files in photoshop, quark files, etc, so they would take up less space.

I have approx 100 of these files.

Thanks for the response!

Mike

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