converting .avi to .mp4 doubles file size?

[eldonhenley]

OK. I've got an ext. drive full of movies and tv shows in .avi format. I want them in .mp4 so iTunes (& tv) will recognize them.

Every time I convert them to .mp4, the file size doubles. (sidenote: I've also tried m4v; still doubled) I've tried 2 different methods of converting to these formats:
1. open in QTpro>Export as...
2. open in Video Converter (4Media) and convert according to general instructions.

The video doesn't get any longer (duration) or bigger (resolution), the file just becomes twice the size as the .avi.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I just want everything to be the same size, and be compatible with iTunes.

(ps. i don't own tv. I use front row and I just want to be prepared for when I DO get tv )

 

[Macsterling]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Besides QT, what other app r u using?

 

[Macsterling]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Besides QT, what other app r u using?

 

[gonwk]

Hi eldon,

See if this Thread helps ...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/421932/

G!

 

[sxuue]

Using the video converter(4Media), maybe you can set a little lower bitrate to have a same size mp4 file. But I'm afraid you'll get a lower quality..

 

[hazmatzak]

To get about half the size, you would have to use about half the bitrate.

You don't say which video codec you use in the AVI. Like MOV, AVI is a container format that supports many codecs; it's like saying you have some food in Tupperware vs. having some food wrapped in foil -- it's not the most telling part of the description.

If they're DivX, in that thread gonwk mentioned, someone claimed you can use pass through. That has a whiff of plausibility, since DivX is/was an MPEG-4 variant. Unfortunately, you don't have an TV to test it, and I wouldn't spend a lot of time with that technique without verifying it works for a good sampling of your AVI library.

 

[ibglowin]

Don't use Quicktime.....

Use Visualhub or its free cousin iSquint. Select the AppleTV option and try Standard or High Quality. If you use the "go nuts" option it will usually be bigger than the original. Then open your original and see if you can tell any difference in image quality between either of your new MP4 files. Keep the one that is closest to your original file size or the one that looks better to you. After a couple of rips you should be able to convert just once as you will know what settings you prefer.