Compacting DivX files

I've been using the built-in DVD burner in my free DivX software to burn AVI files. Just wonder what you all would recommend if I want to compact the files. So far I can only fit 12 episodes of TV series (about 350MB each) into one 4.7GB DVD disc. I want to fit more into one disc, say 13 or 14.

Also, what would you recommend if I want more control over the file/folder
management: something maybe as simple as changing file names?

Would Nero 7 do it? Or what about something free?

 

You have to re-encode each and every file at a lower bitrate to compress them. Usually not worth it as it will take lots of time and you may lose some quality (not so much due to the extra compression, but due to the re-encoding process). Better leave it as it is.

 

I thought of just leaving them as is. I can burn the whole season (usually 24 episodes) of a TV series into 2 DVD discs, or 1 dual layer DVD, and I'm a happy camper. But sometimes they have 25 episodes and it's sort of annoying that you need 3 DVD discs because of this.

Anybody gets a better idea?

 

Maybe cut off the intros/credits on all the episodes? You can use VirtualDub without reincoding the files. Still kind of time-consuming, but life ain't perfect.

Does anyone know if overburning works with DVD as well? With CDs, you can tell the software to burn more than the stated capacity of the disk. Sometimes works, sometimes gives you an error, you'll have to experiment a bit.

 

Overburning DVDs is possible, but not all drives support it.

 

You can try encoding in MPEG4 but I don't personally know if it will run on a standalone DVD player.

I have a collection of DVDs from a course I took and I had the intention of converting the ISOs to MPEG4. That way I can watch them on an Apple IPOD Video.

 

Thx for the suggestions so far.

Any other input is welcome.

 

My burner is supposed to support overburning but Nero never let me do it. I find it annoying that it says 4.7gb on the DVD and only 4.4 in Nero