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Best way to store/compress video files?

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I have a 500GB HD on my MBP and am FAST running out of space! I have a lot of pics, music, but I think what is chewing up the most of my HD space is my video clips as I record and edit all in HD files.

Would my best bet be to just compress them all into a .ZIP and then delete the originals, or just store them all on an external HD and then delete what is on my MBP, or something else? TIA.
 

Raz0rEdge

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I'm pretty sure compressing video files, unless they are RAW footage will not shrink much ...you should invest in an external HD and back up there..

Regards
 
C

chas_m

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Yes, it's nuts to keep HD files on your boot drive (or excessive amounts of pics and tunes for that matter). All three main programs that work with pictures, music and movies will let you keep separate libraries on other drives, and HDs are crazy cheap these days, so that's the way to go.

PS. If you're not already backing up to an external drive -- I guess you'll need at least two external HD's -- one for the "media" and a BIG one to back everything up.
 
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Another vote for the external HD. I don't believe ZIP will compress it much further but if your videos are in high quality HD format then you probably don't want to degrade the quality with compression. I know I wouldn't do it.

I don't have as much video as you do but I do have lots of photos that I keep on an external HD with a second external that is basically a clone of that. As chas has mentioned if you only have one copy of your files then you don't have a backup solution.
 

CrimsonRequiem


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Get another external HDD and back up your stuff. Burn them onto DVDs.
 

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