Compressing video files down for archive.

[_Grid21]

I don't really know what category this belongs in. Basically, I have kept the last 12 or so years of my video work on a 10TB WD Red hard drive, and that drive is almost full. I am not that familiar with 7-Zip when it comes to compressing things down to a smaller file size for archivel storage. I also know that compressing files down can reduce the quality of a video down, at least that's what I was under the impression of unless the tech has changed. Could someone give some suggested settings for using 7-Zip to compress videos down for long term archive and when I go to uncompress it for needing to use it, is there a way to recover the quality after compression? Any well explained tutorial or settings that even Linus himself has used would be appreciated greatly! 

[Needfuldoer]

Please tell me you have at least a second copy of that media…

 

Compressing compressed video files into zip archives won’t make the video quality worse, but you also won’t gain much by compressing files that are already compressed.  

 

If this is raw footage you could transcode it all to an efficient codec like HEVC or H.265, but that will take an eternity and you’d get a slight loss in quality from re-compressing compressed video. (The second generation copy will try to preserve compression artifacts left by the old codec.) You’re better off buying more storage space. 

[SkilledRebuilds]

Yep.. media already compressed so 7zip won't benefit much.

 

7zio won't affect quality though.

 

I agree with above, buy more HDDs.

It'll have its cost but saving you so much time recompressing into H265.

[wanderingfool2]

4 hours ago, _Grid21 said:

also know that compressing files down can reduce the quality of a video down, at least that's what I was under the impression of unless the tech has changed.

7-zip uses lossless compression.  i.e. no data is lost during the compression.

 

Video (h264, hevc, vp9) utilizes lossy compression...where data is lost. 

 

Typically video codecs also utilize a bit of lossless compression as well within it's lossy compression (like the lossy bit makes the lossless part easier to compress)...however that also means that trying to compress a video file with 7-zip and such will result in maybe 1%-2% compression (at least that's my experience).  Sometimes it will even be a larger file size afterwards.

 

In effect, it's pretty futile to try compressing video files like that.  You could always try re-encoding it, but with that said you will likely still lose quality (just because switching from one type to another there are slightly different properties).  e.g. h264 to vp9 you can use a smaller bitrate to achieve similar quality...but this takes a lot of tuning and comparing qualities really.

 

The best way is just purchase another drive to store stuff on.

[_Grid21]

On 9/5/2022 at 10:07 PM, Needfuldoer said:

Please tell me you have at least a second copy of that media…

 

Compressing compressed video files into zip archives won’t make the video quality worse, but you also won’t gain much by compressing files that are already compressed.  

 

If this is raw footage you could transcode it all to an efficient codec like HEVC or H.265, but that will take an eternity and you’d get a slight loss in quality from re-compressing compressed video. (The second generation copy will try to preserve compression artifacts left by the old codec.) You’re better off buying more storage space. 

No, this is my only copy and unfornately I am having having HDD failure of my 2 6TB WD Red because they've been sitting in a metal case screwed in with no HDD vibration reduction. So to save my 10TB HDD, I put it into my main work station where there is better air flow and vibration reduction.

On 9/5/2022 at 11:14 PM, SkilledRebuilds said:

Yep.. media already compressed so 7zip won't benefit much.

 

7zio won't affect quality though.

 

I agree with above, buy more HDDs.

It'll have its cost but saving you so much time recompressing into H265.

So 7-Zip is a fruitless effort then? 

On 9/6/2022 at 2:17 AM, wanderingfool2 said:

7-zip uses lossless compression.  i.e. no data is lost during the compression.

 

Video (h264, hevc, vp9) utilizes lossy compression...where data is lost. 

 

Typically video codecs also utilize a bit of lossless compression as well within it's lossy compression (like the lossy bit makes the lossless part easier to compress)...however that also means that trying to compress a video file with 7-zip and such will result in maybe 1%-2% compression (at least that's my experience).  Sometimes it will even be a larger file size afterwards.

 

In effect, it's pretty futile to try compressing video files like that.  You could always try re-encoding it, but with that said you will likely still lose quality (just because switching from one type to another there are slightly different properties).  e.g. h264 to vp9 you can use a smaller bitrate to achieve similar quality...but this takes a lot of tuning and comparing qualities really.

 

The best way is just purchase another drive to store stuff on.

Would using something like handbreak, though I keep having failing attempts at using that properly, help? If I knew how to use it correctly that is. Or am I better off just rebuilding my home server from the ground up again?

[wanderingfool2]

9 hours ago, _Grid21 said:

Would using something like handbreak, though I keep having failing attempts at using that properly, help? If I knew how to use it correctly that is. Or am I better off just rebuilding my home server from the ground up again?

Yea handbrake works.  I use ffmpeg for re-encodes; but again you ultimately are sacrificing video quality most of the time.  Always make sure to check the videos though, since you never now if there might be a glitch (I find audio tends to sometimes get messed up)

[Needfuldoer]

12 hours ago, _Grid21 said:

No, this is my only copy

!

Do something about that ASAP! The last thing you want is for a decade of work to be one drive failure away from oblivion.

 

At the very least, buy another 10+ TB external drive and make a 1:1 copy of what you currently have.

 

12 hours ago, _Grid21 said:

Would using something like handbreak, though I keep having failing attempts at using that properly, help? If I knew how to use it correctly that is. Or am I better off just rebuilding my home server from the ground up again?

Re-encoding your video is the only way to make it take up less digital space, but you'll take a quality hit when you do that and it takes time. It's up to you whether the time investment is worth the monetary savings over buying more drives.