binary data in source code form

[Skaperen]

i have some big binary data i need to embed in a python source file with the intention that it will be written to a binary file.  one way to do this is to store it as a string literal with backslash encoding.  is there a more efficient way to do it?  would big integer literals be more efficient?  assume the binary data is already compressed and cannot be further compressed.  would base64 be better?  base85?