For using DIRECT load method with GZIP format, what size to consider

Hi I want to load data in VERTICA with COPY command for GZIP file format. The guide says we can use DIRECT method when the size is > 100MB. My question is when I am loading data in GZIP format, what size should I consider to use DIRECT or not? Is it the raw data size or compressed data size(size of gzip file)? A quick help on this will be appreciated