Hi
Ok, here are my DVD settings that I use. Some are borrowed from the
iPod presets and some are different. I use a snapshot build of
handbrake, and I really do suggest that you use the snapshot builds.
It has some abilities that are useful, including the ability to add
multiple audio tracks and to alter their codecs/bitrates separately.
The current snapshot build is revision 1913 and I've found it to be
very stable. It also adds the ability to easily alter some of the
encoder options manually, which is an ability we will need.
I'll describe the settings used in each tab. Once you have these set
and working you can make a preset so you don't have to do this every
time.
Global settings (these appear at the top of the window):
output format is an mp4 file. Make sure large file and web optimized
are unchecked, and iPod 5g support is checked. Even though it says
iPod 5g it applies to all iPods.
Video tab:
codec: h.264
bitrate: anywhere up to 1500, going higher will break iPod and Apple
TV compatibility, so if that's not important feel free to go higher.
As with audio bitrate, this controls how much compression is done and
therefore how much is lost. I usually use 1200 for most movies, 1500
for high quality or very intensive movies, and 1024 for TV shows.
next, press the picture settings button. Make sure keep aspect ratio
is unchecked, leave cropping at auto, and set anamorphic to loose. If
you know you need deblocking or some of the other filters (usually you
won't) set them as appropriate. Press close once the picture settings
are set.
Make sure two-pass encoding is checked (it makes a huge difference in
quality). I also check turbo first pass, but you don't need to if you
want to squeeze every last little bit of quality out of the first
pass. It doesn't degrade the quality appreciably to turbo the first
pass however. Make sure framerate is set to "same as source."
Audio tab
These settings are flexible. Add whichever audio tracks you wish, with
whatever codec you wish. I use AAC, as it's the standard mp4 audio
codec and works with everything. This is what the iPod supports, it
does not support AC3 and neither does Quicktime out of the box. You
can get the perian codecs for quicktime to add AC3 support if you wish
to use that. For iPod compatibility, stick with using AAC for all
audio tracks. Multiple audio tracks are fine, pick the ones you want
and the order you want them. Likewise, set the subtitle options the
way they need to be set for that particular movie if you wish to
include subtitles. If you include a 5.1-channel surround track, set
its downmix option to "dolby prologic II." This will retain the
surround sound but also be downmixed to a stereo format--i.e. it will
play in stereo and in 5.1 on devices that support prologic II.
Chapter marks tab
Check the create chapter markers box (it's checked by default).
They're very nice to have, and if you should happen to play the file
on a device or in a software program that doesn't support the chapter
marks they will simply be ignored.
Advanced tab
I'm not going to go into what all the advanced options do, if I did
this message would probably be too long for the list. Go down to the
edit box at the bottom of the tab and put the following option string
into it:
level=30:bframes=0:cabac=0:ref=1:vbv-maxrate=1500:vbv-
bufsize=2000:analyse=all:me=umh:no-fast-pskip=1
The important thing to take note of is the vbv-maxrate=1500 string.
This controls the maximum bitrate of the encoder. If you have set your
bitrate higher than 1500, you need to raise this number accordingly--
if you do not, your encode will be incorrect and the encoder could
even crash. You do not need to lower this number to match a bitrate
lower than 1500 however. If you want iPod and apple TV compatibility
do not raise this number, as 1500 is the maximum video bitrate they
can support. The other options should be left alone, some of them turn
off advanced h.264 features the iPods don't support, and others
control advanced encoding parameters having to do with video motion
estimation and frame encodings. If you do not need iPod or apple TV
support, in particular, you should change cabac=0 to cabac=1 to turn
on an encoding feature that can result in better compression. Note
that most of these settings can be controlled by the checkboxes in the
advanced tab, and any changes you make will be reflected there as
well. Not all of them can, however, and some of the manual options are
needed, again, for the iPod.
Once these settings are in place, it's time for your first encode.
Press command+s and wait... and wait... and wait some more. The
progress bar at the bottom of the window will show your encoding
progress. Video encoding is not a fast thing, so you'll probably need
to find something else to do for an hour or so. Once you've got the
settings the way you like it, select "new preset" or press command+n
to save them as a handbrake preset. You can even make your new preset
the default.
Sorry for the rather technical nature of this, but I hope this was
able to help.
On Nov 16, 2008, at 16:07, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
Hi,
Of course I won't get rid of them. I will simply shelve them as is
without bothering to label them. I would love your settings if you
don't mind to write them.
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
On 16-Nov-08, at 12:58 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
I wouldn't necessarily get rid of your DVDs after you've digitized
them though. Video encoding is rather complex with a hole lot of
options, and some day you may want to re-encode with different
ones. In particular, it took me a long time to figure out the exact
combination of options to use for video that will play on anything
from an iPod Classic or Nano all the way up to an Apple TV in
standard anamorphic widescreen. If you want the settings I use let
me know.
On Nov 16, 2008, at 15:32, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
Hi,
Thanks so much.
I won't bother labeling in Braille my DVDs anymore, I'll just
digitize them.
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
Thanks for listneing,
Alex,
On 16-Nov-08, at 12:13 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Use handbrake to open the resulting video_ts folder. MacTheRipper
rips the DVD to your hard drive as-is, removing any CSS
encryption and region coding along the way. You will have a
folder named after the DVD, inside that will be a folder called
VIDEO_TS. This is what you open with Handbrake. Handbrake will
read the DVD information and you will be able to set your ripping
options and go.
Note that Handbrake can rip directly from DVDs, including those
encrypted with CSS. But the ripping process goes much faster if
the DVD is ripped to the hard drive first.
On Nov 16, 2008, at 14:53, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
Hi,
Well, I am ripping using Mac the Ripper, and I have a tone of
weird files. How do I convert them using Handbreak?
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
