Best format for Mac

[csk1978]

I am only new to Handbrake and have a couple of questions regarding what are the best settings are for Mac. I have used handbrake on my MacBook Pro to import my dvd's. They will play in itunes but won't sync to my iphone. Do I need to change settings for different devices ie iPhone, Apple TV and do multiple imports or is there a master setting that will incapsulate it all? Either way what are the optimum settings?

Thanks in advance.

I appreciate that this may have already been answered in previous threads, however I was unable to locate it.

[TedJ]

If you're looking to encode video for playback on multiple devices, then the least capable device (iPhone) becomes the limiting factor. In this case, I recommend that you use the Apple Universal preset.

[csk1978]

Have just tried your suggestion of encoding using the universal preset and it works a treat. Thanks.

[2lindag]

New user here. Does the Universal pre-set result in a larger file size than the iPhone pre-set? I'd like to keep my iPhone file as small as possible to fit more movies on it. Is there any display/calculation of the relative end result file sizes when I insert a source DVD?

TIA,
Linda in Seattle

[TedJ]

Yes, the Universal preset will result in an encode much larger than that produced by the iPhone preset, as it preserves the full frame size of the source rather than downscaling to fit the iPhone's screen.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of Constant Quality encoding it is impossible to accurately predict the resulting encode size in advance, as it is largely dependent on the nature and quality of the source material - filesizes between two titles may vary as much as 100% due to noise, film grain, etc.

If you're only planning on playback on the iPhone's screen (rather than A/V out) I recommend sticking with the iPhone preset.

[hunterk]

Is there any display/calculation of the relative end result file sizes when I insert a source DVD?

Although Constant Quality is by far the preferred method of choosing bitrate/quality, you can use 'Bitrate (kbps)' or 'Target Size (MB)' if the output size is your biggest concern rather than quality. In either case, it will greatly improve the quality of these average-bitrate encodes if you also use 2-pass encoding (I recommend also using 'Turbo First Pass' to speed things up).

These files will end up looking worse than a Constant Quality encoding, especially in scenes that require a higher bitrate (e.g., scenes with a lot of movement), but the resulting filesize is much more predictable (usually +/- a few MBs on a feature-length DVD).

[samj]

Are there any advanced settings you like for the iPhone or Apple Universal preset?

For the ATV - I use 62%, Decomb and Detelecine on - default. - Should I use these for the iPhone & Universal presets as well?

Thanks!

[hunterk]

Are there any advanced settings you like for the iPhone or Apple Universal preset?

you shouldn't really modify the advanced settings from a preset if you plan on playing the files on a device, as they're pretty particular about what works and what doesn't (that's the reason the presets exist, after all)

[samj]

I understand. It's just that when searching around for optimal Apple TV settings, I had found several posts with good ideas and updated/modified advanced strings that look better than the presets.

I'm guessing that with a screen as small as the iphone, the presets will work just great.

But the question still remains, does anyone have any advanced strings/settings for conversions that will only be played back on a Mac?

Thanks!