Turning 5gb movie to 1 (or less) gb

[zamboknee]

Description of problem or question:


I've got a 5gb, 2 hour movie (mp4) that I'd like to convert down to about 1gb.
It'll reside on a hard drive attached to my router and played back on an Apple TV app.
It's an 80s movie that's definitely not in HD.


Steps to reproduce the problem (If Applicable):

Tried converting to m4v but it only got it down to 4gb and it took about 2 hours to complete


HandBrake version (e.g., 1.0.0):

1.2.0


Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Windows 10 Creators Update):

Mac 10.14.6


HandBrake Activity Log ***required*** (see How-to get an activity log)

https://pastebin.com/p021gwPF

[JohnAStebbins]

Aside, You should upgrade to the latest handbrake v1.3.1

It's an 80s movie that's definitely not in HD

Your log indicates otherwise

Code: Select all

[07:27:22]        + source: 1920 * 1080, crop (20/20/0/2): 1918 * 1040, scale: 1918 * 1040

1920x1080 is HD

If you don't care about keeping HD resolution, you can scale the video down on the dimensions pane. That will reduce file size.
If you do want to keep HD resolution, you should try enabling the NLMeans filter on the filters pane. Old movies are often quite noisy which bloats file size.
Your source only has one stereo audio track. The preset is adding an AC3 version of that track to the output. You might as well remove that since it adds 688KB to the file size (more than half your budget).
If the above doesn't get you to your goal, decrease the quality setting (higher RF value) on the video pane. 6 points of RF will typically halve the file size.

[zamboknee]

I'm applying your suggestions.
Is there a preset that's already to go with settings that would achieve what I'm looking to do?

[BradleyS]

Try the Fast 480p30 preset as a starting point for encoding standard definition.

[mduell]

Fast isn't very efficient, which will make the quality poor.

Also increasing RF (up to about 30) is recommended before dropping resolution.