Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

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m021478
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:57 pm

Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by m021478 »

I've backed-up hundreds of my DVD movies using MacTheRipper in the Video_TS Folder format, and I would now like to begin converting these ripped backups so that I can have a version that will be optimized for my AppleTV (for high-res playback) and also so that I can have a version specifically for playback on my iPhone (lower-res; 480x320)? I use a Mac of course, and would most likely use Handbrake accomplish this task...

I first wanted to know if some of you also convert your rips so that they're optimized for playback device on the specific device you'll be viewing them on (i.e. not putting a 2GB-3GB movie on my iPhone when the playback quality from the iPhone won't be much better than a movie that's a mere 500MB-1GB)...

An secondly, assuming that there are some of you out there that also prefer to convert movies optimized for specific viewing devices (i.e. Apple TV; iPhone; etc), what method [i.e. preset(s)] do you use for converting for each?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...Thanks!
TedJ
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Re: Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by TedJ »

Um, isn't that what the iPhone and Apple TV presets are for? :)

http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/BuiltInPresets
m021478
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:57 pm

Re: Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by m021478 »

To reiterate my question (which, of course, is not answered in the Wiki):
I first wanted to know if some of you also convert your rips so that they're optimized for playback device on the specific device you'll be viewing them on (i.e. not putting a 2GB-3GB movie on my iPhone when the playback quality from the iPhone won't be much better than a movie that's a mere 500MB-1GB)...
If this one is answered somewhere on the wiki, I sure as $h!t didn't see it...
An secondly, assuming that there are some of you out there that also prefer to convert movies optimized for specific viewing devices (i.e. Apple TV; iPhone; etc), what method [i.e. preset(s)] do you use for converting for each?
In regards to this particular question, I have read through the forums quite a bit and have found that many people do not use the default presets for doing the conversion (for example one method I used for a while to generate a video that was hi-res and optimized for the AppleTV, yet would also be capable of playback on the iPhone - select the iPhone preset, then manually change the bitrate to 2500kbps; change the anamorphic setting to 'Strict'; change to 'two-pass', and uncheck the 'Insert iPod Atom')...I guess what I was hoping to find out with this second questions was if people use unique settings to accomplish this particular task?

Anyone care to shed a little light on either of these questions for me?
Jabberwock
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Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:35 pm

Re: Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by Jabberwock »

m021478 wrote:
An secondly, assuming that there are some of you out there that also prefer to convert movies optimized for specific viewing devices (i.e. Apple TV; iPhone; etc), what method [i.e. preset(s)] do you use for converting for each?
In regards to this particular question, I have read through the forums quite a bit and have found that many people do not use the default presets for doing the conversion (for example one method I used for a while to generate a video that was hi-res and optimized for the AppleTV, yet would also be capable of playback on the iPhone - select the iPhone preset, then manually change the bitrate to 2500kbps; change the anamorphic setting to 'Strict'; change to 'two-pass', and uncheck the 'Insert iPod Atom')...I guess what I was hoping to find out with this second questions was if people use unique settings to accomplish this particular task?
IME, the greatest value of using the presets is ensuring compatibility of the video with the device. In terms of improving quality I haven't seen a big difference from tweaking them so I don't bother. You will want to tweak the bitrate though, because it impacts file size. Just play around a bit and see. And btw, 2500kbps will give you a really large file and is way more than required for iPhone. I get good results with 400kbps (using a 480px width) and at that bitrate you can even stream it over 3G. For AppleTV you will want a higher bitrate.
m021478
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:57 pm

Re: Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by m021478 »

IME, the greatest value of using the presets is ensuring compatibility of the video with the device. In terms of improving quality I haven't seen a big difference from tweaking them so I don't bother. You will want to tweak the bitrate though, because it impacts file size. Just play around a bit and see. And btw, 2500kbps will give you a really large file and is way more than required for iPhone.
Thanks for your response...I really appreciate the input!
I get good results with 400kbps (using a 480px width) and at that bitrate you can even stream it over 3G. For AppleTV you will want a higher bitrate.
Out of curiosity, how would I go about streaming video to my iPhone over 3G (for example, if I wanted to put up a generic index.html file listing videos I've uploaded to my web server, which are available for streaming?) Is such a thing possible? If so, is it straight-foward and easy to accomplish, or is it a bit more difficult than just that?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!
jbrjake
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Re: Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by jbrjake »

Use a resolution no larger than 640*480 (yes, the iPhone has a lower rez limit for streamed video than for locally stored video) and use the "HTTP Optimized MP4" option or whatever it's called in the Mac interface. Remember to set up .htaccess on your web server with the MIME types:

Code: Select all

.mov video/quicktime
.mp4 video/mp4
.m4v video/x-m4v
.3gp video/3gpp 
as per Apple's documentation.
Jabberwock
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:35 pm

Re: Workflow for Converting DVD Rips to iPhone/AppleTV Format??

Post by Jabberwock »

Alternatively you can use an embed code like:
<embed height="200" width="device-width" pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" src="http://mydomain.tld/myvideos/video1.mov" type="video/quicktime" controller="true" autoplay="false">
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