HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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JohnAStebbins
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by JohnAStebbins »

mendalon wrote:Has the metric for the --quality option changed with this release. It used to be different to the GUI. For example, I used -q 0.63 to encode my DVD rips which was roughly equivalent to a CRF of 20 in the GUI. Now it appears the CLI option uses the same metric. I discovered this because the script I wrote to rip my DVDs suddenly started churning out MKVs that were about 10x as large. Not a complaint, just trying to verify the change so I can update my script.
It changed more than 2 years ago when we released 0.9.4 I believe. Values less than 1 were interpreted the old way and values >= 1 were interpreted the new way. We just kept some backwards compatibility for a while. But the code was cruft and was removed this time around.
TedJ
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by TedJ »

I can't find any reference to it specifically in the trac, but browsing the source suggests that the percentage based constant quality parsing has been removed; it's now based on standard RF like the GUI. I can't be 100% sure, but I believe the CLI was updated to use standard RF numbers a while back, as long as your chosen RF was greater than 1.
mike20021969
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by mike20021969 »

mendalon wrote: Constant quality gives you the best bang for buck. Digital music has traditionally been constant quality forever. You don't complain about the fact that all the songs you download from iTunes aren't the same size, do you?
I think you're confused. A constant bit rate does not mean a constant quality.

A variable bit rate in audio would give you constant quality (more bits where they're needed, less where they're not).
The same is true for video. Constant quality in Handbrake is the equivalent of variable bit rate, no? :lol:
akwhitacre
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by akwhitacre »

How could anyone seriously care about this option?
I know I'm in a small minority, but my org's video embed service sets a video size cap at 1gb. So it was always nice to tell Handbrake to keep my videos at around 900mb.
dynaflash
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by dynaflash »

lets stop the comments about target size. Its not coming back ... ever. Use a calculator as has been said ad nauseum.
MattLx
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by MattLx »

I realize this question will show how little understand the handling within Handbrake. Here it goes...

In the previous release the Apple TV 2 preset would always default 5.1 audio to use AC3 passthru. Now instead of AC3 Passthru it shows AC3 (ffmpeg)?
Curious as to why the change?
Is this just because my source has a DTS 5.1 and maybe it will show AC3 Passthru when it's a an AC3 5.1 source?

Update: I'd still appreciate answers to the above questions, but here's a little more on my confusion.

If this is because there was never really an AC3 passthru with a DTS source, then for Apple TV - Can I manually choose DTS Passthru or will Apple TV not be able to play it?
I'm just looking for the best practice on how to handle DTS 5.1. Thanks
Smithcraft
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by Smithcraft »

You have to have the AAC track, then the original sound track.

SC
MattLx
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by MattLx »

Smithcraft wrote:You have to have the AAC track, then the original sound track.

SC
I'm sorry, I don't understand. With a DTS source and the Apple TV 2 preset, the 2nd audio track defaults to ac3 (ffmpeg). Should that be changed to DTS Passthru or will Apple TV not handle DTS passthru? Is the conversion from DTS 5.1 to ffmpeg AC3 5.1 the right way to go?
Smithcraft
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by Smithcraft »

You can not pass something that isn't there through. If your second audio track is set to AC3 then it will be AC3, and not DTS which does not contain AC3.

You will have to either set the second track to auto passthrough, or manually deal with it every time you have a file with DTS.

I'm not sure the ATVs can handle DTS without hacking.

SC
Deleted User 11865

Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

mendalon wrote:Has the metric for the --quality option changed with this release. It used to be different to the GUI. For example, I used -q 0.63 to encode my DVD rips which was roughly equivalent to a CRF of 20 in the GUI. Now it appears the CLI option uses the same metric. I discovered this because the script I wrote to rip my DVDs suddenly started churning out MKVs that were about 10x as large. Not a complaint, just trying to verify the change so I can update my script.
HandBrake 0.9.4 added support for encoder-native values, but still treated values between 1 and 0 as a percentage (like 0.9.3 and earlier did). Now --quality only supports encoder-native values. This happened a couple months after the release of 0.9.5.
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

MattLx wrote:In the previous release the Apple TV 2 preset would always default 5.1 audio to use AC3 passthru. Now instead of AC3 Passthru it shows AC3 (ffmpeg)?
Curious as to why the change?
Is this just because my source has a DTS 5.1 and maybe it will show AC3 Passthru when it's a an AC3 5.1 source?
Yes.
MattLx wrote:With a DTS source and the Apple TV 2 preset, the 2nd audio track defaults to ac3 (ffmpeg). Should that be changed to DTS Passthru or will Apple TV not handle DTS passthru?
The AppleTV will not handle DTS audio.
MattLx wrote:Is the conversion from DTS 5.1 to ffmpeg AC3 5.1 the right way to go?
Yes.
mendalon
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by mendalon »

mike20021969 wrote:
mendalon wrote: Constant quality gives you the best bang for buck. Digital music has traditionally been constant quality forever. You don't complain about the fact that all the songs you download from iTunes aren't the same size, do you?
I think you're confused. A constant bit rate does not mean a constant quality.

A variable bit rate in audio would give you constant quality (more bits where they're needed, less where they're not).
The same is true for video. Constant quality in Handbrake is the equivalent of variable bit rate, no? :lol:
Sorry, my mistake. Constant bitrate is obviously not the same as constant quality. But the point remains in regards to file size. Anyway, as dynaflash mentioned, enough said.
MattLx
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by MattLx »

Rodeo wrote:
MattLx wrote:In the previous release the Apple TV 2 preset would always default 5.1 audio to use AC3 passthru. Now instead of AC3 Passthru it shows AC3 (ffmpeg)?
Curious as to why the change?
Is this just because my source has a DTS 5.1 and maybe it will show AC3 Passthru when it's a an AC3 5.1 source?
Yes.
MattLx wrote:With a DTS source and the Apple TV 2 preset, the 2nd audio track defaults to ac3 (ffmpeg). Should that be changed to DTS Passthru or will Apple TV not handle DTS passthru?
The AppleTV will not handle DTS audio.
MattLx wrote:Is the conversion from DTS 5.1 to ffmpeg AC3 5.1 the right way to go?
Yes.
Thanks so much. I appreciate the direct answers.
enonumus
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by enonumus »

Just came around to say that I'm really thrilled to see some of the improvements in 0.9.6. The number one item on my personal wish list since I don't know when, has been been the ability to adjust volume level and dynamic range. Would've settled just for volume level, but dynamic range was a nice bonus. Prior to this, I've had to use multiple steps and programs to deal with volume level and/or dynamic range issues, which is very time consuming and cumbersome. The ability to pass through other audio codecs besides AC3 is also going to be very helpful, along with many of the other improvements.

Thanks for all the hard work and a great program!
Deleted User 11865

Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

DRC has been available since at least 0.9.3. Only audio gain is new.
IrishPrince
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by IrishPrince »

I noticed a big change moving from HandBrake 0.9.5 to 0.9.6 (OS X) using the Apple TV 2 preset. If the source video doesn't have a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, the new Apple TV 2 preset creates one using "AC3 (ffmpeg)" codec. In the case of where the original source audio stream is at 38000 sample rate, this really screws up the file on Apple TV2 playback.

What happens is Apple TV2 (and ATV 3rd gen) default to the 5.1 stream by default and plays it back the audio too fast -- meaning the singers all sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks. If I delete the second audio track, the audio in the music video plays back correctly.

So... the Apple TV2 profile should be smart enough to know that there is no 5.1 track and not try to create one that does not exist. Anyone else have this issue?
TedJ
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by TedJ »

This probably warrants it's own thread, with an encode log of one of the problematic files.
bobross
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by bobross »

Hello,

I'm on Windows 7 x64, I downloaded 0.9.6 x64 version but it installed here:

C:\Program Files (x86)

Not:

C:\Program Files

As do other x64 applications. I checked under "about handbrake" version and there is no indication of x32 or x64 version. How can I tell what version I'm running? Maybe this can be added to about in the future?

Thank you!
BR
MikeEckman
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by MikeEckman »

I just wanted to say thanks to the devs for maintaining such an excellent program. It has been a long time since I've had a nightly version of Handbrake not work exactly the way it should.

I want to state my opinion that I am happy that the devs move forward with the program and eliminate code and features that are not critical (such as target size and 1024x768 screen resolutions) and don't try to maintain backwards compatibility to satisfy legacy users.

I have a lot of experience with software that tries to be everything to everyone and that is impossibly difficult to do. If someone wants to use an old feature of Handbrake, they can use an old version.

For me, I look forward to new versions of the product that support new features.

Keep up the great work guys (and gals if there are any!) :)
MikeEckman
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by MikeEckman »

bobross wrote:Hello,

I'm on Windows 7 x64, I downloaded 0.9.6 x64 version but it installed here:

C:\Program Files (x86)

Not:

C:\Program Files

As do other x64 applications. I checked under "about handbrake" version and there is no indication of x32 or x64 version. How can I tell what version I'm running? Maybe this can be added to about in the future?

Thank you!
BR
For any Windows program, you can tell if the program is 32-bit or 64-bit by going into Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) and looking at the different processes. If you see *32 next to a running process name then its 32-bit, if it doesnt say *32, then its 64-bit. This, of course, assumes you are already running a 64-bit version of Windows...
stevesien
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by stevesien »

musicvid wrote:In my humble opinion, the individuals who need to predict file sizes for storage purposes are self-deluded (terabytes are cheap!), and the exceptionally few who need to forecast nominal streaming bandwidth for WAN servers are fully capable of the fifth-grade math needed to get there.

A more productive post from me, once I have had time to put the new stable through its paces, is forthcoming.
;?)
You do not understand, all situations where target size is useful. I need to limit sizes for reasons I do not control, and I want the best quality possible for a given max. size allowed. So target size is VERY useful for me and will cause me to waste a lot if time trying to get a file under the max allowed size. Cheap storage , is not the issue at all.
GregiBoy
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by GregiBoy »

I understand that it is not coming back so get over it...
mike20021969
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by mike20021969 »

stevesien wrote:So target size is VERY useful for me and will cause me to waste a lot if time trying to get a file under the max allowed size.
You can always install a previous version which supports target size.
I have both 0.9.3 & the currently nightly build installed.
All you have to do is manually create an installation folder in Program Files, e.g. Handbrake 0.9.3, and install the relevent version to that. Remember to rename any created shortcuts after installing by adding the version number.
Last edited by mike20021969 on Fri May 04, 2012 11:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

So you need both target size & XviD/AVI output?
rollin_eng
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Re: HandBrake 0.9.6 Discussion Thead

Post by rollin_eng »

So target size is VERY useful for me
Why?
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