Hello, first of all thank you for the incredible piece of software! This is EXACTLY the program I needed and I am so happy there is a piece of quality software available!!!
I am going to be getting a 120GB iPod Classig 6th gen iPod. My wife currently has a 5th gen iPod and I currently have 30GB iPod Photo (no video). I'm going to be encoding lots of videos from my DVDs. It's likely that little to none of it will be anything she'd be interested in putting on her iPod, but stranger things have happened...
After some experimenting, I am planning on using the "iPod Legacy" preset, and turning on Loose Anamorphic, decombing, and 2 pass encoding with turbo 1st pass. I may also consider using the iPod setting (at 320 res) if that res looks decent when output to my TV.
I have some questions on some of the other options which I haven't been able to track down specific answers to...
(1) What exactly is the downside of checking the "iPod 5G support" box? I understand the basic premise that the 5g units cannot utilize some of the features or bitrates that the newer models can, but I'm still not sure if I should check it. If it lowers the quality of the videos too much, I will not use it. But if it doesn't matter with the options I am using, then it makes sense to check it so my wife could utilize the files if she wanted to.
(2) I love audio commentaries. I notice that I can encode them to the video file using Handbrake as a second audio track. Can these be listened to within iTunes and on the iPod itself? How do I switch between the tracks?
(3) I have seen some conflicting information on maximum resolutions. For example, the "Universal" profile (which says it's compatible with iPod in addition to the other Apple products) uses a resolution of 720. But in everal places I have seen references that the iPod will not be able to play back videos greater than 640x480. Is this strictly an output resolution limit, meaning anything higher than 640 will be downconverted before being output over the TV connection? Or will the files not play at all on the iPod? I understand that all files will be downconverted to 320x240 for playing on the iPod's screen, of course. I would test this, but I don't have the iPod yet... just trying to get a jump on some of the encoding before it arrives...
Thanks for any help you can provide!
iPod 5G support Questions
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Re: iPod 5G support Questions
We generally support HandBrake, not Apple's products, but I'm feeling charitable today.
It varies wildly by product.
Rodney
It won't. Lo-res output looks like wet mush on anything other than a 13" CRT.poddie wrote:After some experimenting, I am planning on using the "iPod Legacy" preset, and turning on Loose Anamorphic, decombing, and 2 pass encoding with turbo 1st pass. I may also consider using the iPod setting (at 320 res) if that res looks decent when output to my TV.
All it does is add a tiny piece of data to the container that allows iTunes to sync the content to a 5G (assuming it is otherwise compatible). It is only useful on a 5G, but hurts nothing on any other device. It was Apple's way of trying to discourage software like HandBrake from competing with the iTunes Store during the heyday of "high-resolution" video tracks from Apple. It's also, not-so-coincidentally, the reason I kickstarted the HandBrake project after an extremely long hiatus by the original author.poddie wrote:(1) What exactly is the downside of checking the "iPod 5G support" box? I understand the basic premise that the 5g units cannot utilize some of the features or bitrates that the newer models can, but I'm still not sure if I should check it. If it lowers the quality of the videos too much, I will not use it. But if it doesn't matter with the options I am using, then it makes sense to check it so my wife could utilize the files if she wanted to.
They work fine in iTunes/QuickTime, I believe they are supported on the Classic, and they will not work at all on the 5G. As for how to switch, consult your product documentation.poddie wrote:(2) I love audio commentaries. I notice that I can encode them to the video file using Handbrake as a second audio track. Can these be listened to within iTunes and on the iPod itself? How do I switch between the tracks?
It varies wildly by product.Universal is compatible with all but the 5G, which is indeed limited to 640x480. It is a source limit, not an output resolution limit, and anything larger will not play at all.poddie wrote:(3) I have seen some conflicting information on maximum resolutions. For example, the "Universal" profile (which says it's compatible with iPod in addition to the other Apple products) uses a resolution of 720. But in everal places I have seen references that the iPod will not be able to play back videos greater than 640x480. Is this strictly an output resolution limit, meaning anything higher than 640 will be downconverted before being output over the TV connection? Or will the files not play at all on the iPod? I understand that all files will be downconverted to 320x240 for playing on the iPod's screen, of course. I would test this, but I don't have the iPod yet... just trying to get a jump on some of the encoding before it arrives...
Rodney
Re: iPod 5G support Questions
Fantastic... thank you!
If I may pick your brain just a bit further on the 640 resolution limit. Here is the Video support verbiage from Apple's Classic spec page (http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html):
"Video
* H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats"
Is this out of date? It seems very intent on specifying that it can only handle a max of 640x480 video on the Classic... I'm very interested to hear otherwise!
Thanks again!
If I may pick your brain just a bit further on the 640 resolution limit. Here is the Video support verbiage from Apple's Classic spec page (http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html):
"Video
* H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats"
Is this out of date? It seems very intent on specifying that it can only handle a max of 640x480 video on the Classic... I'm very interested to hear otherwise!
Thanks again!
Re: iPod 5G support Questions
Just as a follow up to anyone looking at this thread. my iPod Touch (2nd gen) plays 720x480 video fine. I use an average bit rate of 1500. I use these files for both my iPod Touch and AppleTV and gives very good quality.