What is VideoToolbox / Quicksync recommended settings and general hw encoding questions

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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steinmb
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 11:07 am

What is VideoToolbox / Quicksync recommended settings and general hw encoding questions

Post by steinmb »

Just picked up a new Mac mini and when I started HB I realized that I also got some HW encoding support. Did some initial tests. Searching the official docs and the forum failed to come up with any conclusive settings and result.

Encoding 11.23GB mkv file with the HQ 1080p30 Surround preset. Only changing the video encoder.

System:
3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5
MacOS 10.15.6 (19G73)
Mac mini (2018)
Version 1.3.3 (2020061300)

Baseline - SW encoding
Format: H.265
Run time: 03:34:58
Size: 2,3 GB

Videotoolbox
Format: H.265
Run time: 00:12:46
Size: 4,19 GB

Videotoolbox
Format: H.264
Run time: 00:12:35
Size: 4,25 GB

Noticed that when doing the 264 encoding HB taxed my GPU as well as all 6 cores. Did HB use Intel QuickSync? Both the 264 and 265 file sizes got relative large. Any suggestions on recommended settings? Average bitrate can be changed but not sure what else?

I try to understand how this is wired up, please bare with me. Ref: Video Toolbox https://developer.apple.com/documentation/videotoolbox.
Hardware encoding H.264: Uses Intel Quicksync?
Hardware encoding H.265: Uses Apple T2 transcoder?

If my assumptions are correct is the choice done automacically by the video toolbox API or is this done my HB? Looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Qui ... ideo#macOS is seems that Intel can pull of HEVC (8 and 19 bit) though I seems to me the T2 is used instead.

Example run:

Code: Select all

HandBrake Activity Log for Session: 2020-07-29T09:36:02Z
Handbrake Version: 1.3.3 (2020061300)
Stardust_videotoolbox_E02.m4v
Preset: HQ 1080p30 Surround (Modified)
[11:36:02] macgui: QueueCore scanning specifically for title: 1
[11:36:02] CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8500B CPU @ 3.00GHz
[11:36:02]  - Intel microarchitecture Kaby Lake
[11:36:02]  - logical processor count: 6
[11:36:02] hb_scan: path=/Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_E02.mkv, title_index=1
udfread ERROR: ECMA 167 Volume Recognition failed
disc.c:323: failed opening UDF image /Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_E02.mkv
disc.c:424: error opening file BDMV/index.bdmv
disc.c:424: error opening file BDMV/BACKUP/index.bdmv
bluray.c:2585: nav_get_title_list(/Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_E02.mkv/) failed
[11:36:02] bd: not a bd - trying as a stream/file instead
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 6.0.1
libdvdread: Encrypted DVD support unavailable.
libdvdread:DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
libdvdread:DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.BUP failed
libdvdread: Can't open file VIDEO_TS.IFO.
libdvdnav: vm: failed to read VIDEO_TS.IFO
[11:36:02] dvd: not a dvd - trying as a stream/file instead
Input #0, matroska,webm, from '/Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_E02.mkv':
  Metadata:
    title           : Wonders of the Universe
    encoder         : libmakemkv v1.10.7 (1.3.3/1.4.4) darwin(x64-release)
    creation_time   : 2017-12-31T01:30:30.000000Z
  Duration: 00:58:19.00, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 25397 kb/s
    Chapter #0:0: start 0.000000, end 633.240000
    Metadata:
      title           : Chapter 01
    Chapter #0:1: start 633.240000, end 1138.000000
    Metadata:
      title           : Chapter 02
    Chapter #0:2: start 1138.000000, end 1818.600000
    Metadata:
      title           : Chapter 03
    Chapter #0:3: start 1818.600000, end 2736.320000
    Metadata:
      title           : Chapter 04
    Chapter #0:4: start 2736.320000, end 3499.000000
    Metadata:
      title           : Chapter 05
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(top first), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 50 tbc
    Metadata:
      BPS-eng         : 24897686
      DURATION-eng    : 00:58:19.000000000
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 87475
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 10889625692
      SOURCE_ID-eng   : 001011
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: MakeMKV v1.10.7 darwin(x64-release)
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2017-12-31 01:30:30
      _STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES SOURCE_ID
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 448 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      title           : Stereo
      BPS-eng         : 448000
      DURATION-eng    : 00:58:19.008000000
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 109344
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 195944448
      SOURCE_ID-eng   : 001100
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: MakeMKV v1.10.7 darwin(x64-release)
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2017-12-31 01:30:30
      _STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES SOURCE_ID
    Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: hdmv_pgs_subtitle
    Metadata:
      BPS-eng         : 50144
      DURATION-eng    : 00:57:19.820000000
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 1334
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 21561137
      SOURCE_ID-eng   : 001200
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: MakeMKV v1.10.7 darwin(x64-release)
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2017-12-31 01:30:30
      _STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES SOURCE_ID
[11:36:02] scan: decoding previews for title 1
[11:36:02] scan: audio 0x1: ac3, rate=48000Hz, bitrate=448000 English (AC3) (2.0 ch) (448 kbps)
[11:36:03] scan: 10 previews, 1920x1080, 25.000 fps, autocrop = 0/0/0/0, aspect 16:9, PAR 1:1
[11:36:03] libhb: scan thread found 1 valid title(s)
[11:36:03] macgui: QueueCore scan done
[11:36:03] macgui: QueueCore started encoding Stardust_videotoolbox_E02.m4v
[11:36:03] macgui: QueueCore with preset HQ 1080p30 Surround (Modified)
[11:36:03] Starting work at: Wed Jul 29 11:36:03 2020

[11:36:03] 1 job(s) to process
[11:36:03] Starting Task: Subtitle Scan
[11:36:03] Skipping crop/scale filter
[11:36:03] job configuration:
[11:36:03]  * source
[11:36:03]    + /Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_E02.mkv
[11:36:03]    + title 1, chapter(s) 1 to 5
[11:36:03]    + container: matroska,webm
[11:36:03]    + data rate: 25397 kbps
[11:36:03]  * destination
[11:36:03]    + /Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_videotoolbox_E02.m4v
[11:36:03]    + container: MPEG-4 (libavformat)
[11:36:03]      + align initial A/V stream timestamps
[11:36:03]      + chapter markers
[11:36:03]  * video track
[11:36:03]    + decoder: h264
[11:36:03]    + filters
[11:36:03]      + Comb Detect (mode=3:spatial-metric=2:motion-thresh=1:spatial-thresh=1:filter-mode=2:block-thresh=40:block-width=16:block-height=16)
[11:36:03]      + Decomb (mode=39)
[11:36:03]      + Framerate Shaper (mode=2:rate=27000000/900000)
[11:36:03]        + frame rate: 25.000 fps -> peak rate limited to 30.000 fps
[11:36:03]    + Output geometry
[11:36:03]      + storage dimensions: 1920 x 1080
[11:36:03]      + pixel aspect ratio: 1 : 1
[11:36:03]      + display dimensions: 1920 x 1080
[11:36:03]  * Foreign Audio Search: Render/Burn-in, Forced Only
[11:36:03]    + subtitle, English [PGS] (track 0, id 0x2, Picture)
[11:36:03] sync: expecting 87475 video frames
[11:37:20] reader: done. 1 scr changes
[11:37:20] work: average encoding speed for job is 0.000000 fps
[11:37:20] comb detect: heavy 0 | light 0 | uncombed 0 | total 0
[11:37:20] decomb: deinterlaced 0 | blended 0 | unfiltered 0 | total 0
[11:37:20] vfr: 0 frames output, 0 dropped and 0 duped for CFR/PFR
[11:37:20] vfr: lost time: 0 (0 frames)
[11:37:20] vfr: gained time: 0 (0 frames) (0 not accounted for)
[11:37:21] h264-decoder done: 0 frames, 0 decoder errors
[11:37:21] sync: got 0 frames, 87475 expected
[11:37:21] Subtitle track 0 (id 0x2) 'English [PGS]': 667 hits (0 forced)
[11:37:21] No candidate detected during subtitle scan
[11:37:21] Starting Task: Encoding Pass
[11:37:21] Skipping crop/scale filter
[11:37:21] job configuration:
[11:37:21]  * source
[11:37:21]    + /Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_E02.mkv
[11:37:21]    + title 1, chapter(s) 1 to 5
[11:37:21]    + container: matroska,webm
[11:37:21]    + data rate: 25397 kbps
[11:37:21]  * destination
[11:37:21]    + /Volumes/New_hope/Media/TV Shows/Wonders of the Universe/Series 1/Stardust_videotoolbox_E02.m4v
[11:37:21]    + container: MPEG-4 (libavformat)
[11:37:21]      + align initial A/V stream timestamps
[11:37:21]      + chapter markers
[11:37:21]  * video track
[11:37:21]    + decoder: h264
[11:37:21]    + filters
[11:37:21]      + Comb Detect (mode=3:spatial-metric=2:motion-thresh=1:spatial-thresh=1:filter-mode=2:block-thresh=40:block-width=16:block-height=16)
[11:37:21]      + Decomb (mode=39)
[11:37:21]      + Framerate Shaper (mode=2:rate=27000000/900000)
[11:37:21]        + frame rate: 25.000 fps -> peak rate limited to 30.000 fps
[11:37:21]    + Output geometry
[11:37:21]      + storage dimensions: 1920 x 1080
[11:37:21]      + pixel aspect ratio: 1 : 1
[11:37:21]      + display dimensions: 1920 x 1080
[11:37:21]    + encoder: H.264 (libavcodec)
[11:37:21]      + preset:  default
[11:37:21]      + profile: high
[11:37:21]      + level:   4.0
[11:37:21]      + bitrate: 4000 kbps, pass: 0
[11:37:21]      + color profile: 1-1-1
[11:37:21]  * audio track 1
[11:37:21]    + decoder: English (AC3) (2.0 ch) (448 kbps) (track 1, id 0x1)
[11:37:21]      + bitrate: 448 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
[11:37:21]    + mixdown: Stereo
[11:37:21]    + dither: triangular
[11:37:21]    + encoder: AAC (Apple AudioToolbox)
[11:37:21]      + bitrate: 160 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
[11:37:21]  * audio track 2
[11:37:21]    + decoder: English (AC3) (2.0 ch) (448 kbps) (track 1, id 0x1)
[11:37:21]      + bitrate: 448 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
[11:37:21]    + AC3 Passthru
[11:37:21] sync: expecting 87475 video frames
[11:37:21] encavcodecInit: H.264 (VideoToolbox)
[11:37:21] encavcodec: encoding with stored aspect 1/1
[11:37:21] sync: first pts video is 0
[11:37:21] sync: "Chapter 1" (1) at frame 1 time 0
[11:37:21] sync: first pts audio 0x1 is 0
[11:37:21] sync: first pts audio 0x1 is 0
[11:39:40] sync: "Chapter 2" (2) at frame 15832 time 56991600
[11:41:34] sync: "Chapter 3" (3) at frame 28451 time 102420000
[11:44:02] sync: "Chapter 4" (4) at frame 45466 time 163674000
[11:47:36] sync: "Chapter 5" (5) at frame 68409 time 246268800
[11:50:23] reader: done. 1 scr changes
[11:50:23] work: average encoding speed for job is 111.695465 fps
[11:50:24] comb detect: heavy 7684 | light 10542 | uncombed 69249 | total 87475
[11:50:24] decomb: deinterlaced 7684 | blended 10542 | unfiltered 69249 | total 87475
[11:50:24] vfr: 87475 frames output, 0 dropped and 0 duped for CFR/PFR
[11:50:24] vfr: lost time: 0 (0 frames)
[11:50:24] vfr: gained time: 0 (0 frames) (0 not accounted for)
[11:50:24] ac3-decoder done: 109344 frames, 0 decoder errors
[11:50:24] ac3-decoder done: 109344 frames, 0 decoder errors
[11:50:24] h264-decoder done: 87475 frames, 0 decoder errors
[11:50:24] sync: got 87475 frames, 87475 expected
[11:50:24] sync: framerate min 25.000 fps, max 25.000 fps, avg 25.000 fps
[11:50:24] mux: track 0, 87475 frames, 1746472799 bytes, 3992.99 kbps, fifo 1024
[11:50:24] mux: track 1, 164019 frames, 71916874 bytes, 164.42 kbps, fifo 2048
[11:50:24] mux: track 2, 109344 frames, 195944448 bytes, 447.99 kbps, fifo 1024
[11:50:24] Finished work at: Wed Jul 29 11:50:24 2020

[11:50:24] libhb: work result = 0
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: What is VideoToolbox / Quicksync recommended settings and general hw encoding questions

Post by mduell »

None of these size comparisons are really meaningful since the output quality varies.
steinmb
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 11:07 am

Re: What is VideoToolbox / Quicksync recommended settings and general hw encoding questions

Post by steinmb »

Bumping the issue. Size comparisons aside, anyone have anything to add to any of the other question asked?
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