Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.
WHY: I wanted to backup my DVD collection onto my iMac so it can be watched through Frontrow.
PRIORITIES: A balance between Size and Quality - I also want to retain the ability to chapter skip (without long delays) and fast forward without the screen going black and the beech-ball of doom a spinning!
IE: Not to many processor dependent playback features of the x264 Codec.
SETTINGS:
Title: Just the Main Feature
Chapters: All (And Create Chapter Makers ON)
Framerate (fps): Same as Source
Encoder: x264 (Main profile)
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate (kbps): 2000
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
2-pass encoding: ON
Turbo First Pass: OFF
File format: MP4 -> Output as M4V for iTunes compatibility
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
Picture Settings...
Width: Auto Selected
Height: Auto Selected
Anamorphic: ON
Keep aspect ratio: OFF
Crop: Automatic
Detelecine: NO
Deinterlace: OFF
Denoise: OFF
Audio Settings
Subtitles: None
Audio Language 1: First
Track 1 Mix: Dolby Pro Logic II
Audio Language 2: OFF
Sample rate (Hz): 48000
bitrate (kbps): 160
Advanced
Reference Frames: 3
B-Frames: 3
Bidirectional Refinement: ON
Motion Estimation Method: Uneven Multi-Hexagon
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 5
No Fast-P-Skip: ON
CABAC: ON
Advanced Option String:
ref=3:bframes=3:subq=5:me=umh:no-fast-pskip=1:bime=1
RESULTS
I can playback with CPU usage of ~20%, chapter skipping isn't a problem and file outputs at ~15MB per minute which is 1Gb - 2Gb a Film.
Leebobs
PRIORITIES: A balance between Size and Quality - I also want to retain the ability to chapter skip (without long delays) and fast forward without the screen going black and the beech-ball of doom a spinning!
IE: Not to many processor dependent playback features of the x264 Codec.
SETTINGS:
Title: Just the Main Feature
Chapters: All (And Create Chapter Makers ON)
Framerate (fps): Same as Source
Encoder: x264 (Main profile)
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate (kbps): 2000
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
2-pass encoding: ON
Turbo First Pass: OFF
File format: MP4 -> Output as M4V for iTunes compatibility
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
Picture Settings...
Width: Auto Selected
Height: Auto Selected
Anamorphic: ON
Keep aspect ratio: OFF
Crop: Automatic
Detelecine: NO
Deinterlace: OFF
Denoise: OFF
Audio Settings
Subtitles: None
Audio Language 1: First
Track 1 Mix: Dolby Pro Logic II
Audio Language 2: OFF
Sample rate (Hz): 48000
bitrate (kbps): 160
Advanced
Reference Frames: 3
B-Frames: 3
Bidirectional Refinement: ON
Motion Estimation Method: Uneven Multi-Hexagon
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 5
No Fast-P-Skip: ON
CABAC: ON
Advanced Option String:
ref=3:bframes=3:subq=5:me=umh:no-fast-pskip=1:bime=1
RESULTS
I can playback with CPU usage of ~20%, chapter skipping isn't a problem and file outputs at ~15MB per minute which is 1Gb - 2Gb a Film.
Leebobs
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As Requested by SteveB,
The following are my Best Settings (in CLI syntax) for the AppleTV. Note: My -q settings could be a little conservative for some, but I wouldn't go above 0.70.
For Interlaced Sources (TV shows)
Non-Interlaced
HD Content
The following are my Best Settings (in CLI syntax) for the AppleTV. Note: My -q settings could be a little conservative for some, but I wouldn't go above 0.70.
For Interlaced Sources (TV shows)
Code: Select all
./HandBrakeCLI -i /Volumes/Encode/xxxxx/ -o /Volumes/New\ Downloads/DVD_Video.m4v -m -p -s 1 -F -q 0.65 -Q -e x264 -r 29.97 --deinterlace="0" -E facc -B 384 -R 44.1 -6 stereo -v -x keyint=300:keyint-min=30:bframes=6:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:subq=5:me=umh:
no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=0:no-dct-decimate=1:vbv-maxrate=4900:vbv-bufsize=3000
Code: Select all
./HandBrakeCLI -i /Volumes/Encode/xxxxx/ -o /Volumes/New\ Downloads/DVD_Film.m4v -m -p -s 1 -F -q 0.65 -Q -e x264 -r 23.976 -E facc -B 384 -R 44.1 -6 6ch -v -x keyint=240:keyint-min=24:bframes=6:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:subq=5:me=umh:
no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=0:no-dct-decimate=1:vbv-maxrate=4900:vbv-bufsize=3000
Code: Select all
./HandBrakeCLI -i /Volumes/Encode/xxxx -o /Volumes/New\ Downloads/HD_Video.m4v -w 960 -l 540 -q 0.65 -Q -e x264 -r 29.97 --deinterlace="0" -E facc -B 384 -R 44.1 -6 stereo -v -x keyint=300:keyint-min=30:bframes=6:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:subq=5:me=umh:
no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=0:no-dct-decimate=1:vbv-maxrate=4500:vbv-bufsize=3000
Last edited by Cavalicious on Fri Nov 09, 2007 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I tried (what I think is) Cavalicious' setting for TV shows. If you are unfamiliar with the CLI (as I am) I think you can implement this in MacGUI by:
* Selecting Apple TV;
* Selecting 'Constant Quality' for quality;
* Setting the factor to 0.66 (the slider only accepts even numbers);
* Set the frame rate to 'same as source' (at least if you input is PAL);
* Set audio sample rate as high as possible, in stereo, sample rate 44.1 khz;
* Deinterlacing seems to be on 'slow'
The 'magic sauce' as one moderator calls it, pasted into the advanced option string, is the stuff after the -x. ie
Run time is quite slow on my imac 2.2 core duo pro (around 10 fps).
On the two files I tried this on:
I will investigate further, because the file size surprised me with Blackbooks.
* Selecting Apple TV;
* Selecting 'Constant Quality' for quality;
* Setting the factor to 0.66 (the slider only accepts even numbers);
* Set the frame rate to 'same as source' (at least if you input is PAL);
* Set audio sample rate as high as possible, in stereo, sample rate 44.1 khz;
* Deinterlacing seems to be on 'slow'
The 'magic sauce' as one moderator calls it, pasted into the advanced option string, is the stuff after the -x. ie
Code: Select all
keyint=300:keyint-min=30:bframes=6:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:subq=5:me=umh:
no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=0:no-dct-decimate=1:vbv-maxrate=4900:vbv-bufsize=3000
On the two files I tried this on:
- *an episode of Thunderbirds - puppets with lots of sky, water and explosions;
*British sitcom 'Blackbooks'.
I will investigate further, because the file size surprised me with Blackbooks.
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Also note: I use (-s 1 -F) because I now create movie only rips with English Subtitles using DTOX. I always use the stated setting to make sure (90% of the time) I catch any Forced subs. Nothings worse than encoding a movie one, finally sitting down to watch it another day, just to find out you can't understand a word! I.e. Apocalypto
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In my experiments I would recommend using deinterlace only for "live action" TV. In most other cases, which includes movies originally recorded to video or especially animation, try the new detelecine selection.Cavalicious wrote:As Requested by SteveB,
For Interlaced Sources (TV shows)
The detelecine filter works by comparing portions of the fields to see if they are really identical. If this is the case it simply merges them back together to recreate the original frame. This works fantastically well on traditional cell-based animation, because the cells changed less frequently than the frames, allowing the interlacing to be removed completely. The results are much better than deinterlacing even on the slowest setting, the tearing is completely eliminated. The results are really fantastic.
I should be specific here: this works on video only if the original source was frame-based, like film or traditional animation. Newer animation often uses inter-cell computerized frames, or are completely computer generated. In these cases the "cells" may or may not span fields, depending on the transfer. In these cases you're just going to have to try it. The good news is that newer transfers are typically de-interlaced to start with, but of course, we all know of the counterexamples...
HB seems to have some combination of input flags that turns this option off in some cases. So for instance, disk one of the Animaniacs will not allow me to select this set of options, while all of the others work perfectly. I'm still trying to figure out what set of flags causes it -- is there some sort of "disk flag inspector" someone might recommend?
Maury
Actually, a lot of live-action TV-on-DVD is telecined too (New Radio, It's Always Sunny in Philly, etc). Some is even ivtc'd before mastering to DVD, and is progressive on disc. And most recent stuff is progressive all the way through.Maury Markowitz wrote:In my experiments I would recommend using deinterlace only for "live action" TV. In most other cases, which includes movies originally recorded to video or especially animation of any sort, use detelecine instead.
HandBrake is only allowing you to IVTC content that advertises itself as NTSC video. If most of the DVD announces that it's NTSC film, and thus progressive, detelecining is disabled.HB seems to have some combination of input flags that turns this option off in some cases. So for instance, disk one of the Animaniacs will not allow me to select this set of options, while all of the others work perfectly. I'm still trying to figure out what set of flags causes it -- is there some sort of "disk flag inspector" someone might recommend?
This is because of limitations in HB 0.9.1. It doesn't work right with 23.976 material.
You can tell when it's happening in the verbose activity log, during the initial scan. Each title is evaluated separately, as to whether it runs at 23.976 or 29.97, and only enables the detelecine option when it's 29.97.
The next release will have a lot more flexibility. Instead of leaving behind duplicated, deinterlaced frames from the telecined parts, it'll actually bring it down to 24fps. And it won't mess up as badly with progressive content. Seems to work well with mixed stuff, too. I got good results on an episode of Farscape where it switches between film and video every 10 seconds.
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Which brings up a question actually... when recording any new-ish DVD it seems I don't have to select this option, everything just works right "out of the box" when I hit go.jbrjake wrote:Actually, a lot of live-action TV-on-DVD is telecined too (New Radio, It's Always Sunny in Philly, etc). Some is even ivtc'd before mastering to DVD, and is progressive on disc. And most recent stuff is progressive all the way through.Maury Markowitz wrote:In my experiments I would recommend using deinterlace only for "live action" TV. In most other cases, which includes movies originally recorded to video or especially animation of any sort, use detelecine instead.
My question is this: is this due to HB, or the DVD itself? IE, is the DVD actually recorded at 23.xxx fps and the DVD player is the one doing the 3:2 conversion by adding fields/frames? Or is the DVD at 29.xxx fps and HB just knows that it has to do the pulldown and the option is "just on".
I think you just answered my question above... is a modern movie DVD what you refer to as "NTSC film" here?HandBrake is only allowing you to IVTC content that advertises itself as NTSC video. If most of the DVD announces that it's NTSC film, and thus progressive, detelecining is disabled.
Is there a way I can force an override of this feature for experimenting with odd content? Using the CLI perhaps?
Ok, I'll be sure to look there... I'll see if I have time to try it tonight.You can tell when it's happening in the verbose activity log, during the initial scan. Each title is evaluated separately, as to whether it runs at 23.976 or 29.97, and only enables the detelecine option when it's 29.97.
IIRC the other disks reported they were 29.xxx fps and the detelecine was turned on, but disk 1 (again, IIRC) reported it was 23.xxx -- is this the issue you refer to? If so, is this simply a mistake on this one DVD out of the set?
Is this always the case though? For the Animanics I was under the impression they recorded the cells directly to a stop-action video at 29.xxx fps. Don't hold me to that though.The next release will have a lot more flexibility. Instead of leaving behind duplicated, deinterlaced frames from the telecined parts, it'll actually bring it down to 24fps.
Ah yes, the British and their predilection for indoor scenes on video... flashbacks of Dr. Who.And it won't mess up as badly with progressive content. Seems to work well with mixed stuff, too. I got good results on an episode of Farscape where it switches between film and video every 10 seconds.
Maury
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Cavalicious, if I wanted to try your code (recipe)... How do I apply it. Is all of this code pasted in the GUI or or just the part after the -x? If it's the latter, how do I use the other code?Code: Select all
./HandBrakeCLI -i /Volumes/Encode/xxxxx/ -o /Volumes/New\ Downloads/DVD_Video.m4v -m -p -s 1 -F -q 0.65 -Q -e x264 -r 29.97 --deinterlace="0" -E facc -B 384 -R 44.1 -6 stereo -v -x keyint=300:keyint-min=30:bframes=6:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:subq=5:me=umh: no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=0:no-dct-decimate=1:vbv-maxrate=4900:vbv-bufsize=3000
Thanks,
Robert
What's going on is that, starting with HandBrake 0.9.0, it checks whether the DVD is film or video during the scan. During scan, it examines one frame from every 10% of the source. If most of those frames are marked as progressive, HandBrake reads it as progressive 23.976 film. If most are not marked progressive, HandBrake reads it as interlaced 29.976 video.Maury Markowitz wrote: Which brings up a question actually... when recording any new-ish DVD it seems I don't have to select this option, everything just works right "out of the box" when I hit go.
My question is this: is this due to HB, or the DVD itself? IE, is the DVD actually recorded at 23.xxx fps and the DVD player is the one doing the 3:2 conversion by adding fields/frames? Or is the DVD at 29.xxx fps and HB just knows that it has to do the pulldown and the option is "just on".
Yes.I think you just answered my question above... is a modern movie DVD what you refer to as "NTSC film" here?
Well you can change the fps used by selecting something other than Same as Source from the framerate widget.Is there a way I can force an override of this feature for experimenting with odd content? Using the CLI perhaps?
Probably not a mistake. It's probably just a difference in how the different episodes were produced. Or maybe they're all mixed content, and on the title on that one disc, HandBrake happens to scan 10 frames that are all progressive, even though the majority of the frames are not.IIRC the other disks reported they were 29.xxx fps and the detelecine was turned on, but disk 1 (again, IIRC) reported it was 23.xxx -- is this the issue you refer to? If so, is this simply a mistake on this one DVD out of the set?
NOTE: The following is a discussion of an upcoming feature, NOT something available in 0.9.1. In 0.9.1, detelecine never drops frames.Is this always the case though? For the Animanics I was under the impression they recorded the cells directly to a stop-action video at 29.xxx fps. Don't hold me to that though.
The detelecine filter is stateless. That means it's not dumbly dropping one frame out of five. It actually analyzes the video, and only drops frames when it's sure they should be. So if the animation really is done at 29.97 and interlaced, instead of being done at 23.976 and telecined, then the filter will not drop any frames.
This is very useful for some TV shows. Kids in the Hall, for example, will have some sketches that are interlaced, and some that are telecined. Running VFR and deinterlacing at the same time, I get some segments running at 29.97 and others at 23.976. The deinterlacing filter only gets the frames after the detelecine filter does its work, so it doesn't have to bother deinterlacing the telecined bits.
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[/quote]SteveB wrote:robertbroussard
To implement Cavalicious' code in the MacGUI you could follow my instructions in my first post, about five entries up.
Note if your source in NTSC you may like to select the appropriate frame rate for the source.
Yes, I saw that. What are we to do with the code that precedes that? Also, where does that come from? Is it dumped from the GUI?
Thanks,
R
Robert
To get the other stuff on the MacGUI you use the interface controls to select from tabs, drop down bosxes and so forth:
To get the other stuff on the MacGUI you use the interface controls to select from tabs, drop down bosxes and so forth:
Code: Select all
* Selecting Apple TV;
* Selecting 'Constant Quality' for quality;
* Setting the factor to 0.66 (the slider only accepts even numbers);
* Set the frame rate to 'same as source' (at least if you input is PAL);
* Set audio sample rate as high as possible, in stereo, sample rate 44.1 khz;
* Deinterlacing seems to be on 'slow'
- Handbrake has 'Presets' - Select the AppleTV preset to get the ball rolling.
'Constant Quality' can be selected on the 'Video' tab on the bottom of the GI, as can the factor - 0.66 - by using the slider underneath it
frame rate is selected in the top right hand corner;
Audio settings are in the 'audio and subtitles tab' - note that Cav also selects the 'Forced Subs Only' and 'Subtitles - autoselect'
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Ok, I finally had some time to sit down with this. Review: disk 1 will not allow detelicine to be turned on, while all of the other disks in the 5-disk collection will. You suggested turning on the verbose log, as HB would only turn on detelecine if the source was 29.97.jbrjake wrote: You can tell when it's happening in the verbose activity log, during the initial scan. Each title is evaluated separately, as to whether it runs at 23.976 or 29.97, and only enables the detelecine option when it's 29.97.
Ok, here's the useful part of the log for disk 3:
[16:01:10] scan: 720x480, 29.970 fps, autocrop = 0/2/2/0
[16:01:10] scan: title (0) job->width:624, job->height:480
and here it is for disk 2:
[16:02:16] scan: 720x480, 29.970 fps, autocrop = 0/0/10/6
[16:02:16] scan: title (0) job->width:624, job->height:480
and here it is for disk 1:
16:02:38] scan: 720x480, 29.970 fps, autocrop = 0/0/8/6
[16:02:38] scan: title (0) job->width:624, job->height:480
With the exception of the autocrop settings, everything else seems to be identical between the disks. Any ideas why disk 1 doesn't set detelecine in this case? Is there something else from the log that would be useful?
Maury
actually this is really off-topic for this thread, can it be moved to it's own?
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does anyone know that the preset for the zune is exactly the same for ipod?
if so, which one should i choose.. i am using the windows GUI version.
does the presets help speeds up the encoding?
i've been using the default and a movie has taken at least 2.5 hours to encode.
and takes an addtional 1hr to 2 to convert into the zune.
thanks
clueless
if so, which one should i choose.. i am using the windows GUI version.
does the presets help speeds up the encoding?
i've been using the default and a movie has taken at least 2.5 hours to encode.
and takes an addtional 1hr to 2 to convert into the zune.
thanks
clueless
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WHY: iPod Compatibility and Media Sever (Mac Mini now/AppleTV later)
PRIORITIES: Quality and Compatibility
SETTINGS: (Just show the ones you change...)
Title: main feature,special features sometimes
Chapters: all
Framerate (fps): Same as Source
Encoder: FFmpeg
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate (kbps): ON - 2000
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
Maximum Quality
2-pass encoding: OFF
File format: MP4
Codecs: MPEG-4 Video / AAC Audio
Subtitles Language: OFF [ prefered language... ]
Audio Language 1: First [ prefered language... ]
Audio Language 2: OFF [ commentaries, secondary language... ]
Sample rate (Hz): 44100 [ 48000, 24000, 22050 ]
bitrate (kbps): 128 [ 320, 256, 224, 192, 160, 112, 96, 80, 64, 56, 48, 40, 32 ]
Picture Settings...
Width: 720
Height: Auto Selected (keeping aspect raio(
Keep aspect ratio: ON [ OFF ]
Crop: Automatic [ Custom: 0, 0, 0, 0 ]
Deinterlace: OFF [ ON, ON when needed ]
I've read a few posts by the moderators/developers who insist that the iPod Hires preset gives you the maximum quality that the iPod/iTunes can handle. But the iPod handles much higher resolutions and bit rates using MPEG than it does using H.264 and the encode is much slower using H.264. As a rule of thumb, as long as you don't go over 307,200 pixels and 2500 kbps, the iPod will handle it fine. But you must install the laterst version of iTunes and Quicktime.
Using the above settings, video looks great with few noticeable artifacts on my 32" LCD HDTV. Encode times on my 1.67 Core Duo Mac Mini is around 70-100 fps. I have a 5G iPod with the latest firmware updates.
PRIORITIES: Quality and Compatibility
SETTINGS: (Just show the ones you change...)
Title: main feature,special features sometimes
Chapters: all
Framerate (fps): Same as Source
Encoder: FFmpeg
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate (kbps): ON - 2000
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
Maximum Quality
2-pass encoding: OFF
File format: MP4
Codecs: MPEG-4 Video / AAC Audio
Subtitles Language: OFF [ prefered language... ]
Audio Language 1: First [ prefered language... ]
Audio Language 2: OFF [ commentaries, secondary language... ]
Sample rate (Hz): 44100 [ 48000, 24000, 22050 ]
bitrate (kbps): 128 [ 320, 256, 224, 192, 160, 112, 96, 80, 64, 56, 48, 40, 32 ]
Picture Settings...
Width: 720
Height: Auto Selected (keeping aspect raio(
Keep aspect ratio: ON [ OFF ]
Crop: Automatic [ Custom: 0, 0, 0, 0 ]
Deinterlace: OFF [ ON, ON when needed ]
I've read a few posts by the moderators/developers who insist that the iPod Hires preset gives you the maximum quality that the iPod/iTunes can handle. But the iPod handles much higher resolutions and bit rates using MPEG than it does using H.264 and the encode is much slower using H.264. As a rule of thumb, as long as you don't go over 307,200 pixels and 2500 kbps, the iPod will handle it fine. But you must install the laterst version of iTunes and Quicktime.
Using the above settings, video looks great with few noticeable artifacts on my 32" LCD HDTV. Encode times on my 1.67 Core Duo Mac Mini is around 70-100 fps. I have a 5G iPod with the latest firmware updates.
Settings for
Mac GUI (Handbrake 0.9.1 rev. 1223)
Source material: (progressive) mpg from eyeTV250 (analogue cable, SD); for DVDs see the notes; for animated content see the notes
Priorities: Good quality and compact file size. Not for iPod etc.
Video
Format: MP4 file
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
HTTP Optimized MP4: off
Framerate: Same as source
Encoder: x264 (h.264 Main)
Constant quality: 56–62%, mostly 59% (CRF: on in the Preferences!)
Grayscale: off; on for most b/w movies
Picture Settings
Size: anamorphic loose
Crop: Automatic (or Custom, if Automatic fails)
Filters:
Detelecine: off
VFR: off
Deinterlace: off for progressive content
Denoise: depending on the content (mostly None or Weak, rarely Medium)
Deblock: off
Useless Open GL effects: always on. This is very important![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Audio & Subtitles
Audio Tracks: depends
Audio Quality:
Bitrate: 96–128, mostly 112
Sample rate: 48
Dynamic Range Compression: (mostly) 1.00
Subtitles: None
Advanced
Reference Frames: 3
Mixed References: on
B-Frames: 4
Direct Prediction: Spatial
Weighted B-Frames: on
B-Frame Rate Distortion: on
Bidirectional Refinement: on
Pyramidal B-Frames: on
Motion Estimation Method: Uneven Multi-Hexagon
Motion Estimation Range: 16
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 7
Analysis: All
8x8 DCT: on; let it off for noisy content (smaller output file and better visual quality)!
Deblocking: 0, 0
Trellis: 1
No Fast-P-Skip: off
No DCT-Decimate: on
CABAC Entropy Encoding: on
Some comments:
Encoding speed 8–15 fps on a MBP 2.4GHz.
The quality factor I choose depends on "how much I like a film": 56–59% for films which I will probably watch 1 or 2 times more and maybe delete later; 60–62% for very good films which I will surely archive. 59% is a good compromise when I'm undecided
It also depends on the quality of the recording: with noisy content I hardly see any difference between 57 and 63%, only bloated file sizes (and more detailed noise); so -> medium denoise and 57% is more than enough in that case. 63 or 64% is probably overkill even for good mpg recordings, but I use it for archiving high quality DVDs.
B-frames direction: Automatic doesn't seem to work well with CRF; according to the log it mostly distributes about 99% to spatial and 1% to temporal but in all cases the output file is smaller than with Spatial or Temporal (at - according to the log - the same amount of B-frames!); this leads me to the conduction that something goes wrong with the B-frames management in Automatic mode. So, I take Spatial to be on the sure side. Temporal produces even bigger output than Spatial; quality: to investigate.
Trellis: For higher encoding speed you can deactivate Trellis and No DCT-Decimate. In this case you should raise the general quality factor by 1–2%.
For animated content I admit more B-frames and set the noise reduction to medium or strong. You can lower the quality factor by some %.
Thanks to all the HB-developers for this great tool!
Edited 2/2/08:
Quality 57–65% --> 57–62%, mostly 60% --> 59%
Anamorphic --> Anamorphic loose
Denoise: mostly Weak, sometimes None or Medium --> depending on the content (mostly None or Weak, rarely Medium
Reference Frames: 4 --> 3 (no visible difference; time consuming)
B-Frames: 16 --> 4 (the optional 16 seems to be time consuming and I've rarely seen more than 3 B-frames in a row applied in an encoding)
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 6 --> 7 (smaller output file and maybe better quality)
Trellis: 0 --> 1 (in conjunction with No DCT-Decimate on better quality; that's why general quality lowered to 59%)
No DCT-Decimate: off --> No DCT-Decimate: on (see above)
Edited the trellis paragraph accordingly
Edited the B-frames direction paragraph
Edited encoding speed
Edited typography and orthography
Added Handbrake version
Added anime
Mac GUI (Handbrake 0.9.1 rev. 1223)
Source material: (progressive) mpg from eyeTV250 (analogue cable, SD); for DVDs see the notes; for animated content see the notes
Priorities: Good quality and compact file size. Not for iPod etc.
Video
Format: MP4 file
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
HTTP Optimized MP4: off
Framerate: Same as source
Encoder: x264 (h.264 Main)
Constant quality: 56–62%, mostly 59% (CRF: on in the Preferences!)
Grayscale: off; on for most b/w movies
Picture Settings
Size: anamorphic loose
Crop: Automatic (or Custom, if Automatic fails)
Filters:
Detelecine: off
VFR: off
Deinterlace: off for progressive content
Denoise: depending on the content (mostly None or Weak, rarely Medium)
Deblock: off
Useless Open GL effects: always on. This is very important
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Audio & Subtitles
Audio Tracks: depends
Audio Quality:
Bitrate: 96–128, mostly 112
Sample rate: 48
Dynamic Range Compression: (mostly) 1.00
Subtitles: None
Advanced
Reference Frames: 3
Mixed References: on
B-Frames: 4
Direct Prediction: Spatial
Weighted B-Frames: on
B-Frame Rate Distortion: on
Bidirectional Refinement: on
Pyramidal B-Frames: on
Motion Estimation Method: Uneven Multi-Hexagon
Motion Estimation Range: 16
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 7
Analysis: All
8x8 DCT: on; let it off for noisy content (smaller output file and better visual quality)!
Deblocking: 0, 0
Trellis: 1
No Fast-P-Skip: off
No DCT-Decimate: on
CABAC Entropy Encoding: on
Some comments:
Encoding speed 8–15 fps on a MBP 2.4GHz.
The quality factor I choose depends on "how much I like a film": 56–59% for films which I will probably watch 1 or 2 times more and maybe delete later; 60–62% for very good films which I will surely archive. 59% is a good compromise when I'm undecided
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
It also depends on the quality of the recording: with noisy content I hardly see any difference between 57 and 63%, only bloated file sizes (and more detailed noise); so -> medium denoise and 57% is more than enough in that case. 63 or 64% is probably overkill even for good mpg recordings, but I use it for archiving high quality DVDs.
B-frames direction: Automatic doesn't seem to work well with CRF; according to the log it mostly distributes about 99% to spatial and 1% to temporal but in all cases the output file is smaller than with Spatial or Temporal (at - according to the log - the same amount of B-frames!); this leads me to the conduction that something goes wrong with the B-frames management in Automatic mode. So, I take Spatial to be on the sure side. Temporal produces even bigger output than Spatial; quality: to investigate.
Trellis: For higher encoding speed you can deactivate Trellis and No DCT-Decimate. In this case you should raise the general quality factor by 1–2%.
For animated content I admit more B-frames and set the noise reduction to medium or strong. You can lower the quality factor by some %.
Thanks to all the HB-developers for this great tool!
Edited 2/2/08:
Quality 57–65% --> 57–62%, mostly 60% --> 59%
Anamorphic --> Anamorphic loose
Denoise: mostly Weak, sometimes None or Medium --> depending on the content (mostly None or Weak, rarely Medium
Reference Frames: 4 --> 3 (no visible difference; time consuming)
B-Frames: 16 --> 4 (the optional 16 seems to be time consuming and I've rarely seen more than 3 B-frames in a row applied in an encoding)
Subpixel Motion Estimation: 6 --> 7 (smaller output file and maybe better quality)
Trellis: 0 --> 1 (in conjunction with No DCT-Decimate on better quality; that's why general quality lowered to 59%)
No DCT-Decimate: off --> No DCT-Decimate: on (see above)
Edited the trellis paragraph accordingly
Edited the B-frames direction paragraph
Edited encoding speed
Edited typography and orthography
Added Handbrake version
Added anime
Last edited by ecdltf on Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:22 am, edited 6 times in total.
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WHY: To have a high-quality (think the quality you get from iTunes downloads), H.264 encodes that not only look great on a large monitor or TV, but can be played back on an iPod.
PRIORITIES: Quality, TV viewing, iPod compatibility
SETTINGS:
Title: All episodes or Main Title as applicable
Chapters: All
Framerate (fps): Same as Source
Encoder: x264 (h.264 iPod))
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate 1500Kbs
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
2-pass encoding: ON
File format: MP4/M4V
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
Subtitles Language: OFF unless required.
Audio Language 1: First
Audio Language 2: OFF
Sample rate 48000Hz
Bitrate 128Kbps
Picture Settings...
Width: 640
Height: Auto
Keep aspect ratio: Auto (default setting I believe)
Crop: Auto
Deinterlace: OFF
PRIORITIES: Quality, TV viewing, iPod compatibility
SETTINGS:
Title: All episodes or Main Title as applicable
Chapters: All
Framerate (fps): Same as Source
Encoder: x264 (h.264 iPod))
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate 1500Kbs
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
2-pass encoding: ON
File format: MP4/M4V
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
Subtitles Language: OFF unless required.
Audio Language 1: First
Audio Language 2: OFF
Sample rate 48000Hz
Bitrate 128Kbps
Picture Settings...
Width: 640
Height: Auto
Keep aspect ratio: Auto (default setting I believe)
Crop: Auto
Deinterlace: OFF
Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.
WHY: To put movies and series on my MacBook Pro for travels
PRIORITIES: To hit the sweet spot of good conversion speed, low filesize and high quality
SETTINGS:
Titles: Main title or all episodes as appropriate
Chapters: All
Framerate: Same as source
Encoder: x264 (h.264 Main)
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate 800Kbps
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
2-pass encoding: OFF
File format: MP4 File
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
Subtitles Language: OFF unless required.
Audio Language 1: First
Audio Language 2: OFF
Sample rate 48000Hz
Bitrate 128Kbps
Picture Settings...
Anamorphic (PAR): ON
Crop: Auto
Deinterlace: OFF unless required
ADVANCED:
Reference Frames: Default (1)
Mixed References: ON
B-Frames: 2
Direct Prediction: Auto
Weighted B-Frames: ON
B-Frame Rate Distortion: ON
Bidirectional Refinement: ON
Pyramidial B-Frames: ON
ME Method: Uneven Multi-Hexagon
ME Range: 32
Subpixel ME: 6
Analysis: None
8x8 DCT: OFF
Deblocking: -2 -1
No Fast P-Skip: ON
No DCT Decimate: OFF
CABAC: ON
PRIORITIES: To hit the sweet spot of good conversion speed, low filesize and high quality
SETTINGS:
Titles: Main title or all episodes as appropriate
Chapters: All
Framerate: Same as source
Encoder: x264 (h.264 Main)
Target size (MB): OFF
Average bitrate 800Kbps
Constant quality: OFF
Grayscale encoding: OFF
2-pass encoding: OFF
File format: MP4 File
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC Audio
Subtitles Language: OFF unless required.
Audio Language 1: First
Audio Language 2: OFF
Sample rate 48000Hz
Bitrate 128Kbps
Picture Settings...
Anamorphic (PAR): ON
Crop: Auto
Deinterlace: OFF unless required
ADVANCED:
Reference Frames: Default (1)
Mixed References: ON
B-Frames: 2
Direct Prediction: Auto
Weighted B-Frames: ON
B-Frame Rate Distortion: ON
Bidirectional Refinement: ON
Pyramidial B-Frames: ON
ME Method: Uneven Multi-Hexagon
ME Range: 32
Subpixel ME: 6
Analysis: None
8x8 DCT: OFF
Deblocking: -2 -1
No Fast P-Skip: ON
No DCT Decimate: OFF
CABAC: ON
Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.
Hi all,
I have been using this great application just for a few days. I've tried to obtain the right balance between quality and reasonable size (who doesn't
) fot iPhone. I checked the settings mentioned in this thread but... They're still variations of the few same ways of encoding. I don't care about sound settings, chapter selection, subtitles... These are clear for me. But does anybody understand these advanced settings? Because how I guess, there lies the real magic hidden. (Bi-Di) Refinements, Motion estimation, b-frames, and so on. And one more thing – not all these settings are compatilbe with the iPhone, am I right? So... Is someone playing with advanced parameters and has any experiences and finished results?
Thanx a lot,
Stepaan
I have been using this great application just for a few days. I've tried to obtain the right balance between quality and reasonable size (who doesn't
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Thanx a lot,
Stepaan