Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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SicMX
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Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:31 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by SicMX »

Is there a way i can modify the current AppleTV setting and get the video to play on my Touch?

I tried nightstrm's setting (Advanced: cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30) and it worked on the Touch (bitrate at about 2500 and anamorphic). The only problem was that the quality wasn't as good as the AppleTV setting. There was some ugly macroblocking in the dark areas. Aside from that the rip was good though.

I was thinking of ripping movies with high quality settings for AppleTV (3000kbps, anamorphic, H.264), but with added support for iPhone/Touch

Cheers!
rhester
Veteran User
Posts: 2888
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:24 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by rhester »

SicMX wrote:Is there a way i can modify the current AppleTV setting and get the video to play on my Touch?
From what you said below, you already have.
SicMX wrote:I tried nightstrm's setting (Advanced: cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30) and it worked on the Touch (bitrate at about 2500 and anamorphic). The only problem was that the quality wasn't as good as the AppleTV setting. There was some ugly macroblocking in the dark areas. Aside from that the rip was good though.
Until VAQ lands in HandBrake, dark macroblocking is the norm with x264, unfortunately. Higher bitrates may help - you can actually go pretty high on the iPod Touch.
SicMX wrote:I was thinking of ripping movies with high quality settings for AppleTV (3000kbps, anamorphic, H.264), but with added support for iPhone/Touch
Do so. All you really have to do is drop CABAC and b-frames and change the level to 3.0.

Rodney
SicMX
Novice
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:31 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by SicMX »

Thanks for the fast reply Rodney!

Yeah, i'm gonna do some experimenting with different settings and try to find a good setting for viewing both on AppleTV and the Touch. Size won't matter as long as the files aren't over 3gb. As someone already said hope Apple will come out with a 32gb iPhone in the near future =)

Right now the AppleTV setting with 3000kbps the video quality is absolutely amazing. I'd say 95% of the original source in most cases. So that's the kind of quality i'll try to get to work with the Touch.

Appreciate what you guys are doing btw, keep up the good work!
EchoRob

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by EchoRob »

If you want good quality picture and audio on your AppleTV, iPhone and iPod Touch just follow my suggestion

Format: MP4 file
Codecs: AVC/H.264 Video / AAC + AC3 Audio
Framerate: Same as source ( for PAL anyway)
Encoder: x264
Average bitrate: 2500

Picture Settings
Anamorphic: Loose
Crop: your choice
Detelecine: off if using PAL source
VFR: Off
Deinterlace: If Needed
Denoise: Your Choice
Deblock: use only if the source had blocks lego blocks

Audio & Subtitles
This section is all up to you

Chapter Marks: Your choice

Advance
Type this in
level=30:cabac=0:ref=1:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1


There you go, you will get a file thats playable on the Apple tv ipod touch and iPhone in excellent quality
BRINET
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:00 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by BRINET »

nightstrm wrote:Here is the preset I have been using to generate encodes that are compatible with both the AppleTV and the iPhone, while taking advantage of the new features in .9.2 (including AAC+AC3, improved anamorphic support, and VFR to name a few). Using these settings, I have yet to come across an encode that did not work on both devices.

It should be noted that this uses CRF, which means you cannot accurately predict what the output file size is going to be. This has resulted in some files that seem quite large in comparison to the 8GB of space on my iPhone, but have so far been below 2.5GB. I need Steve to announce a 32GB 3G iPhone in the very near future! :mrgreen:

EDIT: In case I haven't made it clear enough, this preset is not going to be for everyone. It is slower than some of the stock presets, and the file sizes are larger than normal, especially with the limited drive space of the iPhone. I'd like to help come up with something in-between the iPhone and AppleTV presets that is a little easier to manage, but my main concern was keeping as much video quality as possible while maintaining compatibility with all of my Apple devices.

CLI Equivalent (untested): -i <source> -o <destination> -U -F -m -e x264 -q .63 -8 weak -p -E aac+ac3 -B 160 -R 48 -D 1.51 -v -x cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

GUI settings -

Format: MP4 File
Codec: AVC/H.264 Video/AAC + AC3 Audio
Insert iPod Atom: Checked (not really necessary)

Video -
Encoder: x264
Constant Quality: 63% (will bump up to 64-65% for select titles) <-- ensure CRF is still checked in preferences

Picture Settings -
Anamorphic: Strict (can use loose if you want)
Crop: Automatic
VFR: Enabled (thank you jbrjake... I have finally encoded Futurama to my liking after numerous attempts before!)
Denoise: Weak (usually set, but this is really a personal preference)

Audio + Subtitles -
Track 1: English AC3 5.1 (Track 1 Mix: DPL2 + AC3)
Bitrate: 160kbps (only affects AAC)
Sample Rate: 48khz
Dynamic Range Compression: 1.51 (only affects AAC, and is really a personal preference)
Subtitles: Autoselect (Forced Subtitles Only - Checked)
Chapters: Enabled

Advanced: cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

For older television shows, I've stuck with using pretty much the same settings as above, except using an average bitrate of 1750kbps (Quicktime reports ~1500kbps final bitrate) and AAC audio only.
I used these settings to rip some DVD's on my macbook. I tested them in Quicktime on my MacBook(my @TV is still being shipped) and the movie would stop automatically on it's own(almost like a skip). I could press play again and it would start right back up. Does that sound like a ripping problem or is that just a MacBook specific problem that will go away when I play it on AppleTV or my iPhone. Anyone feel free to chime in...
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by nightstrm »

BRINET wrote:
nightstrm wrote:Here is the preset I have been using to generate encodes that are compatible with both the AppleTV and the iPhone, while taking advantage of the new features in .9.2 (including AAC+AC3, improved anamorphic support, and VFR to name a few). Using these settings, I have yet to come across an encode that did not work on both devices.

It should be noted that this uses CRF, which means you cannot accurately predict what the output file size is going to be. This has resulted in some files that seem quite large in comparison to the 8GB of space on my iPhone, but have so far been below 2.5GB. I need Steve to announce a 32GB 3G iPhone in the very near future! :mrgreen:

EDIT: In case I haven't made it clear enough, this preset is not going to be for everyone. It is slower than some of the stock presets, and the file sizes are larger than normal, especially with the limited drive space of the iPhone. I'd like to help come up with something in-between the iPhone and AppleTV presets that is a little easier to manage, but my main concern was keeping as much video quality as possible while maintaining compatibility with all of my Apple devices.

CLI Equivalent (untested): -i <source> -o <destination> -U -F -m -e x264 -q .63 -8 weak -p -E aac+ac3 -B 160 -R 48 -D 1.51 -v -x cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

GUI settings -

Format: MP4 File
Codec: AVC/H.264 Video/AAC + AC3 Audio
Insert iPod Atom: Checked (not really necessary)

Video -
Encoder: x264
Constant Quality: 63% (will bump up to 64-65% for select titles) <-- ensure CRF is still checked in preferences

Picture Settings -
Anamorphic: Strict (can use loose if you want)
Crop: Automatic
VFR: Enabled (thank you jbrjake... I have finally encoded Futurama to my liking after numerous attempts before!)
Denoise: Weak (usually set, but this is really a personal preference)

Audio + Subtitles -
Track 1: English AC3 5.1 (Track 1 Mix: DPL2 + AC3)
Bitrate: 160kbps (only affects AAC)
Sample Rate: 48khz
Dynamic Range Compression: 1.51 (only affects AAC, and is really a personal preference)
Subtitles: Autoselect (Forced Subtitles Only - Checked)
Chapters: Enabled

Advanced: cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

For older television shows, I've stuck with using pretty much the same settings as above, except using an average bitrate of 1750kbps (Quicktime reports ~1500kbps final bitrate) and AAC audio only.
I used these settings to rip some DVD's on my macbook. I tested them in Quicktime on my MacBook(my @TV is still being shipped) and the movie would stop automatically on it's own(almost like a skip). I could press play again and it would start right back up. Does that sound like a ripping problem or is that just a MacBook specific problem that will go away when I play it on AppleTV or my iPhone. Anyone feel free to chime in...
This sounds like the same person who emailed me earlier; I was writing a response, but I'll post it here.
Sorry to hear about your troubles; your hardware is very similar to mine, so I do not think that is the cause. Your best bet is to post your problem, along with the complete activity log to the Handbrake forums. Without this information, I can't really be much help. While I have some knowledge of how things work and can do some troubleshooting, the guys over there are your best bet for a quick answer. As long as you provide the information necessary to see exactly what HB was doing during the encode, they are usually pretty good about helping.

As far as the problem itself, I have not seen this behavior yet on any of my encodes, so there is definitely something not right. The only time I have ever seen behavior like you describe was on my AppleTV 1.1 when playing streaming HD-sized content. Does this happen on every device (Macbook, AppleTV, iPhone), and if so, in the same location?
BRINET
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:00 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by BRINET »

I think I'll watch it on my iPhone and see if it happens. Thanks man...
Cheetah
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:50 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by Cheetah »

Hi there,

I was wondering if someone can help me choose the best settings for me.

-----------------

I am ripping my movie collection to my media server and I want the best quality to size ratio.

Currently, I am ripping my movies in AutoGK at 75% quality (single pass encoding) in XVID with AC3 5.1 original sound which takes around 1h 15m per movie (depending on length) with 30% quality for the subtitles. This produces varying file sizes, but for a 2h 10m film it produces a 1.9GB AVI file.

I want to make the move to HandBrake as AutoGK development is dead and handbrake seems alot better, but there are alot mroe settings you can change which just confuses me.

I am looking for the best settings for a generic movie, I don't intend to change the settings for specific movies, so I am looking for the best settings overall

-----------------

I want to use the x264 codec as I hear its better quality that XVID.

You have the chance to choose an Audio Decoder, how do I make it so that it used the original AC3 5.1 soundtrack? - just choose the AC3 encoder?

Does it make a difference if i save the file as .MKV or something else like .AVI - what's the difference? Is one better quality or has a faster encode that the other?

What is Anamorphic PAR & Loose Anamorphic - do I want to use either of these settings for my DVD backup? Also - do you usually crop your movies or leave them in the standard resolutions. I am tempted to leave them so they are watched as they were ment to be watched. If you do crop, do you leave the setting automatic or do you have specific settings, if so why?

Do you use any filters - if so why?

--------------

For the actual video encoding i am thinking of using 2 pass encoding with no turbo pass to get the best picture quality/size ratio - should i do that, if not, why not?

For the quality, you have alot more options, i am thinking of just using 75% quality standard? or should i use another setting, if so why?

Framerate - just leave automatic?

-----------------

Audio - I was just thinking of using automatic to pick the first english 5.1 ac3 track?

Sutittles - Automatic - Forces subs only


Sorry for the long post - its just I want to get these settings right so I can just have the same settings for all my movies.
Simonkey
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:31 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by Simonkey »

nightstrm wrote:Here is the preset I have been using to generate encodes that are compatible with both the AppleTV and the iPhone, while taking advantage of the new features in .9.2 (including AAC+AC3, improved anamorphic support, and VFR to name a few). Using these settings, I have yet to come across an encode that did not work on both devices.

It should be noted that this uses CRF, which means you cannot accurately predict what the output file size is going to be. This has resulted in some files that seem quite large in comparison to the 8GB of space on my iPhone, but have so far been below 2.5GB. I need Steve to announce a 32GB 3G iPhone in the very near future! :mrgreen:

EDIT: In case I haven't made it clear enough, this preset is not going to be for everyone. It is slower than some of the stock presets, and the file sizes are larger than normal, especially with the limited drive space of the iPhone. I'd like to help come up with something in-between the iPhone and AppleTV presets that is a little easier to manage, but my main concern was keeping as much video quality as possible while maintaining compatibility with all of my Apple devices.

CLI Equivalent (untested): -i <source> -o <destination> -U -F -m -e x264 -q .63 -8 weak -p -E aac+ac3 -B 160 -R 48 -D 1.51 -v -x cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

GUI settings -

Format: MP4 File
Codec: AVC/H.264 Video/AAC + AC3 Audio
Insert iPod Atom: Checked (not really necessary)

Video -
Encoder: x264
Constant Quality: 63% (will bump up to 64-65% for select titles) <-- ensure CRF is still checked in preferences

Picture Settings -
Anamorphic: Strict (can use loose if you want)
Crop: Automatic
VFR: Enabled (thank you jbrjake... I have finally encoded Futurama to my liking after numerous attempts before!)
Denoise: Weak (usually set, but this is really a personal preference)

Audio + Subtitles -
Track 1: English AC3 5.1 (Track 1 Mix: DPL2 + AC3)
Bitrate: 160kbps (only affects AAC)
Sample Rate: 48khz
Dynamic Range Compression: 1.51 (only affects AAC, and is really a personal preference)
Subtitles: Autoselect (Forced Subtitles Only - Checked)
Chapters: Enabled

Advanced: cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

For older television shows, I've stuck with using pretty much the same settings as above, except using an average bitrate of 1750kbps (Quicktime reports ~1500kbps final bitrate) and AAC audio only.
Is this setting compatible with the component TV Out AV cable? (I'm gonna get one tomorrow) And what resolution would the iPod Touch output to the TV using it? Any help much appreciated!

Also: am I right in thinking that if I take out the AC3 track this will be compatible with the Xbox 360 as well? If so it would make a great one stop solution for me! :D
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by nightstrm »

Yes, it is compatible with the cable out (I've personally tested with the A/V cable I bought for traveling), and I believe the iPod Touch/iPhone output at 480i.

I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Simonkey
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:31 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by Simonkey »

nightstrm wrote:Yes, it is compatible with the cable out (I've personally tested with the A/V cable I bought for traveling), and I believe the iPod Touch/iPhone output at 480i.

I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Does it output at 640x480 (or 720x576 for PAL) or a wider resolutionx480i i.e. is 640x480(or 576i) the maximum TV Out resolution?
Cheers

Edit: Sorry, just to clarify my ramblings! what I mean is does the iPhone/iPod touch output only letterboxed widescreen i.e. 4/3 with black horizontal bars or proper anamorphic widescreen ratios through the tv out cable?
Thanks for any help once again!

Further Edit: Followed the above settings, produced a file which looks squished at 720x576 but QT 7.4.1 does not recognise as anamorphic so doesn't stretch to proper widescreen resolution, and which iTunes will not allow me to copy to the iPod Touch. Odd!
AgentCRF250
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:59 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by AgentCRF250 »

OK guys, I am trying to get the best quality possible out of my HDTV and XBOX360 using handbrake. I tried the setting above and i am still not happy. I know the file can not be over 4 gigs for Xbox and i do not care about porting them to my Iphone. I want to rip DVDs directly to my drive then watch them on the XB360. I have read a lot of artilcles here about Ipods, iphones and ATV for setting anyone have a good setting for what I am looking for?

Thanks in advance and this is a great project!!
AgentCRF250
sbalthazor
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:15 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by sbalthazor »

nightstrm wrote:I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Any chance of seeing / saying what you've tweaked recently (wasn't sure if you updated your original post with the settings)? I've been using your settings for the past 6 weeks as I re-ripped some stuff, but am preparing to do re-do my 200 episodes of the Simpons as well as start hitting my movie library pretty hard so was wandering around the forums for any new information I could glean. For those not looking backwards in the thread, the settings are for iPhone/iTouch and ATV when you aren't worried about size or encoding time.

Wondering what you've done and why (ie. better quality / faster performance / smaller size)...Always good to hear what smarter people than me are doing!

Regards,
sbalthazor
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by nightstrm »

sbalthazor wrote:
nightstrm wrote:I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Any chance of seeing / saying what you've tweaked recently (wasn't sure if you updated your original post with the settings)? I've been using your settings for the past 6 weeks as I re-ripped some stuff, but am preparing to do re-do my 200 episodes of the Simpons as well as start hitting my movie library pretty hard so was wandering around the forums for any new information I could glean. For those not looking backwards in the thread, the settings are for iPhone/iTouch and ATV when you aren't worried about size or encoding time.

Wondering what you've done and why (ie. better quality / faster performance / smaller size)...Always good to hear what smarter people than me are doing!

Regards,
sbalthazor
Sure, I will post my latest changes when I get home later this evening.. nothing too big.

Personally, if I were you, I'd wait for .9.3 to start The Simpsons episodes... the combing detection, in conjunction with the revised VFR from .9.2 should yield excellent results for those shows (as well as Family Guy/Futurama). The VFR update fixed a lot of the issues I had with these encodes, but they weren't perfect. The upcoming combing detection makes these encodes look fantastic by fixing little remaining artifacts. I will probably be encoding all of these discs again soon in the near future (after just finishing them right before .9.2 was officially released).

And before anyone asks, I have no idea when .9.3 will be ready. :)
sbalthazor
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:15 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by sbalthazor »

nightstrm wrote:
Personally, if I were you, I'd wait for .9.3 to start The Simpsons episodes...
And before anyone asks, I have no idea when .9.3 will be ready. :)
I've been using the latest SVN builds (hand't grabbed anything in the past week though), but had been holding off for a formal release of the latest and greatest before going crazy on the animated TV stuff...I actually hadn't run any of the Simpsons stuff through with the new code to see how great the new stuff works on it (sounds like I've got something to do tonight now).

Hoping to re-encode the Simpsons for the last time (gone through them twice in the past year - but hey re-encoding is part of the Handbrake 'lifestyle').

Thanks in advance!

-sbalthazor
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by nightstrm »

sbalthazor wrote:
nightstrm wrote:
Personally, if I were you, I'd wait for .9.3 to start The Simpsons episodes...
And before anyone asks, I have no idea when .9.3 will be ready. :)
I've been using the latest SVN builds (hand't grabbed anything in the past week though), but had been holding off for a formal release of the latest and greatest before going crazy on the animated TV stuff...I actually hadn't run any of the Simpsons stuff through with the new code to see how great the new stuff works on it (sounds like I've got something to do tonight now).

Hoping to re-encode the Simpsons for the last time (gone through them twice in the past year - but hey re-encoding is part of the Handbrake 'lifestyle').

Thanks in advance!

-sbalthazor
I'm not sure if the combing detection stuff has been submitted to SVN... I don't believe it has yet. There is a patch for it in the development forum if you are ambitious, but you're on your own to make it work. :)

As for re-encoding, it has become part of my normal routine. I don't delete DVD images from my hard drive now for awhile, just in case I need to trash my recently finished encode because some awesome new feature has been added... which has been the case as of late. Not that I'm complaining... :D
UWphotoman
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:53 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by UWphotoman »

Why: Creative Zen

Priorities: Rip DVDs for Zen player, small file size

Settings:
Title: select main movie title
Encoder: Mpeg 4
Audio: AAC
Size: set width to 320 (handbrake selects the appropriate height)
Video: 2 pass encoding

Notes

I have found very little information on ripping DVDs for the Creative Zen. I have tried several methods, but have found Handbrake to be simple and reliable. I am by no means experienced in this, but I have made a number of trials and this seems to produce a decent quality file.
AFAIK conversion of the MP4 file to WMV is unavoidable. This is easily achieved using the Creative Video Converter (software included with Zen); select "good quality" rather than "optimum file size" to avoid compression artefacts.

If anyone knows how to output a suitable file directly from the VOBs, I'd like to know.

Hope this helps anyone else using this lovely little video player.
A Worthy Foe
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:01 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by A Worthy Foe »

My "how low can you go" rip of the movie Solaris I just did, being on linux, this is with handbrakecli:
HandBrakeCLI --input /dev/dvd --pixelratio --x264opts frameref=6:subq=7:brdo:trellis=2:direct_pred=auto:bframes=2:bime:mixed_refs:8x8dct:weight_b:pass=1:stats=stats.log --aencoder aac+ac3 --ab 32 --mixdown 6ch --encoder x264 --vb 368 --output solaris.mkv --crop 54:58:0:0

HandBrakeCLI --input /dev/dvd --pixelratio --x264opts frameref=6:subq=7:brdo:trellis=2:direct_pred=auto:bframes=2:bime:mixed_refs:8x8dct:weight_b:pass=3:stats=stats.log --aencoder aac+ac3 --ab 32 --mixdown 6ch --encoder x264 --vb 368 --output solaris.mkv --crop 54:58:0:0

HandBrakeCLI --input /dev/dvd --pixelratio --x264opts frameref=6:subq=7:brdo:trellis=2:direct_pred=auto:bframes=2:bime:mixed_refs:8x8dct:weight_b:pass=2:stats=stats.log --aencoder aac+ac3 --ab 32 --mixdown 6ch --encoder x264 --vb 368 --output solaris.mkv --crop 54:58:0:0
Will take a whole sleep night. Note the bitrate and the 5.1 sound. The video quality is not terrible either. In fact imo it's better than some common xvid rips I've seen. The size is about 360mb which seems amazing to me.
milkem
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 1:09 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by milkem »

nightstrm wrote:
sbalthazor wrote:
nightstrm wrote:I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Any chance of seeing / saying what you've tweaked recently (wasn't sure if you updated your original post with the settings)?

Regards, sbalthazor
Sure, I will post my latest changes when I get home later this evening.. nothing too big.
I have been hoping for nightstrm to get home and post the latest .9.2 settings geared for optimum quality! :D Really appreciative of your first configuration; it was a step up from my previous routine and looks great on my 52" bravia (KDL-52XBR4). Thank you.

nightstrm, do you perform all (most) of your encodes from pre-ripped .ISO? Do you ever encode directly from DVD in optical drive or have a preference there? I understand having the disk handy, or not, plays an obvious role in that question.

I've always assumed encoding from a .ISO located on the same HDD in which the encode is being written-to may somehow be stressful on the drive and increase risk of hickups in the final MP4. I guess some mount a DVD image using Disk Utility then encode, some encode direct from optical drive, while others encode from stored DVD ISOs located on a separate, external USB 2.0/Firewire drive. Any preferences among you all?
milkem
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 1:09 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by milkem »

Just read the FAQ re ripping. Seems Fairmount paired with DVD2OneX and VLC is the "best way" to rip in Mac.. yikes :shock:

I still prefer the ancient DVD Decrypter + AnyDVD on an XP bootcamp partition. Perhaps I'm missing some benefit in using the Fairmount/DTOX/VLC method, over my method in XP. I rip the ISO to external drive then HB.

Anyway, please forgive my noobness; I'll find the right place to discuss this. Thanks again for the .9.2 settings update if possible, nightstrm
megabyteme
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 12:27 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by megabyteme »

nightstrm wrote:Here is the preset I have been using to generate encodes that are compatible with both the AppleTV and the iPhone, while taking advantage of the new features in .9.2 (including AAC+AC3, improved anamorphic support, and VFR to name a few). Using these settings, I have yet to come across an encode that did not work on both devices....

GUI settings -

Format: MP4 File
Codec: AVC/H.264 Video/AAC + AC3 Audio
Insert iPod Atom: Checked (not really necessary)

Video -
Encoder: x264
Constant Quality: 63% (will bump up to 64-65% for select titles) <-- ensure CRF is still checked in preferences
My first post here... hopefully nightstrm or someone who knows will answer my questions...

Q1: nightstrm says " ensure CRF is still checked in preferences." I am using the windows gui version 0.9.2 (dunno if it makes a difference). I don't see a checkbox for "CRF". Where do I find that option?
nightstrm wrote: Picture Settings -
Anamorphic: Strict (can use loose if you want)
Crop: Automatic
VFR: Enabled (thank you jbrjake... I have finally encoded Futurama to my liking after numerous attempts before!)
Denoise: Weak (usually set, but this is really a personal preference)

Audio + Subtitles -
Track 1: English AC3 5.1 (Track 1 Mix: DPL2 + AC3)
Bitrate: 160kbps (only affects AAC)
Sample Rate: 48khz
Dynamic Range Compression: 1.51 (only affects AAC, and is really a personal preference)
Subtitles: Autoselect (Forced Subtitles Only - Checked)
Chapters: Enabled

Advanced: cabac=0:ref=2:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=1:mixed-refs=1:merange=32:level=30

For older television shows, I've stuck with using pretty much the same settings as above, except using an average bitrate of 1750kbps (Quicktime reports ~1500kbps final bitrate) and AAC audio only.
Q2: I don't see anything about 2-pass. Is it safe to assume 2-pass is best for quality or was that option omitted because it doesn't make a difference or is it in the "advanced" code settings?

Q3: How do I know if the DVD source is interlaced? In general I assume my commercial NTSC DVDs are not interlaced. However, I just purchased a bunch of (mostly 80's) music video DVDs (eBay) that are supposedly "Broadcast Quality". I do not have these in my possession yet. I think since they are from the 80's it is safe to say they will be 4:3. I also know they are on DVD-R in standard NTSC format (meaning they have AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders with VOB files). Anyway, how do you determine if the source is interlaced?
Last edited by megabyteme on Fri May 23, 2008 1:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
megabyteme
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 12:27 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by megabyteme »

milkem wrote:
nightstrm wrote:
sbalthazor wrote:
nightstrm wrote:I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Any chance of seeing / saying what you've tweaked recently (wasn't sure if you updated your original post with the settings)?

Regards, sbalthazor
Sure, I will post my latest changes when I get home later this evening.. nothing too big.
I have been hoping for nightstrm to get home and post the latest .9.2 settings geared for optimum quality!
Hey nightstrm... did you make it home yet?
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by nightstrm »

megabyteme wrote:
milkem wrote:
nightstrm wrote:
sbalthazor wrote:
nightstrm wrote:I probably should post my current settings; I've tweaked some of those settings since I posted that.
Any chance of seeing / saying what you've tweaked recently (wasn't sure if you updated your original post with the settings)?

Regards, sbalthazor
Sure, I will post my latest changes when I get home later this evening.. nothing too big.
I have been hoping for nightstrm to get home and post the latest .9.2 settings geared for optimum quality!
Hey nightstrm... did you make it home yet?
Sorry guys... I forgot about this thread. I am actually in Indianapolis for work this week (and visiting the Speedway tomorrow), but I'll post the tweaks I've made when I return home Friday night or Saturday.

As for two-pass, you don't use that with CRF.
milkem
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 1:09 pm

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by milkem »

Thanks Nightstrm :)
megabyteme
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 12:27 am

Re: Post Your "Best Settings" here and Why.

Post by megabyteme »

nightstrm wrote: Sorry guys... I forgot about this thread. I am actually in Indianapolis for work this week (and visiting the Speedway tomorrow), but I'll post the tweaks I've made when I return home Friday night or Saturday.
You got a lot of nerve... having a life and all. :wink:
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