Transcoding DV footage to H.265

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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stefantimm
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:30 am

Transcoding DV footage to H.265

Post by stefantimm »

I've moved all my video editing the my iPad Pro using LumaFusion. A couple of years ago I grabbed all my DV footage using iMovie on macOS, so I have a huge archive of (according to MediaInfo) MPEG-4 (DVCAM) files with video at 24.4 MB/S, 720x576 at 25.000 FPS, DV (PAL). Those play on the iMac, but as I've noticed today, not on the iPad. Neither can they be used in LumaFusion (it just plays the audio, no picture).

Therefore I've decided to transcode them to something more current, preferably H.265. I'm happy with the results using these settings:
  • Size same as original, 720x576. Is there any possible benefit upscaling this? The aspect ratio is "wrong" anyways.
  • Detelecine Off, Interlace Detection Default, Deinterlace Decomb, Preset Default.
  • Framerate Same as Source, Quality RF 20, Profile main, Level 4.1 (I don't have older devices)
  • Someone suggested Additional Options strong-intra-smoothing=0:rect=0:aq-mode=1
  • 128 kBit AAC for audio, I guess that should be enough
I read somewhere that doubling the framerate may result in better deinterlacing. If that is true, what settings should I use?

Of course I could just play around with the settings and maybe find the best ones by trial and error. But because sometimes problems only show with certain content, I'd rather hear about some best practices before I transcode a thousand files or so.
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: Transcoding DV footage to H.265

Post by mduell »

No sense in x265 for low resolution, high quality encodes; it only excels at high resolutions (4K and up) or going for very low bitrates (with low to moderate quality).

No sense in upscaling indeed. Maybe some argument for upscaling to square pixels if your editor or final delivery don't support anamorphic, but that's otherwise a waste of space as well.

For editing the output, start with the Production Standard preset. Adjust the audio if you feel 128k AAC is enough.
stefantimm
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:30 am

Re: Transcoding DV footage to H.265

Post by stefantimm »

@mduell Thanks a lot!

So I will transcode it to H.264, size 720x576, audio 128 kBit AAC.

Any suggestions on how best to get rid of the interlacing? It seems that the standard settings (Detelecine Off, Interlace Detection Default, Deinterlace Decomb, Preset Default) work okay for me. I did see some improvement when switching to EEDI2 Bob. It takes quite a bit longer, but I don't mind.

I'm still curious about the frame rate doubling. I ran across this post on github, suggesting that Bob should actually do that, if properly implemented. I get 25 fps when transcoding with EEDI2 Bob, so I guess this is still true. Are there any plans to change that in the near future?

I hope this thread will help others, my guess is that quite a few people who can still use their DV footage on an iMac or MacBook will eventually switch to an iPad and may be looking for a way to have access to their old footage.
Deleted User 11865

Re: Transcoding DV footage to H.265

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

"Bob" deinterlace does double the frame rate, but only for frames that actually get deinterlaced. With Interlace Detection enabled, not all frames will get deinterlaced (only frames where combing is detected).
stefantimm
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:30 am

Re: Transcoding DV footage to H.265

Post by stefantimm »

@Rodeo thanks for the clarification.

I did some frame by frame comparison and Deinterlace:Decomb with Preset:EEDI2 Bob gives me the best results.

File size is roughly 1/10 of the DV footage resulting in roughly 1.5 GB per hour. I'll just keep the RF at 20, no need to reduce size even further.

Many thanks to the HandBrake team for providing such an excellent tool and keep up the good work!
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