Handbrake Help Re-encoding

Discussion in 'The HTPC, HDTV & Ultra High Definition section' started by sdamaged99, May 1, 2012.

  1. sdamaged99

    sdamaged99 Guest

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    Hi

    I have Handbrake installed, and would like to try re encoding some 40GB MKVs down to the more manageable size whilst retaining an excellent level of quality

    The settings are a bit confusing to me, could someone familiar with it point me in the right direction?

    Also, does it support the new AVX extensions that Ivy Bridge use? (or even Cuda perhaps?

    Thanks
     
  2. JonathonM

    JonathonM Guest

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    I'm not an expert but I have used Handbrake a lot for this particular application. After you have loaded the source video using the top file menu. Choose a destination file. I'll assume that you are transcoding 1080p video for use on your PC. As a start, I'd choose the High Profile preset from the window on the right. Also check the large file size box below the destination box and leave the file type as MP4 (don't be a hater and go for MKV, its just a container ;-) ).

    On the Picture tab start by making sure Anamorphic is set to Strict and that the source file width matches the width in the number box. Handbrake will remove black bars from the video to reduce the file size.

    Leave the video filters tab as it is. On the video tab, select constant quality and set the slide to 24. THis will be almost indistinguishable to a bluray for a much smaller file size. You can increase the number to reduce the file size and quality and vice versa.

    On the audio tab there should be two tracks, one with AC3 Passthru set and the other with Dolby Prologic 2. If there are subtitles, then on the next tab set them up and then click Add.

    Now you can click Encode and go get a drink while the magic happens.

    On the AVX extensions topic, I'm not sure whether it does or not but of important note is that for the near future don't use either Quick Sync Encode or the OpenCL code when it is released. It has inferior picture quality while the Handbrake developers get it straightened out. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
     
  3. automaticman

    automaticman Master Guru

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    JonathonM pretty much hit all the main points. I disagree with not using MKV if you plan to stream multichannel audio though, a lot of players have issues playing mp4 with Dolby Digital tracks. MKV can also carry multiple subtitle tracks. It really depends on what software you are going to play stuff on.

    Also, double check the default audio tracks, it doesn't always set one as passthrough or pick the right track to passthrough. I usually ditch the prologic track altogether as Dolby Digital has a stereo core that works fine when I'm not bitstreaming. Again, depends on how you will be playing back.

    Subs can be a littel tricky. The Foreign Audio Search track looks for a subtitle set that has far fewer lines than the other languages (which in theory, should be the one containing only subs for foreign languages spoken in an english language film). You can also select the main english subtitle track and check 'forced only' but not all disks used the 'forced' flag. I usually end up just manually downloading the sub file for just foreign audio bits and dropping it in the movie folder.


    Handbrake recently released two beta versions of the program, one that uses OpenCL for resizing and decoding (not encoding), but I've heard it has quality issues still. They've also released a QuickSync beta version that I've been playing with and pleasantly surprised so far. I can't can't remember if your 3930K actually supports QuickSync since it doesn't have an iGPU, though. If it does, you might try playing around with it.
     

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