Hi,
So can I add tracks from the homeDVS project on top of the original
tracks?
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
On 16-Nov-08, at 4:12 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Hi
Ok, here are my DVD settings that I use. Some are borrowed from the
iPod presets and some are different. I use a snapshot build of
handbrake, and I really do suggest that you use the snapshot builds.
It has some abilities that are useful, including the ability to add
multiple audio tracks and to alter their codecs/bitrates
separately. The current snapshot build is revision 1913 and I've
found it to be very stable. It also adds the ability to easily alter
some of the encoder options manually, which is an ability we will
need.
I'll describe the settings used in each tab. Once you have these set
and working you can make a preset so you don't have to do this every
time.
Global settings (these appear at the top of the window):
output format is an mp4 file. Make sure large file and web optimized
are unchecked, and iPod 5g support is checked. Even though it says
iPod 5g it applies to all iPods.
Video tab:
codec: h.264
bitrate: anywhere up to 1500, going higher will break iPod and Apple
TV compatibility, so if that's not important feel free to go higher.
As with audio bitrate, this controls how much compression is done
and therefore how much is lost. I usually use 1200 for most movies,
1500 for high quality or very intensive movies, and 1024 for TV shows.
next, press the picture settings button. Make sure keep aspect ratio
is unchecked, leave cropping at auto, and set anamorphic to loose.
If you know you need deblocking or some of the other filters
(usually you won't) set them as appropriate. Press close once the
picture settings are set.
Make sure two-pass encoding is checked (it makes a huge difference
in quality). I also check turbo first pass, but you don't need to if
you want to squeeze every last little bit of quality out of the
first pass. It doesn't degrade the quality appreciably to turbo the
first pass however. Make sure framerate is set to "same as source."
Audio tab
These settings are flexible. Add whichever audio tracks you wish,
with whatever codec you wish. I use AAC, as it's the standard mp4
audio codec and works with everything. This is what the iPod
supports, it does not support AC3 and neither does Quicktime out of
the box. You can get the perian codecs for quicktime to add AC3
support if you wish to use that. For iPod compatibility, stick with
using AAC for all audio tracks. Multiple audio tracks are fine, pick
the ones you want and the order you want them. Likewise, set the
subtitle options the way they need to be set for that particular
movie if you wish to include subtitles. If you include a 5.1-channel
surround track, set its downmix option to "dolby prologic II." This
will retain the surround sound but also be downmixed to a stereo
format--i.e. it will play in stereo and in 5.1 on devices that
support prologic II.
Chapter marks tab
Check the create chapter markers box (it's checked by default).
They're very nice to have, and if you should happen to play the file
on a device or in a software program that doesn't support the
chapter marks they will simply be ignored.
Advanced tab
I'm not going to go into what all the advanced options do, if I did
this message would probably be too long for the list. Go down to the
edit box at the bottom of the tab and put the following option
string into it:
level=30:bframes=0:cabac=0:ref=1:vbv-maxrate=1500:vbv-
bufsize=2000:analyse=all:me=umh:no-fast-pskip=1
The important thing to take note of is the vbv-maxrate=1500 string.
This controls the maximum bitrate of the encoder. If you have set
your bitrate higher than 1500, you need to raise this number
accordingly--if you do not, your encode will be incorrect and the
encoder could even crash. You do not need to lower this number to
match a bitrate lower than 1500 however. If you want iPod and apple
TV compatibility do not raise this number, as 1500 is the maximum
video bitrate they can support. The other options should be left
alone, some of them turn off advanced h.264 features the iPods don't
support, and others control advanced encoding parameters having to
do with video motion estimation and frame encodings. If you do not
need iPod or apple TV support, in particular, you should change
cabac=0 to cabac=1 to turn on an encoding feature that can result in
better compression. Note that most of these settings can be
controlled by the checkboxes in the advanced tab, and any changes
you make will be reflected there as well. Not all of them can,
however, and some of the manual options are needed, again, for the
iPod.
Once these settings are in place, it's time for your first encode.
Press command+s and wait... and wait... and wait some more. The
progress bar at the bottom of the window will show your encoding
progress. Video encoding is not a fast thing, so you'll probably
need to find something else to do for an hour or so. Once you've got
the settings the way you like it, select "new preset" or press
command+n to save them as a handbrake preset. You can even make your
new preset the default.
Sorry for the rather technical nature of this, but I hope this was
able to help.
On Nov 16, 2008, at 16:07, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
Hi,
Of course I won't get rid of them. I will simply shelve them as is
without bothering to label them. I would love your settings if you
don't mind to write them.
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
On 16-Nov-08, at 12:58 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
I wouldn't necessarily get rid of your DVDs after you've digitized
them though. Video encoding is rather complex with a hole lot of
options, and some day you may want to re-encode with different
ones. In particular, it took me a long time to figure out the
exact combination of options to use for video that will play on
anything from an iPod Classic or Nano all the way up to an Apple
TV in standard anamorphic widescreen. If you want the settings I
use let me know.
On Nov 16, 2008, at 15:32, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
Hi,
Thanks so much.
I won't bother labeling in Braille my DVDs anymore, I'll just
digitize them.
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
Thanks for listneing,
Alex,
On 16-Nov-08, at 12:13 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Use handbrake to open the resulting video_ts folder.
MacTheRipper rips the DVD to your hard drive as-is, removing any
CSS encryption and region coding along the way. You will have a
folder named after the DVD, inside that will be a folder called
VIDEO_TS. This is what you open with Handbrake. Handbrake will
read the DVD information and you will be able to set your
ripping options and go.
Note that Handbrake can rip directly from DVDs, including those
encrypted with CSS. But the ripping process goes much faster if
the DVD is ripped to the hard drive first.
On Nov 16, 2008, at 14:53, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
Hi,
Well, I am ripping using Mac the Ripper, and I have a tone of
weird files. How do I convert them using Handbreak?
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
