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Blu-Ray to Apple TV

redboxcar said:
What settings do you use, that your 720p Handbrake conversions are typically between 2.5-3.5 GBs? I'm assuming, from your post, you're not using the iPad preset, nor the Apple TV 2 preset? Or am I reading that wrong, and you're using the ATV2 preset? :confused:

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

I get similar results as the member that you quoted. I usually use an RF of 18.50 (Constant Quality Setting) and get fantastic results.

I usually use the file size that the iTunes Store Movie section shows as a basis for what file size I should aim for, specially considering that the quality will be a lot better than iTune's version. I'll either get the exact file size or get a bit lower. If that's not an option, then I also go for the average bitrate (while still using Constant Quality) for my movies. Action movies should get at least 3800 kbps, animated films around 3000-3400 kpbs depending on the film, and anything else at least 3000 kbps or below.

Of course, if you go by the average bitrate, the RF will always change. For example, while Super 8 converted just fine in my opinion at an RF of 18.50, I had to use an RF of 16.50 for Cars 2. Which resulted in a file of 3.21 GBs, about 300 Mbs less then it's iTunes HD counterpart, and it looks great.

And yes, this is all with the Apple TV 2 preset on Handbrake, on the latest nightly. These files work just fine on the Apple TV 2, my iPhone 4 & 4S. I don't own an iPad so I can't comment, but I'm sure they'll work just fine if they work on both my iPhones. :)

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Maiisoh said:
I have basicly 3 questions.

1 - Is there any way to lighten up the copythat's converted into appleTV 2 format either in the program that converts the bu-ray to MKV or handbrake?
I converted a blu-ray to MKV using Make MKV and then used Handbrake to covert the MKV file to appleTV 2 format. Even though the movie started out very dark on the blu-ray, the new m4v file is so dark that you can not see some parts at all.

2 - What other program's besides Make MKV is good at converting blu-ray's to MKV files? Just about every disc that I've tried to convert with Make MKV won't work. Make MKV tells me that the disc's are too new and it can't decrypt the copy protection. If the company doesn't update the data files for newer disc's, then the progam is really useless.

3 - When converting to appleTV 2 format, do you need to keep the check box for larger files checked? If you uncheck the box, will affect the quality of the m4v file?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Rick
Click to expand...

Maiisoh, for the first question, I advice you to update both MakeMKV and Handbrake (to a nightly version). This should solve your second question (since I have been able to rip current released BDs), and maybe the first one, because it could be a bug in the programs. You never know, if that doesn't solve your problem, then the issue is with the bluray disc. I have never had a problem with my movies getting a bit too dark, and if they are, I transfer them to my iPhone to see if it's not a bug on my computer programs. If it looks fine on the iPhone, then it's a visual bug on the player.

For your 3rd question, the check box for larger files in the Apple TV 2 preset won't harm your encodes at all if it's turned on. It's there in case the file size ends up being over 4 GBs in size to allow an atom to be in the finished movie file so the Apple TV can recognize and read the file in 64bit format. This is true with all current iOS devices.

So, keep it on just in case, it won't affect your encode. :D
 
Thanks

Los, thanks for the reply. I was using the newest make mkv on both my laptop and desktop. Make mkv would not be able to open at least 90% of the blu-rays on either computer. I went into the registry and deleted the make mkv registry file on each computer which basically made it a trial version with a 30 day limit. Now it works properly and reads all the blu-rays that I have tried so far. I'll try to reregister them later and see if they will continue to work.
 
Los said:
I get similar results as the member that you quoted. I usually use an RF of 18.50 (Constant Quality Setting) and get fantastic results.

I usually use the file size that the iTunes Store Movie section shows as a basis for what file size I should aim for, specially considering that the quality will be a lot better than iTune's version. I'll either get the exact file size or get a bit lower. If that's not an option, then I also go for the average bitrate (while still using Constant Quality) for my movies. Action movies should get at least 3800 kbps, animated films around 3000-3400 kpbs depending on the film, and anything else at least 3000 kbps or below.

Of course, if you go by the average bitrate, the RF will always change. For example, while Super 8 converted just fine in my opinion at an RF of 18.50, I had to use an RF of 16.50 for Cars 2. Which resulted in a file of 3.21 GBs, about 300 Mbs less then it's iTunes HD counterpart, and it looks great.

And yes, this is all with the Apple TV 2 preset on Handbrake, on the latest nightly. These files work just fine on the Apple TV 2, my iPhone 4 & 4S. I don't own an iPad so I can't comment, but I'm sure they'll work just fine if they work on both my iPhones. :)

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the great info! I don't really understand RF, so I'm just curious - how did you know to adjust Cars 2 to an RF of 16.50? Is it trial and error... did you try it at a different RF and it looked off, so you tried again? Thanks!

So far I ripped my first blu-ray (Set It Off) and it looks fine to me (using ATV2 preset), but I don't really know what I'm looking for! But it's also a little over 4 GB... I'm wondering if I should throw my .mkv in Handbrake again and play with the settings this time.

Lastly... does anyone have any experience with iFlicks?
 
dynaflash said:
How do you use average bitrate AND Constant Quality encoding at the same time ?
Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply, but I use Constant Quality and then use a program like Media Inspector to show me the average bitrate of the entire file and each individual stream (a.k.a. video, arc audio, ac3 audio, etc.) which I use to see if the bitrate is good enough for me.

@redboxcar. It's a trial and error thing really. All BDs are encoded differently and you'll always get different results even using the same RF, but I see that 18.50 is the sweet spot for most films in my opinion. It could be something else for you.

What happened with Cars 2 was that I first did it with an RF of 18.50, played the file, it looked fine, then looked at the bitrate. It was less than 3,000 kbps and so I felt it was too low and wanted at LEAST 3,000 kbps. Bumped up the RF and that's how I got a satisfying file with an RF of 16.50.

It bumped it up to 3,400 kbps, but the file size was very very small. Mine sits at 3.66 GBs, and that's with two audio tracks of AC3 audio (English and Spanish) and the same for the AAC audio tracks. Which is about 120 MBs higher than the iTunes version which is 3.54 GBs. A satisfying file size considering that the audio can take up to 400 MBs for each language (both the AC3 and AAC stream together).
 
The great thing about Handbrake is that it lets us all choose what satisfies us most. But I wouldn't recommend the combination CQ/ABR method for most people. Handbrake (well, x264) knows much better than we do what the right bitrate for a given quality is, and if you second-guess it you're just going to end up with wasted bits and wasted time for not much benefit apart from that feeling of satisfaction :)

For example, I have to disagree with your guidelines about what bitrates certain genres of film should have. Computer animation compresses very well at low bitrates because it's clean and essentially predictable to the compressor -- as you've discovered with Cars 2, which should look terrific at well under 3000kbps and absolutely does not need artificial pumping up. A modern action movie that is largely computer animated and otherwise graded and post-processed to within an inch of its life will also compress much better than, say, an older drama shot on film with a lot of grain.

By all means increase the quality for films you really like and want to look their best, but I think compression artifacts are just as distracting in a drama as in an action movie, and for me the best way to minimise artifacts while keeping a good compression ratio is to trust CQ to do its thing.
 
I'm hoping someone can help me out. I just got my BD Drive, and am attempting my first rip, The Incredibles. I tried following the instructions per the first page, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to use TSMuxer. I've tried Googling it, but it still is not providing great answers. Is there a tutorial somewhere, preferably with screenshots?
 
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