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whyrichard

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 15, 2002
1,705
6
hello,

what are the handbrake settings necessary to encode a dvd for playback on an iphone?


neato!

r.
 

CyberGreg

macrumors regular
Jan 2, 2004
135
0
SoCal
hello,

what are the handbrake settings necessary to encode a dvd for playback on an iphone?


neato!

r.

I am trying to reduce file size as much as I can while still retain good to excellent quality on the iPhone. I start with the iPod preset but then set the bit rate to 620, set the frames to 24 and reduce the video width to 480 (the height usually goes to 250'sh). I leave the audio at 128kpbs but I read that you can reduce that to 96 without much impact, other then file size. I've found my iMac can rip through a normal DVD within 35 - 45 minutes running at 90+ fps.
 

FunkyCold24

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2007
19
0
Ok, so here are my settings for Handbrake(Version 0.8.5b1) that will bring the file size down between 550 and 560MB while still retaining a crystal clear picture and sound.

I changed the bit rate to 400kbps and the screen size to 480 x 320.
The file size for a 2 hour movies was 556MB.

I don't change anything else in the ipod setting.

The only thing I noticed is that when I tap on the screen it won't zoom in. I believe this is because the movie retains the actual size after it converts. I'll check this out when I convert another one.
 

Holyghost

macrumors newbie
Jul 3, 2007
21
0
Madison, WI
Funky - autocrop? no crop? Due to computing issues I am stuck using the windows GUI version of handbrake and it does not seem to have the same presets/preset info as the mac version so as much as you could share (PM me if needed) would be great.
 

FunkyCold24

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2007
19
0
I kept it at autocrop.

I'm trying to get it down to the lowest possible file size At 560MB, the movie looks awesome. Hopefully I can get down to 400MB.
 

Holyghost

macrumors newbie
Jul 3, 2007
21
0
Madison, WI
Funky

Thanks for the quick reply (as for me, I'm sitting in the West Towne, Madison WI apple store grand opening killing time...)!
 

FunkyCold24

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2007
19
0
That's awesome!!! As far as the double-tapping to get the full and wide feature, you might want to try and set it to 480 x 272. I'm going to see how that goes for me and I'll keep you posted.

How does the store look? I bet it's beautiful, haha!!!! Gotta love Apple:D



Ok, so here's what I did now. I changed it to 480 x 272 and I cropped the top and bottom at 58. The left and right side stayed at 0. (movie ratio is 2.35:1)


It should be done in a couple hours, so I'll have an update then.
 

swordfish5736

macrumors 68000
Jun 29, 2007
1,898
106
Cesspool
there must be something really wrong with me or my superdrive cause it takes on average 8 hours to rip a DVD even on the lowest quality. Ive been using handbrake forever and just thought it was normal
 

BigPrince

macrumors 68020
Dec 27, 2006
2,053
111
Hopefully there will eventually be a pre-set for the iPhone, ending discussion for the best settings and making everyone happy.
 

Chundles

macrumors G5
Jul 4, 2005
12,037
493
there must be something really wrong with me or my superdrive cause it takes on average 8 hours to rip a DVD even on the lowest quality. Ive been using handbrake forever and just thought it was normal

Depends on your processor. My G4 takes roughly 6x the length of the movie to encode to iPod, a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo can do real-time or a bit faster. I'm talking H.264 here, not MPEG-4.
 

FunkyCold24

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2007
19
0
I've been using Handbrake ever since I bought my Powerbook, but I always averaged about 2 and 2 1/2 hours.

I have an 1 hour 20 min. left until my current conversion finishes.

Keep you all posted.
 

sunday888

macrumors member
Jun 30, 2007
81
0
Silicon Valley
I've been using 2-pass encoding and deinterlacing the video. Most everything else is default. I wind up with a file that's just under 1GB for most 2-hour movies. Plus, it takes my little PowerBook over 24 hours to grind through the process.

I end up with a gorgeous video, but is this overkill?
 

swordfish5736

macrumors 68000
Jun 29, 2007
1,898
106
Cesspool
I've been using Handbrake ever since I bought my Powerbook, but I always averaged about 2 and 2 1/2 hours.

I have an 1 hour 20 min. left until my current conversion finishes.

Keep you all posted.

what settingsare you using cause I'm on a PowerBook too and it takes forever
 

vrillusions

macrumors regular
Jul 8, 2007
227
2
Cleveland, Ohio, US
Is there a way to "trick" handbrake into thinking a video file is really a dvd or some other way to convert a video? Basically I have a video right now that's in quicktime format ("elephants dream" just for testing this out) and I want to convert it and compress it down to a good size for the iphone where it looks good but isn't huge. Handbrake works great with dvd's but can't figure out any easy way to use it with any other file. The hard way would be to author a dvd with the file, then import that image into handbrake. Has to be some other way.

(edit)
er, guess I should have looked a little harder, there's a discussion on avi to ipod converters here
 

PhatBoyG

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2007
146
6
Tulsa, OK
Except for 2.35:1 films, I use a height of 320px to match the height of the display when zoomed in (cutting off the sides). I don't miss the sides since only a few films (mostly 2.35:1) actually put good stuff on the ends. That, and a true widescreen film at a height of 320 is like 780px wide or something, which exceeds the support of the iPhone.

You can use similar options with FFMPEG to convert XviD/DivX movies for the iPhone as well.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,472
3,257
Ok, so here's what I did now. I changed it to 480 x 272 and I cropped the top and bottom at 58. The left and right side stayed at 0. (movie ratio is 2.35:1)

I used the HB .8.5b last night to rip The Matrix. Set it to iPod pre-settings, set the bit rate to 500 and changed picture settings to 480 but leaving the aspect ratio checked so that it adjusted the height accordingly. The Matrix at 2hr14min took around 1hr10min on my 1.66 CoreDuo Mini (2GB RAM) and I only did 1-pass encoding. The file size was about 650MB. I also left the audio at 48 not 44.1 and 160 not 128. I was able to tap back and forth from widescreen to fullscreen.

Is there a way to "trick" handbrake into thinking a video file is really a dvd or some other way to convert a video? Basically I have a video right now that's in quicktime format ("elephants dream" just for testing this out) and I want to convert it and compress it down to a good size for the iphone where it looks good but isn't huge. Handbrake works great with dvd's but can't figure out any easy way to use it with any other file. The hard way would be to author a dvd with the file, then import that image into handbrake. Has to be some other way.

(edit)
er, guess I should have looked a little harder, there's a discussion on avi to ipod converters here

Quicktime 7.2 has an iPhone export option. I think it built into the free player as well as the pro version b/c of the AppleTV and iPhone. If not drag the file into iMovie and then you can export it back to a quicktime file adjusting your settings manually or using the iPod, AppleTV or iPhone presets in the iMovie export.
 

pedz

macrumors regular
Jul 2, 2007
188
15
You won't be able to zoom into a video when rendered at 480x320 because the video file retains the black bars on the top and bottom. and the iphone assumes it is part of the video so it does not zoom.

When rendering the video clip off the bars and set the resolution to 480x272 (16:9 aspect) or 480x204 (2.35 aspect), then you will be able to zoom in, i have done it.

What i would love to see apple do is allow me to select a video to sync with the iphone and give an option to convert and have itunes convert the video for me. I hate having to manually do it and i also hate cluttering my library with multiple version of a video. but they do look good on the phone.

peter
 

vrillusions

macrumors regular
Jul 8, 2007
227
2
Cleveland, Ohio, US
Quicktime 7.2 has an iPhone export option. I think it built into the free player as well as the pro version b/c of the AppleTV and iPhone. If not drag the file into iMovie and then you can export it back to a quicktime file adjusting your settings manually or using the iPod, AppleTV or iPhone presets in the iMovie export.

It's not a free option in quicktime 7.2, pro only. Didn't think of trying iMovie (duh). I ended up using iSquint mentioned in the other forum and worked pretty well. iMovie could be useful if I wanted to mash a few music videos together, though.

(edit)FWIW, I can confirm iMovie HD on my macbook can "share" the video to ipod format which makes it 320x240 and a filesize around 50mb(/edit)
 

Resevdog

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
137
8
Vista settings

Well, I've done some experimenting and realized one thing:

Handbrake is a very smart program, even on Vista (no comments, please).

On the latest version, with a standard widescreen dvd, just select the ipod preset which matches your dvd's aspect ratio (1.78 or 2.35). Set to autocrop. I reduce the audio to 128k (default is 160k). Could probably go lower, but I just prefer 128 for all my audio. That's it. A 2 hour movie encodes in h.264 in about 2 hours and comes out at around 900mb. The aspect ratio is perfect on the screen (it will fill it if you double tap cropping a bit on the sides). It's automatically optimized on screen giving you the full picture. The picture is brilliant, sounds terrific.
 

True Tao

macrumors member
Jul 5, 2007
64
0
Resevdog

I used the settings you did for ripping a DVD and I have a few questions I was hoping you could answer.

Have you noticed that when playing back the movie on the iPhone the characters seem a bit stretched so they look taller and thinner in some spots? Or maybe it's my eyes...

Also, I used the same exact settings you had in your post but I also changed the kps to 750 instead of the 1000 that was there. When I looked at the properties in iTunes it said it was recorded at around 880kps. If I use the settings as stated in your post does this overide the manual input?

Thanks for any input.
 

Resevdog

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
137
8
hmmm

Sounds to me like your not selecting the correct aspect ratio of your dvd you're ripping. When a picture gets distorted it's usually because you've changed the aspect ratio from your source to your output file. If you're starting with a fullscreen dvd, select 1.33 ipod preset. If it's widescreen, it should say on the dvd somewhere what aspect ratio it is. Most newer movies are 2.35. Most older are 1.78. Also, be sure you have set it to autocrop.

As for the bitrates, I've found that the difference in file size really doesn't matter. But yes, anything you enter after selecting a preset will overide the settings. Your bitrate choice is a target, not necessarily what it will encode at.
 

True Tao

macrumors member
Jul 5, 2007
64
0
Sounds to me like your not selecting the correct aspect ratio of your dvd you're ripping. When a picture gets distorted it's usually because you've changed the aspect ratio from your source to your output file. If you're starting with a fullscreen dvd, select 1.33 ipod preset. If it's widescreen, it should say on the dvd somewhere what aspect ratio it is. Most newer movies are 2.35. Most older are 1.78. Also, be sure you have set it to autocrop.

As for the bitrates, I've found that the difference in file size really doesn't matter. But yes, anything you enter after selecting a preset will overide the settings. Your bitrate choice is a target, not necessarily what it will encode at.


Thanks for the reply. I know i picked the right aspect ratio for the first one I ripped (2.35) so just as a test I tried to rip it again but the fist dvd title dosen't come up only 2,3 etc. which I guess are the extras so I don't know what thats all about but the second movie I ripped (2.35) came out ok so far.

I'm in the process of ripping a different title so we'll see how this one comes out but one thing I noticed is when I pick the preset to fit the aspect ratio of the movie (2.35 say) in the "destination" section next to "width/height" there is a aspect number. No matter if I pick 2.35 or 1.78 this number stays 1.78 however the "width/height" number does change. I don't know if this affects anything but I just thought it was a little strange.

Another little tid-bit if you do happen to change the bitrate manually after doing the setup as we have the end bitrate comes out around 120kbps higher than what you put in. I'll try ripping the current flick a few times at different rates to see if theres any real visual difference.


UPDATE:

I finished another rip and after comparing the one that was stretched to it I can safely say it is a aspect problem.
As mentioned earlier if you adjust the bit rate it adds around 120 to the "total bit rate" ......is this the audio track? sorry, I'm pretty new to this stuff.
although the movie plays on the iphone with the black bars top and bottom (2.35) and it does zoom when you tap the "full screen mode" it still cuts off some of both sides. I thought that auto cropping would cause the movie to be formatted to the full screen mode but not cut the sides on a 2.35 movie but I guess not. Unless I'm doing it wrong.....Is there a way to do this?

Thanks
 

ctakim

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2006
310
0
I'm using the iPod preset, but then I do 2-pass encoding, and I adjust the picture setting to keep the aspect ratio but increase the horizontal resolution to as close to 320 (the iPhone native screen resolution) as possible. That way when I zoom for detail, I keep the max horizontal resolution. However, I hate viewing movies via pan and scan so I mostly always watch in the standard aspect ratio.
 

NightStorm

macrumors 68000
Jan 26, 2006
1,860
66
Whitehouse, OH
I'm using the iPod preset, but then I do 2-pass encoding, and I adjust the picture setting to keep the aspect ratio but increase the horizontal resolution to as close to 320 (the iPhone native screen resolution) as possible. That way when I zoom for detail, I keep the max horizontal resolution. However, I hate viewing movies via pan and scan so I mostly always watch in the standard aspect ratio.
When you double tap a video, you aren't watching it in pan&scan, its simply zoomed in on the middle of the video. Pan & scan is actually better than this, since they pan across the entire image to ensure that you always get the majority of the "action" in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
 
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