Convert owned movies with Handbrake

[AndroiDad75]

Everyone,

As the Nexus gets close, I thought it would be a good idea to put together some tips on how to best get our LEGALLY OWNED movies on to our new toy.

I will attempt to keep the OP updated with the new methods as people chime in.

I am by no means an expert in Handbrake. In fact, I have ripped all my purchased blu-rays to my HTPC, but have never downsized them to fit on a phone until this week. I tried doing this, because with the Nexus I am now interested in putting some films on my phone for business trips/commutes.

I started with the Incredible forum, and found a topic, but there wasn't a consensus on settings.
*** .::Official Handbrake for Droid Incredible by HTC Thread:.. ***

In addition, there is a topic in the EVO forum.
Support Anyone converting movies with Handbrake yet? (or other tools)

Here is what I landed on for my incredible rips, to get them to play without skipping, etc... For those of you more familiar with Handbrake, how might we build upon this to get HD movies onto the Nexus.

Handbrake
Container: MP4

Picture:
Width: 720
Anamorphic: None
Cropping: Automatic
Keep Aspect Ratio: Checked

Video:
Video Codec: H.264(x264)
FPS: Same as source (although may just set it at 24)
Avg. Bitrate: 800 (anything higher and I had a lot of slowness/jitter, etc...)

Audio:
Audio Codec: AAC
Bitrate: 128

Chapters:
Create chapter markers: Unchecked

Now I know these aren't HD settings, so let's hear from those more experienced in Handbrake what your settings will be.

In addition, if you have other means to put them on the phone, other than Handbrake, lets hear 'em.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Reserved for future settings/options

 

[rexdog1888]

Sorry to be stupid, but I've never heard of handbrake, what is it?

 

[someguy43210]

It is a cross platform video transcoder. I like it a lot, but I don't use it often because it crashes with a good amount of my videos. However, its a popular program. handbrake.fr

I prefer to use Avidemux, although its slightly more complicated to use.

A tip with Handbrake is, instead of choosing x264 as video codec, you could choose "ffmpeg". It doesn't encode as high quality video, but for such a small size screen it might not be necessary, and the encoding speed is much faster.

Instead of choosing specific bitrates, it might be better to chose quantizer (constant quality) of 24-26. It will automatically adjust the video quality. For portable devices, I think 26 is good enough.

Usually I think just choose the iPhone 4 preset.

 

[PolishPauL]

Why not just use Moboplayer that plays almost anything?

 

[Medion]

I currently have my network set up as a media server. I've ripped a portion of my collection (rip new movies as I buy them, adding my archive over time), then convert. Here's how I'm accomplishing it. Both programs are free, btw;

Ripping - DVDFAB 8
Download DVD Copying Software for free | Convert DVD to PSP

While this is trial software that contains many elements in the suite, the DVD decrypter is free for life, and that's what we need. It allows you to rip a DVD (and Blu-Ray) straight to your hard drive with no changes.

From there, we convert using;

Handbrake -
HandBrake

The settings that I use are as follows. NOTE: This gives the highest quality rips and is slow as molasses to convert. Also, this is if you plan to playback on your HDTV. I can verify that 720p rips will NOT load on a Droid Incredible, and 480p rips look like a slideshow. This is NOT for older mobile devices, although I will be able to test these videos on an SGS2 this weekend.

-High Profile (right side panel)
-MP4 container
-Subtitles (Forced Only) - If you don't check this, then subtitles for different languages won't show. Example - Bourne Identity, when the cops come up on Jason, he smoothly transfers from English to French and subtitles appear. Without this option checked, the subtitles never show up.
-(Optional) Change resolution on 1080p movies to 720p (1280 for width, let the rest adjust to it). This preserves file space and makes your videos compatible with more players. For example, I have 2 Roku2s, and one is 720p only. It won't take and scale a 1080p input. So, If I encode at 1080p for the living room, I need either a separate 720p encode for the bedroom, or no availability in the bedroom. I found 720p to be the lesser of two evils.
-Leave all other settings alone. This profile is set up for the highest quality rip. Again, this profile was not intended for mobile devices. However, I'm going to test both my 480p and 720p rips on an SGS2 and report back this weekend. Also, I suspect the hardware 1080p decoder in the Nexus may greatly assist with this.

 

[jikhead]

You may want to give DVD Catalyst a try if you haven't. It's simply to use but yet has ton's of features. He's already updated the app with Rezound, RAZR, and Nexus profiles. I already made a Green Lantern copy for the Nexus.

 

[MRW1215]

I'm curious about what some good settings for Handbrake would be to minimize the actual file size, without looking/ sounding horrible. I don't care if my videos are in "HD" or not, but I don't want them to be all pixely and sound real "tinny", either. I've been using Handbrake for a while, but I just don't understand how to play with the settings enough to get the lowest possible file size without sacrificing "too much" quality.

 

[AndroiDad75]

You may want to give DVD Catalyst a try if you haven't. It's simply to use but yet has ton's of features. He's already updated the app with Rezound, RAZR, and Nexus profiles. I already made a Green Lantern copy for the Nexus.

Thanks for the heads up. I will check it out. Looks like it is $10. Is it worth it? Any settings that you use for the program, or do you just use the defaults? I will add this and any settings you use to the OP once I hear back.

Thanks!!!

 

[EarlyMon]

Why not just use Moboplayer that plays almost anything?

That is an excellent player and a good idea.

This handbrake business is about making a nice suitable file that can go onto your sdcard partition.

A full Blu-ray image, for example, is simply unreasonably large to port over without a bit of help.

Then, by all means, use something cool like Moboplayer for the final results.

 

[AndroiDad75]

... However, I'm going to test both my 480p and 720p rips on an SGS2 and report back this weekend. Also, I suspect the hardware 1080p decoder in the Nexus may greatly assist with this.

Medion,

Let us know what you find out. If it works well on the SGSII, it should work just fine on the Nexus. I will add to the OP when I hear back from you. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Why not just use Moboplayer that plays almost anything?

That is an excellent player and a good idea.

I have Rockplayer lite right now. Just downloaded it, based off of some recommendations. I had heard that it will play just about anything. Is Moboplayer a better player?

 

[PolishPauL]

I have Rockplayer lite right now. Just downloaded it, based off of some recommendations. I had heard that it will play just about anything. Is Moboplayer a better player?

I used to use Rockplayer. I like MoboPlayer more because there is no logo while playing a movie. They both do the same thing though.

 

[Chugworth]

Hmm, I'm not sure that I like these settings. My first priority is to maintain the screen resolution, then find the perfect balance for having the lowest "motion noise" (or whatever they call it) at an acceptable frame rate.

I spent a long time tweaking Handbrake to find a video quality setting that I was happy with on my Droid 1. I'll probably be spending some time tweaking it for the Galaxy Nexus also.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Hmm, I'm not sure that I like these settings. My first priority is to maintain the screen resolution, then find the perfect balance for having the lowest "motion noise" (or whatever they call it) at an acceptable frame rate.

I spent a long time tweaking Handbrake to find a video quality setting that I was happy with on my Droid 1. I'll probably be spending some time tweaking it for the Galaxy Nexus also.

Which settings? The one from the OP? Those were the first settings that worked for my incredible. It isn't the highest quality, partly because the INC doesn't really support it. That's why I was starting this thread: to get the highest quality possible at the slimmest file possible - nearing HD if possible.

 

[jikhead]

Thanks for the heads up. I will check it out. Looks like it is $10. Is it worth it? Any settings that you use for the program, or do you just use the defaults? I will add this and any settings you use to the OP once I hear back.

Thanks!!!

It's only $10!!! Judging by what I'm reading on your thread,...YES...it's worth the $10. Mitch provides excellent customer service on top of his product. He's always responded to emails the same or next day when I've had questions. The only time I've had a problem using the program, he was extremely helpful and was my fault for overlooking a setting.

Go download his trial version and take it for a test drive. The only settings I change are just a few for personal preference, but it works straight out of the box on default settings. You merely need to select your phone model, one of the profiles based on the quality and file size you want, and hit GO.

Would you like me to make a short video of how I use it? I'll cut out the conversion process which should keep my video to just a few minutes.

 

[AndroiDad75]

It's only $10!!! Judging by what I'm reading on your thread,...YES...it's worth the $10. Mitch provides excellent customer service on top of his product. He's always responded to emails the same or next day when I've had questions. The only time I've had a problem using the program, he was extremely helpful and was my fault for overlooking a setting.

Go download his trial version and take it for a test drive. The only settings I change are just a few for personal preference, but it works straight out of the box on default settings. You merely need to select your phone model, one of the profiles based on the quality and file size you want, and hit GO.

Would you like me to make a short video of how I use it? I'll cut out the conversion process which should keep my video to just a few minutes.

I am not averse to buying a product, especially if it works. That's why I was wondeirng how it was working for you. Looks like it is on sale right now. I may just pick it up, and skip Taco Bell for a bit.

If you are willing, I think a video would be awesome. I can add it to the OP, once I get a chance to reorganize with some of the info that we have gathered so far.

Looks like the newest version has a setting for the Nexus. Would you mind reporting back what that setting has? Is it keeping it at an HD resolution? Projected file size maybe?

Thanks Again!!!

 

[jikhead]

Looks like the newest version has a setting for the Nexus. Would you mind reporting back what that setting has? Is it keeping it at an HD resolution? Projected file size maybe?

Thanks Again!!!

I'm at my girlfriends, so it will have to wait until I get home. What exactly are you trying to get w/HD resolution? First, I don't have a bluray drive to test any of those movies. But doing so is a matter of checking the bluray box in the global settings. All the movies are going to get compressed to the Nexus' 1280 x 720 screen. Since I'm doing DVDs, none of my videos are truly a 720HD video (need a bluray drive for that). If you're worried about how it looks on your phone, all my movies on my Incredible look great. If you're doing DVDs, there are settings regarding the black borders and you can do what you wish with that. I prefer to leave it just as is like the DVD. All movies converted from a DVD will have black borders just like the DVD, although you can cut them out. DVD movies that were filmed with the IMAX standard ratio will fill up the phones screen w no black borders just like the DVD.

 

[The_Chief]

I know I'm a little late to the party, but another vote here for DVD Catalyst.

I transferred all 6 Star Wars movies into Droid HQ for my OG Droid and they came out gorgeous! I can hardly wait to see what they look like on the Gnex screen

 

[Medion]

Medion,

Let us know what you find out. If it works well on the SGSII, it should work just fine on the Nexus. I will add to the OP when I hear back from you. Thanks for sharing.

I didn't load them locally, but rather, tried to stream them directly from my media server. The results were as follows;

720p - cannot play this file (loading on the device won't change this)
480p - video stutter every 2-3 seconds. I highly doubt this was network lag, but I'll load a video onto the device to confirm. So basically, the high-profile encoding should only be for your TV.

 

[jikhead]

A few things I don't mention in the video:

1. When I discuss inserting a disc and the 99 track stuff; not all discs do this. Some may just have the one track and it loads right up into the queue, and others will load up a couple in the queue that you can obviously see which one is the real track.
2. There are other conversion/video formats you can choose from. I use the MP4 format and I would assume other formats would also have a different total file size (+/-) after the conversion.
3. No, I'm not a "tweaker"!!! And yes I need a gorilla pod for my point-and-shoot!!!!

YouTube - DVD Catalyst Quick How-To

 

[eyetek]

Question about making copies using handbrake...I do not plan on putting these on my Nexus because of no SD card but I have set up a personal cloud using Pogoplug and I have a very large drive to store my movies on so my question is if I am not concerned on size but want the best visual experience on my Nexus what setting might I use?

Bottom line is I don't care about the size of the file...looking for best resolution in the most fluid playable product streaming through either Wifi or 4G LTE speeds.

P.S. I may also mirror these movies from either my XOOM or the Nexus to the HD TV if that changes things as far as settings goes.

Thanks in advance

 

[jikhead]

Question about making copies using handbrake...I do not plan on putting these on my Nexus because of no SD card but I have set up a personal cloud using Pogoplug and I have a very large drive to store my movies on so my question is if I am not concerned on size but want the best visual experience on my Nexus what setting might I use?

Bottom line is I don't care about the size of the file...looking for best resolution in the most fluid playable product streaming through either Wifi or 4G LTE speeds.

P.S. I may also mirror these movies from either my XOOM or the Nexus to the HD TV if that changes things as far as settings goes.

Thanks in advance

I'm by no means an expert on this, but no matter what size your recorded movie is, it's still going to get compressed (again) during the streaming process. I recently downloaded Zumocast and tried it. Via Wi-Fi in the house, it streamed really good and picture quality was good. I tried it on 3G about 60 miles from my house, it worked but was slow to start up. Once it started streaming, it streamed OK but the video quality wasn't that great. The frame rate was really poor and noticeable. I also have Slingbox and I believe it does a better job of streaming than Zumocast. Even Slingbox down-converts an HD signal...so it's still not going to show up on my phone in HD or anything.

 

[eyetek]

I ran a test last night, ripped a copy of the Matrix using the settings in the first post at 720, the file size was 1.2 gig. placed it onto my Pogoplug hard drive and then streamed it over Wifi to my Xoom and it worked without a glitch but would not load on my OG Droid...not surprised by this though.

Can't wait to see how it runs on the Nexus, I suspect that it will run just fine, I get 4G LTE activated in my home town on Nov. 17th so I will be able to test the streaming at that time...but all indications are that the settings in the first post will work.

The only thing I guess I should check is how it streams while mirrored from the Xoom onto the HDTV...

 

[Namrak]

I've never used handbrake before, but it seems pretty straightforward. Would I just upload my file and then set it to the settings described in the OP once we figure out the optimal customizations?

Why can't I just transfer the movie to my sdcard on my phone? I mean what is the advantage to converting using the settings on handbrake first? I'm guessing it allows for less lag?

Are the suggested settings to be used for all videos? For example in the OP it suggested for the picture width set to 720, but when I was converting a test video, the option was grayed out and set at 624? Why is this? Sorry for the easy questions guys like I said I'm new to this!

Edit: I know most use handbrake to convert and rip from a dvd, but if mine is already on my hard drive is there a point to me using this software if I want to transfer the video to my phone?