If you ’re a Mac user concerned in rip your commercial videodisk to a format playable on an Apple TV , iPod , or iPhone , the free video transcoder , HandBrake 0.9.3 , is one of the easiest style to go about it . With a copy of the free VLC installed on your Mac , HandBrake can rip most videodisk made today , and the results it give rise are quite watchable .
But suppose you want to go beyond the nonpayment — tweak HandBrake to produce videos that take up less room on your iPod , dispense with a pic ’s culmination credit entry , or bear subtitle ? It ’s all possible with HandBrake , but it takes some tweaking . And tweaking HandBrake is what this clause is all about .
Don’t be a pirate
Creating package to pull up picture from the copy - protection system used on DVD is illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( DMCA)—even if you ’re doing it only to extract video from your personal DVD collection for your own enjoyment .
unwashed gumption would say that it ’s ethical for you to move the telecasting from DVDs you have purchase onto your own devices for your own personal role . ( We ’re also quite sure it ’s flat - out wrong to rend video from videodisc you ’ve rented or borrowed , or to give picture files you ’ve converted from your own DVDs to a friend . ) But common sense and the jurisprudence do n’t always intersect . Some court rulings suggest that it ’s not unlawful to circumvent DVD shelter for non - infringing purposes ; on the other hand , the Motion Picture Association of America maintains that any videodisc rend outrage the DMCA .
So what ’s a Mac exploiter to do ? Because the law is not completely exculpated on this matter , every user will need to personally tax the risk of infection involved in rip DVD they own for personal use . For all other cause , however , we advance you to do the right thing and buy a legal copy .
From the top
We ’ll work our style from the top of the HandBrake user interface to the bottom , orient out utilitarian features along the way .
TitleWhen you insert a DVD or load a Video_TS booklet from a DVD that contains a feature - length motion picture , HandBrake will mechanically pick out the portion it believes to be the main feature . But click the Title down - up carte du jour and you ’ll likely see some other entries . Much of these reflect parts of the disc you ’re not concerned in — FBI warnings or an open logotype , for example . But some of the longer entries might be previews or extra content . How to tell ? From this menu opt an entry other than the one selected by HandBrake and tap the Picture preferences push button near the bottom of the windowpane . In the resulting sheet , you ’ll see a preview of the selected content . If that trailer shows the FBI logo , you may safely move on to a different debut .
If , rather , you ’re ripping a DVD full of TV episodes , you ’ll desire to rip more than just the single instalment commend by HandBrake . Before you begin , select HandBrake - > Preferences and in the General preference activate the Use Auto Naming option . This ensures that each instalment will have a unique name .
Now select the Title protrude - up menu and select an installment . Configure your setting , and sink in on the Add to Queue clitoris . Repeat these steps for all episodes on the disc . Because you ’ve enabled the Auto Naming option , each will have a unique name . ( Without that option on , there ’s the peril that you ’ll overwrite one instalment with another because they comport the same name . ) press Start and HandBrake will encode each sequence in the queue .
ChaptersIt ’s a good bet that a motion-picture show ’s credits will be found in its last chapter . If you ’d like to do without these credits , opt the penultimate chapter from the second chapter come out - up menu . So , for example , if a picture show has 32 chapter , choose 31 from the 2d pop - up menu . When you rip the disc , that last chapter wo n’t be included in the last merchandise .
FormatHandBrake can output video in four unlike container data format — MP4 , MKV , AVI , and OGM . For those using Apple ’s media players ( QuickTime , iPod , iPhone , Apple TV ) there is n’t a serious reason for using any container format other than MP4 .
The Video tab
Select the Video tab and you find configurations for controlling the encoding of a flick ’s video setting .
Video CodecEach container format support its own collection of encoders . We ’ll concentrate on those tender with MP4 . HandBrake supports three encoders for its MP4 files — MPEG-4 ( FFmpeg ) , MPEG-4 ( XviD ) , and H.264 ( x264 ) . FFmpeg is faster than XviD , but you pay for that speed with a slight compromise in caliber . H.264 — the default mise en scene used for many of HandBrake ’s presets — produces in force looking results at scurvy bit rate . But it ’s slower to encode than the other two encoders and requires more processing power from the gadget that play the video recording . If you ’re creating video recording for an old computer and observe H.264 playback choppy , try FFmpeg or XviD.
FramerateYou can cut the size of it of your movie by cutting its framerate but you ’ll suffer some quality loss in the process as your TV can be choppy than it would be at the original framerate . None of HandBrake ’s presets do this , but if you ’d wish to give it a go because you have very piddling storage infinite to figure out with , pick out a dissimilar framerate from the Framerate ( FPS ) pop - up carte . For best results , choose a framerate that fit into the original neatly . For example , 15 fps for a 30 fps ( 29.97 ) source .
2 - offer encodingWhen , in HandBrake ’s Quality sphere , you ’ve chosen either the Target Size or Average Bit rate options ( discuss soon ) , a 2 - pass encoding option appears within the Video tabloid . Enable this setting and HandBrake will run through your movie twice . The first time , it commemorate information about the denseness of info within the video ’s frames . On the second pass , it employ that info to better allocate bit rates during the encoding summons , result in better - looking video . The downside is that 2 - pass encoding read twice as long . To step on it it up ( and lose a measure of character ) , start the Turbo First Pass option , that knocks 50 – 75 - pct of the encoding clip off the first bye .
QualityThe mount in HandBrake ’s Quality expanse are where you may make a substantial difference in the size of your resulting flick and , of course , its quality . Enable Target Size and you may tell HandBrake how grown you ’d like the resulting movie to be . ( The large the file size of it , the better the quality . ) The Average Bit rate ( kbps ) option work out the other elbow room around . You tell HandBrake what you ’d like the average scrap rate to be and it creates a moving picture whose spot rate hovers around that size . ( Be sure to control the potentiality of the destination machine in this compliments . A bit rate of 2500kbps look safe on an Apple TV but is too much for an iPod . ) Again , the higher the second rate the honorable the quality and the heavy the lead movie .
The Constant Quality slider is your means of recount HandBrake , “ I want the ensue pic to be X good . ” HandBrake then does everything it can to grant your wish , but “ everything it can ” may result in a motion-picture show that consumes a lot of storage if you ’ve chosen a gamy quality context or one that wo n’t be compatible with a twist such as an iPod because its bit rate is too high .
Picture Settings
Within the Picture configurations sheet ( accessed by fall into place the Pictures configurations button ) you’re able to preview frame from the video recording and change its look . These are your option .
SizeYou use this option to quash the dimension of your motion-picture show ( you ca n’t increase its size of it using the arrow button next to the Width and Height fields ) . For a widescreen picture show , the Width will be 720 . The Height number will diverge , depending on the source . start the Keep Aspect proportion option and reduce the Width or Height setting and the other background will abide by , maintaining the same view ratio as the source picture show .
You also have the option to choose Anamorphic encoding . Choose Strict or Loose from the Anamorphic pop - up menu , and the dimension of the movie increase . The Strict option ensures that the aspect ratio conforms incisively to the ratio of the original pic . A Loose setting alters the property so they are more efficiently encode .
Changing the dimension of your video does very little to reduce the amount of memory board it consumes . You ’d use this countersink specifically to meet the limitation of a peculiar player — one that ca n’t play video larger than 640 x 480 , for example .
CropBy nonremittal , HandBrake attempts to take out pitch-black bars by cropping them away . If you ’re unhappy with its performance in this respect , you may do it yourself by enabling the Custom option in the Crop area and then entering the values you wish in the four field below . If your author fabric is a videodisk cauterise originally from a television tape measure and that video show scan tune at the top or bottom of the picture , you may expend crop to remove them .
FiltersNormally you should n’t have to partake the mount witness in the Filters area if you ’re put to work with a movie ripped from a commercial videodisc . If your source material is made up of TV shows or aliveness , however , or get along from a disc you ’ve created from motion-picture show you ’ve tear , you might come up some of these preferences helpful .
The Detelicine pick switches on an reverse telecine process . Telecining is the routine of converting photographic film to video and add up frames in the process ( because film runs at 24 Federal Protective Service and NTSC telecasting uses 30 fps ) . The detelicine process removes those surplus frames so your TV plays back swimmingly . Generally , only vivification and TV shows ask this context but there ’s no injury in leaving it on all the time as it will have no effect on content it ca n’t run with .
Take a gander at your TV ’s preview image . If you see jagged lines where toilsome sharpness should be ( called “ combing ” or “ teeth ” ) , the video is intertwine . Interlacing is a technique used in received - definition boob tube for paint images in a series of odd and even blood line . Interlaced TV displays these jagged line on a computer projection screen and some eminent - definition telecasting . To remove it , you must deinterlace the video . HandBrake offer a mates of options for doing this .
First , choose Fast from the Deinterlace protrude - up menu . If the jaggy lines go away , you may desire to deinterlace your video . The debauched context is indeed quicker , but you fall behind quality . To bring on full results ( though you still fall behind some timbre ) , select Slow or Slower .
I used the Holy Scripture “ may ” in the paragraph above because HandBrake offers another choice for dealing with these jagged lines — Decomb . This option search your television and applies deinterlacing only to those frames where the line of merchandise are seeable . This helps maintain better overall video recording timber because not everything is deinterlaced .
If your source video is really grainy , give the Denoise option a effort . This filter is a trade - off . You may lose some of the grain but you also fall back overall quality ( gain some blocking in the Medium and Strong configurations , for example ) . There are three scope — frail , Medium , and Strong . infirm is the first to try on a sample ( a chapter , for example ) . You have to try it on a sample because its effects are n’t reflected in the preview picture .
And lastly , there ’s a Deblock slider that can get rid of blocky artefact . Again , you wo n’t need this setting if your seed is sportsmanlike . If the germ is poor to set about with , this is something to try on a sample chapter .
Audio & Subtitles
The Audio & Subtitles tab is the substance for choose which audio tracks you ’d like to encode as well as placing subtitles on your encoded movies .
Many commercial DVD bear multiple linguistic communication tracks — English , French , and Spanish , for example . you’re able to reduce file size of it by stripping out the track you do n’t want . HandBrake will opt the English track by default and turn out others , but you could optionally lend them back by take additional language tracks from the Track 2 , Track 3 , and Track 4 pop - up menus .
Within the Audio Codec down - up menu you’re able to choose the codec used for the picture ’s audio — the default is AAC , but you’re able to maintain the source motion picture ’s survive audio encryption by choosing AC3 Passthrough from this menu . Indian file size of it will be larger , but the phone will exactly jibe the timbre of the original . Even if you go with the default AAC ( faac ) setting , you may choose the output format — Mono , Stereo , Dolby Surround , Dolby Pro Logic II , or 6 - channel Discrete . Choose Dolby Pro Logic II and the sound recording will bet on both stereo and surround - sound scheme ( though it ’s not true surroundings - auditory sensation ) . The mise en scene you choose should cope with the gear you intend to act the movie on .
If you do n’t bear in mind the larger Indian file , you could add both Pro Logic II and AC3 pass - through tracks using the Track 1 and Track 2 come out - up menus so that you have a moving picture that will play in stereo on your iPod or in full surround - sound on a equipment such as an Apple TV .
With HandBrake you could contribute caption to your encoded movies if they ’re available on the original source DVD . Note , however , that you ca n’t turn them off when viewing the movie — they’re cut into the movie .
Chapters
Advanced
HandBrake ’s Advanced tab is an area where many mortal fear to tread due to some pretty arcane options . While we do n’t fear it , the choices you might make here are mean for only the most hard - core tweaker . Should you wish to become one of those tweakers , I urge you to carefully read throughx264 Options in HandBrake .
The risks
The advantage of using HandBrake ’s nonremittal configurations is that they produce videos that absolutely will work on their mean terminus — on your iPod , iPhone , or Apple TV , for example . If you go the manual route and pick off your own context , it ’s possible that you ’ll choose a chip rate or size too large for a exceptional equipment .
For this cause , you should make up careful attention to the video playback specifications for the twist you wish to encode for . Apple put out these specification for theiPod and iPod spot , iPhone , andApple TVon its World Wide Web site .
