Converting to MP4/M4V?

Bullio

I'm working on digitizing my library and converting everything to MP4/M4V and am looking for transcoder options. I've tried Handbrake, DVDfab, and Freemake. Handbrake is really slow, DVDfab randomly throws watermarks on my videos, and Freemake transcodes only part of a random source file before moving on to the next one in the queue. Direct from disc conversion is fine, but so far it's been quicker to rip BRs and DVDs with MakeMKV and then throw everything into a queue overnight (probably because I keep having to go back and redo various files so having source files already on disc is helpful). Windows or Linux (Xubuntu) options are fine. Thanks!

krush

Have you tried eRightsoft's Super? I use it to convert nearly everything I have from one format to another.

Alecthar

You can just rip .ISO files of the discs and encode the video from there directly into m4v via Handbrake. That's what I do, at least (but with mkvs). It seems like more trouble than it's worth to encode from disc to mkv, then re-encode as m4v.

I've always found Handbrake to do an excellent job, even if it does take some time to do so. You can always speed the process up by lowering quality.

I'm interested in what makes Handbrake slower for you than Freemake. Freemake uses some of the same basic encoding libraries (ffmpeg) so I assume the programs operate in similar ways

Donkey Kong

Handbrake is pretty fast for me. Maybe try getting the newest version? Real time or better for 1080p video directly off of Blu-ray. To do directly off disc ripping of HD stuff, I use AnyDVD HD. My trial just expired though, and the price for it is absurd. Is there a free option I could be using with Handbrake instead?

Bullio

Alecthar wrote: »

You can just rip .ISO files of the discs and encode the video from there directly into m4v via Handbrake. That's what I do, at least (but with mkvs). It seems like more trouble than it's worth to encode from disc to mkv, then re-encode as m4v.

I've always found Handbrake to do an excellent job, even if it does take some time to do so. You can always speed the process up by lowering quality.

I'm interested in what makes Handbrake slower for you than Freemake. Freemake uses some of the same basic encoding libraries (ffmpeg) so I assume the programs operate in similar ways

I'm not entirely sure. I use a slightly customized 1080p preset in Freemake that changes the audio to AC3 but is otherwise the default. In Handbrake I generally select the High Profile preset, change the constant quality RF value to 18, and do an AC3 Passthru (or AC3 (ffmpeg) at 448 kbps if Passthru is unavailable). I've even tried setting basic settings similar to Freemake's (1080p video, 448 AC3 audio, 4400 kbps average bit rate video) and the encode time in Handbrake is still considerably higher than Freemake (and takes pretty much the exact same amount of time as the High Profile preset). Freemake finishes in about 2.5-3 hours and spits out a 3.5-5GB file whereas Handbrake estimates 5-5.5 hours (I've only let it run overnight once and it gave me a 9.5GB copy of The Dark Knight, whereas Freemake gave me a 5GB file). I'm sure I probably have some advanced settings set too high in Handbrake, but I'm far from being well versed enough to know what any of them do or what they should be set at.

MakeMKV and Freemake have worked for the vast majority of my collection, but I have three movies (Iron Man, District 9, and The Outlaw Josey Wales) that absolutely refuse to convert to mp4 cleanly no matter what I try. I can rip them perfectly fine with MakeMKV, DVDFab, and AnyDVD HD, but the mp4 conversions always come out with a messed up picture and I have no idea why. I've run them through Freemake, MeGUI, DVDFab, and RipBot so far. The only option I'm left with is leaving one of them overnight to see if Handbrake gives me a clean conversion, but I suspect I'll still be left with a much larger file than I'd like.

I used MakeMKV primarily just to get the video off of the disc. I've had little luck encoding off of disc, which I'm assuming is thanks to all of that wonderful DRM. MakeMKV does basically the same thing as AnyDVD HD near as I can tell, except you can choose which titles and associated audio and subtitle tracks you want and it wraps everything into a .mkv instead of a bunch of folders filled with unwated .mt2s files.

Donkey Kong wrote: »

Handbrake is pretty fast for me. Maybe try getting the newest version? Real time or better for 1080p video directly off of Blu-ray. To do directly off disc ripping of HD stuff, I use AnyDVD HD. My trial just expired though, and the price for it is absurd. Is there a free option I could be using with Handbrake instead?

I'm using 0.9.8, which appears to be the newest version. DVDFab has an always-free HD Decrypter that will let you copy discs to your HDD.

krush wrote: »

Have you tried eRightsoft's Super? I use it to convert nearly everything I have from one format to another.

I have not, but I can add it to the list.

Alecthar

Hmm, I have AnyDVD HD running, and usually have no difficulty ripping to images or using Handbrake to encode mkvs from those images.

High Profile is a variant of the standard h264 encoding that is, as I understand it, designed to support 3D, and thus includes a different view of each frame in order to support stereoscopic 3D. So you're encoding twice as many frames with that preset, thus the longer encode time and larger file size. If you get the same results using a custom Handbrake profile that definitely isn't doing High Profile encoding, then I'm really not sure what the deal is.

djmitchella

vidcoder works fairly well for me; it's just another wrapper for handbrake, but with a UI that makes it that extra bit easier to use. It'll also work directly from chapter/etc for DVDs, which saves a step; not sure about BR, though.