[jrm]

Hi all:

I got my mini the other day and I am very happy with it! I will probably dump the Linux instalation and use osx, but that is still to be decided. This is a great little machine in all respects!

With that being said, one of the main reasons I have the mini is for travel. I'd like to be able to watch some movies on it while on a plane, in a hotel, etc... So I started up handbrake last night on my desktop and threw a DVD into the drive. Then I realized, I had no idea what settings to use!

I want to create videos that cat be played on a bunch of devices and still look good (iphone, netbook, macbook pro, desktop, television, etc...) Can you help me figure out some good settings to create a flexible, high quality file? Space isn't too much of an issue. I'll be keeping these on an external hard drive so as not to take up all the space on my mini, and so I can move the files between systems.

Any thoughts or pointers? Thanks!

-jon

[glw35]

I'm no optimization expert, but I can list what I use after playing around with multiple configs...

Format: M4V, Chapter Markers
Filters: None
Video: H.264, Target Size 850
Turbo: On
x264 Options: Reference Frames=2, bframes=2, Motion Estimation=Uneven Multi-Hex
Audio: Encoder - AAC, Stereo, DRC 2.5

I don't use an iPod - There is a checkbox for "iPod 5G Support" that probably should be checked, but I don't use it.
Increasing DRC (dynamic range compression) reduces the difference between quiet sounds and loud sounds. This is good for headphone usage because it helps not blow my ears when an explosion goes off while two people are whispering to each other in the movie.)

I like using Target Size instead of consistent quality simply because I want predictibility on how large the file is. I find 850 works well for my purposes.

I store all my movies on 16GB SDHC Cards and they work flawlessly.

[SkyWriter]

i use AnyDVD or DVD decrypter to rip DVD's and handbrake on my laptop to and convert SD DVD with the quicktime preset, which gets you basically m4v and strict anamorphic format. the movies play back fine with VLC or quicktime/itunes. i play them from on class 6 a 16GB SDHC. i store them long term on a USB flash drive.

handbrake is consistent for conversion, no need for many-click setup. any converter takes too long - 10+ hours - for me to leave my mini by itself

the only problem i had with handbrake was it wouldn't install on a XP Tablet PC UMPC because of screen size.

[rs6w]

If you've got an ipod and other apple products your best bet would be to use the Universal setting. That is geared for good looking video from an ipod to apple tv. It's what I rip to these days.

[Matt151B]

I got a question for handbrake users. I ripped my DVDs as mp4s using normal setting. Now I want to convert those mp4s to something else for playback on 320x240 screen. No matter what settings I pick handbrake gives me an error and no output. Is there something I am overlooking?

[Cruleworld]

Use handbrake to bring it onto the drive and then go to use EncodeHD to convert it to the 320x240. If you need it for the Zune then use the Encode360 from the same site.

EncodeHD: http://dcunningham.net/encodehd/
Encode360: http://dcunningham.net/encode360/

I have used both and they are great programs.

[anjilslaire]

I prefer acidrip on linux to convert to xvid/avi, movies usually end up ~1.5gig, with great results.

[SkyWriter]

Originally Posted by SkyWriter

i use AnyDVD or DVD decrypter to rip DVD's and handbrake on my laptop to and convert SD DVD with the quicktime preset, which gets you basically m4v and strict anamorphic format. the movies play back fine with VLC or quicktime/itunes. i play them from on class 6 a 16GB SDHC. i store them long term on a USB flash drive.

handbrake is consistent for conversion, no need for many-click setup. any converter takes too long - 10+ hours - for me to leave my mini by itself

edit: i forgot to mention i use a different ripping program because handbrake would always dump core after the rip and before the encoder on XP.

[mikey6480]

I use handbrake all the time. I use the Apple TV preset. These always come out great quality (watched on my Apple TV and Aquos). You will be able to view them without problem on the netbook, they are quicktime files and you can adjust the size of the window. If you want to be able to watch them on iPod Touch or iPhone you will have to try a different preset. The Apple TV preset makes them too large for those devices. Make sure you keep your VLC player up-to-date so that you always have the most current decoders.

[jrm]

Awesome, thanks for the info all!

I tried converting a few different movies in different formats over the past few days. I think I'll probably end up staying with the appleTv presets. I'm still trying to figure out all the advanced features like deinterlace/deblocking/noise reduction... but I tihnk for now I'll jsut keep them at the regular presets. Allthough, the "quicktime" preset was pretty good too.

Anyone have any pointers on joining two files to make one movie? I'm in the process of ripping the Lord of the Rings trilogy and each movie is two discs. I'd rather have just one file to play, instead of two for each installment.

Thanks for all the help folks! This place is great!