video encoding

i couldnt figure out where to start this thread since we really dont have just a "general" software section or anything dedicated to encoding be it audio or software.

i was wanting to know what software people recommend to use, i have found some i have not used before. i need to get that link posted from my hex core box, i went with one i used in the past for some DVD's i wanted to make digital since they are older and not BD/going to be put on BD or streamed. anyway i have a external drive i came across agian from a year or two ago that has some movies i ripped to it. figuring out what settings to use has been really hard, so i did three tests with the same movie, the latest riddick. using Mpeg4 encoder set to 6 then another run set to 1 and H.264 set to 16 (in HB quality section under video). speaking to H.264 since this seems to take way longer near 3hrs to encode i only have the one run at quality 16, not the recommended setting from the pop up box. what i find weird is the recommend setting for h264 for SD is higher IQ setting then HD, which seems backwards.

To the Mpeg4 quality settings i choose those two to see what would happen. At Q1 i seems more like im watching a BD but not nearly as good IQ as h264@16, at Q6 for Mpeg4 it seems more like a video quality i would see from a streaming site at its best quality. i am going to do some other Mp4 runs at higher numbers(lower quality) to see how much more of a difference there is from Q6 to Q8/Q10. even so with MP4@Q6 using 320kbps for stereo, the movie comes in around a little over 2gigs. using these same settings i have had some other movies come in just under 2gb, more like 1.8-1.9gb.

since i havent tested other encoders besides HB, is there really much more IQ i could gain by going with them. while still keeping about the same file size or is it all going to be the same, the only difference is the front end.

another question being at what IQ setting for h264 does it become not worth it, using 20,16,14,12?

something in noticed on one of the videos, not sure how to figure out if its the codec or something else. in a certian scene of a movie like say an gunshot or and explosion there is some kind of crackle there in the sound. its not my headphones since it is there regardless of the volume i set it too, i think it might be the choice in sound source. as in i use say what i recall being the highest/best audio to use, like DD-MA or something along those lines. not using the AC3 as the source but then having it mixed to when played back in stereo using aac or acc? with 320kbits on the audio. im thinking i may need to use the AC3 prologic as source to be mixed to stereo but then i worry about audio quality esp when its comes to dialog. thoughts, anyone?

Evilsizer said:

i couldnt figure out where to start this thread since we really dont have just a "general" software section or anything dedicated to encoding be it audio or software.

i was wanting to know what software people recommend to use, i have found some i have not used before.

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Like what? There are tons of open source and free trials out there, but when I read up on this subject it seemed that the cream floated to the top and folks gravitated towards the same softwares all the time. I am sure you have run across the usual suspects. All the open source that I have used works well for most things, but if you find a lack in any of it then you usually have to develop skills in using the software OR ..... go the "pay for" option.

older and not BD/

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BR= Blueray Disc?

another question being at what IQ setting for h264 does it become not worth it, using 20,16,14,12?

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I dont know what you are using, but when I encode to h.264 I notice little difference between the "lower" quality and the "higher" quality settings, except for time if the encode. I really cant claim to be absolutely picky about quality either though. For now I am happy with clear picture and the sound being in sync, but I think my eyes will begin to demand higher quality as time passes. I am sure you know this already but the main difference between h.264 and Mpeg is the size of the file, not so much the quality. H.265 is supposed to be an improvement in compression and quality over h.264 but often wont work for my intended device so for now I am sticking with h.264

with 320kbits on the audio

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Ive been told only the pickest of audiophiles will notice any difference at this bitrate. My ears arent that picky so I dont know. I set it for 192 because I can hear the difference over 160 AAC has worked on every device in the home, android windows, or otherwise. I would look and see if your player has a prefered codec and try to use that one. Most modern DVD players can use a decent range of codecs though (the common ones) and a desktop should be able to use anything you throw at it.

Yea i need to post that list but im using the latest handbreak. Along time ago when i tried the same thing o noticed the wierd audio artifact. When the gun shot goes off in the mechanic when they are hiding behind the one way glass mirror. The sound on the low end has a electronic sound to it not a natural boom sound, unless i play the disc. I have tried using the ac3 stereo source the dts and dts_ma source and every encoding type,aac to mp3. I even tried different but rates 320 to 128, that wierd sound is there on all of them. The only other movie this happens with but in pretty much all the audio is underworld. Im at a loss why its happening, if you have a suggestion on another free encoder to try im all ears. Working right now but when i get home i will get the link posted. Since no one postes i firured i was on my own and needed to go to a av forum.

Evilsizer said:

Yea i need to post that list but im using the latest handbreak. Along time ago when i tried the same thing o noticed the wierd audio artifact. When the gun shot goes off in the mechanic when they are hiding behind the one way glass mirror. The sound on the low end has a electronic sound to it not a natural boom sound, unless i play the disc. I have tried using the ac3 stereo source the dts and dts_ma source and every encoding type,aac to mp3. I even tried different but rates 320 to 128, that wierd sound is there on all of them. The only other movie this happens with but in pretty much all the audio is underworld. Im at a loss why its happening, if you have a suggestion on another free encoder to try im all ears. Working right now but when i get home i will get the link posted. Since no one postes i firured i was on my own and needed to go to a av forum.

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you are sure that the artifact isnt just embedded in your encoded? Have you tried to re-encode it? I dont think that is the case really but troubleshooting being what it is... I figured I would ask. If you just want to test with another encoder Avidemux has been pretty trusty. Handbrake is kind of the all in one stop (I use it an like it) but if I need to take clips or adjust audio or even just re-encode an audio stream to a different format, then I go to Avidemux. If Handbrake and Avidemux cant do it then there are others, but they are usually commercial trials at best, sometimes one time use programs.

You mean from the file im using? I ripped a bunch of bluerays a while back. Mechanic was the first on i tried encoding then just the other night tried it agian. Since i noticed the noise tried the different audio formats from the rip to different types form the enocoding. Like tring the ac3 stream from the rip to either the aac or mp3, same noise. Leaving me wondering if it either when it gets re_encoded to the different format or if its the stock decoder that comes with meadia center classic ht edition, though I still need to try vlc player, i did playback of the same section in WMP got the same thing from the differe audio types i used in the various encodes i did.

Evilsizer said:

You mean from the file im using?

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Yeah, if possible I would go back to the source and re-encode it, making sure to use identical settings from another working file. Which brings up an interesting side point: If you have other files that use the same codec then you can rule that out. Perhaps you had a hiccup during encoding or something. If you re-encode and still have the issue then its time to shop for another program. Are you opposed to Linux? Even in VM? Is command line comfortable? If you can use linux and command line then there are more tools out there than you can shake a stick at. I am still curious to see the links you mentioned but unless there is something enlightening there, I think you might have to wait and see if others will chime in on this one.

here is the list im talking about
http://www.videohelp.com/software/sections/video-encoders-h264-vc1

its shows how many reviews and how many downloads. i downloaded some with 4.5+ stars but not yet installed to test the audio glitch im having. i think i downloaded maybe 5-6, one being Handbrake another is avidemux, smart converter, staxrip, and last videcoder. im not opposed to linux but i know the cmd line struture is different then dos might take me a bit. im grew up using dos 6.22 as a kid to start/play my games plus i installed my sound blaster awe when i was 12 without any help. the fun started when i was still using that same card with win95 and having to use a PNP.exe creative had at the time to get the dma/irq during windows loading. i had to insert that in the autoexec.bat the line before setting the dma/irq's took me a bit to figure that out. the card wouldnt work in win95 if i tried to set the dma/irq before that app line or wihtout it, took some calling to tech support to even try to get the file. had to pay to have disc sent with it on it (3.5in floppy)!

A lot of folks will run scared when you say CLI, but most Linux programs will have a CLI option that contains more options and switches than using the GUI. The Swiss army knife for video work in Linux is ffmpeg. There are several GUI front ends for it (search ffmpeg + GUI), but is pretty robust on the CLI side of the equation.

http://www.techdrivein.com/2013/09/top-5-video-editors-for-ubuntu-linux.html is a list that I ran across today. Ive been testing out Oneshot and it's pretty alright. Once you get your video set and trimmed how you like there are a double fistful of resolution /encoding options a day more audio then I've ever heard of.

Having said all that I would still determine if your original encode didn't hit some sort of hiccup because Handbrake and Avidemux have done the job nearly 100% of the time. BTW that is a pretty comprehensive link! I thought I had researched this subject pretty extensively but there are some new ones in there

keep in mind i ripped the blueray disc a while back and had the same issue with the source files. maybe something happened during the rip since i have used the same source files for all those re-encodes using different audio codecs. guess i need to find the box i put my bd's in....

I want to use x265 as it has great compression to quality. I've used handbake in the past with good results. CCE too but I think that's just for dvd encodes and takes a long time depending on how many passes you want to throw at it. Avidemux rocks but for archival purposes I would not use it personally. I have a few I need to rip and I'm trying to avoid 20GB mkv's.

I rip the DVD or BluRay using Makemkv. When I rip the movie, I rip ALL sound tracks (even if I don't plan on using them...call me weird!)

I encode the video with Handbrake x264, with a "20" in the RF setting, "passthrough" for the stereo audio, and encode the highest surround to AC3 5.1.

A typical 2 hour DVD will be about 800 Meg to 1 GB from a 4 GB source. (Takes about 15 mins on my processor)

A typical 2 hour BluRay will be about 4 GB from a 20 GB source. (Takes about 1.5 hours on m processor)

I'm a bit of a stickler for quality, and these settings give a high quality picture.

I've never had any issues with distorted sound or video.

After I'm done, I add the DVD or BluRay to my "box" in the garage.

I really like having all my movies available for streaming at any time (I use Plex) without having to go through the cabinet to find the video...not to mention the reduction in clutter!

Cool. I've played with makemkv but never used it for intermediate encodes-it's free too. Plex I've used but it didn't see all formats I already had so it seemed kinda useless. My tv can see mp4 and avi natively but not mkv, my favorite. I'm definitely going to give the makemkv first rip method a try, but I want to learn to rip to x265 as it has better specs than x264.