Best Optimal Settings for Handbrake convert DVD to H265 HEVC Mac Windows Linux 2023

Convert DVD to H265 with HandbrakeConvert DVD to H265

Convert DVD to H265 HEVC with Handbrake without having to know or understand all of the settings. Just copy my settings and you’re done!

H.264 Vs H.265 – Which one should I use?
If you have a 1080 HD TV and an older media player you will want to use H.264 – See THIS ARTICLE for instructions.
If you have a 4K Television and a newer media player H.265 is best, so use these instructions below.

*Whilst your user interface may appear slightly different than shown here (depending on if you are using Windows, Mac or Linux), the settings and results will be the same across all platforms.

**NOTE** – These settings are for DVD to H265 HEVC Video
Use these settings if you have a recent 4K UHD Television and newer media player like the Apple TV 
4K.
To convert DVD to H.264 – CLICK HERE!
To convert 1080P BLURAY to H.264 – CLICK HERE!
To convert 1080P BLURAY to H.265 – CLICK HERE!
To convert 4K BLURAY to H.265 – CLICK HERE!

INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO COMING SOON!

THE SHORT VERSION

IMPORTANTBefore you begin, drop your source DVD file into Mediainfo and identify if the video stream is 480 or 576 size! (Different countries use different sizes)

1 Open source file in Handbrake and make sure you are on the “Summary” tab
2 Set file format to “MKV’ and deselect “Passthru Common Metadata”
3 Click “Dimensions” tab and set Resolution Limit to 480p or 576p (depending on your source file) and leave Anamorphic as Automatic, leave cropping “Automatic” and borders “None”
4 Click the “Filters” tab
5 Leave Interlace Detection set to Default, De-interlace set to Decomb, and Preset at “Default”
6 Click the “Video” tab
7 Select “H.265 10-Bit (x265)” from the Video Codec drop down
8 Select “Same As Source” in “Framerate”
9 Check the “Constant Framerate” button
10 Set “Encoder Preset” slider to “Slow”
11 Set “Encoder Tune” to “None”
12 Set “Encoder Profile” to “Main 10”
13 Set “Encoder Level” to “4.1”
14 Set the “Constant Quality” slider to “22”
15 In the “Additional Options” box ad strong-intra-smoothing=0:rect=0:aq-mode=1:rd=4:psy-rd=0.75:psy-rdoq=4.0:rdoq-level=1:rskip=2
16 Click the “Audio” tab
17 Select the preferred 5.1 channel soundtrack – If it is AC-3/Dolby Digital 5.1 click pass thru and go to step 20
18 Set “Codec” to “AC3” and the Bitrate to 448kb
19 Set Mixdown to “5.1 Channels” and Samplerate to “48”
20 Click the “Subtitles” tab
21 Click the “X” in the circle at the right side to remove the subtitles track on Windows, or select “None” from dropdown on Mac
22 Click the “Chapters” tab
23 Uncheck the “Create Chapter Markers” option if you don’t want them, or leave it checked if you do
24 Give your output file a unique name and save it somewhere easy to find
25 Make a preset to save the settings and Press the Green “Start Encode” button

THE LONG VERSION

Continue reading “Best Optimal Settings for Handbrake convert DVD to H265 HEVC Mac Windows Linux 2023”

Easiest Best Optimal settings for Handbrake DVD Video Conversion – FEB19

encoders-dilema-graphic

THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE FOR FEBRUARY 2022 USING HANDBRAKE VERSION 1.5.1 HERE

This is a simple easy guide on how to make the best encodes with the smallest file size in Handbrake without having to know or understand all of the settings. Just copy my settings and you’re done!

To get started right away please scroll down to the red text that says “START HERE”.

**NOTE** These settings are for DVD Video ONLY – You can find a updated Blu Ray Tutorial HERE.

MY RANT – By popular demand, I have decided to update my two articles on how to quickly and easily produce great quality DVD and Blu Ray video encodes with Handbrake. The program interface has changed, the H.264 codec has been refined, and the TV’s we view our movies on have evolved dramatically since writing the original articles.

THE GOAL – To produce the highest quality video with the smallest possible file size, whilst retaining the entire original 5.1 Dolby Digital sound track. DVD’s playing on todays large 4K TV’s look terrible due to their low resolution. We will also use Handbrakes filters to clean up the picture quality.

DISCLAIMER – This method will produce very nice quality DVD videos, but may take 2 hours or more to process each hour of video, so my advice is to let run whilst you are sleeping each night. Unfortunately, good quality video with small file size cant be done quickly, it just doesn’t work that way. Also, All set-ups are different. We all have different size TV’s, different size and shape rooms, different players and a plethora of other factors that could produce varying results. This is a guideline, and a great place for a beginner to start. If you feel there is something that could be done better, or should be done differently, please feel free to let us all know by leaving a comment.

THE TECHNICAL STUFF – My TV is a 65″ Samsung 4K which I absolutely love, and sit about 10-12 feet back from. I play the media from a Apple TV 4K, and use the Infuse Pro 5 player app. The video is encoded on a 3-4 year old HP desktop computer with a Intel I5 processor. The version of Handbrake used in this tutorial is v1.2.0 which is the current stable release for February 2019.

Ready to encode? START HERE! 

Continue reading “Easiest Best Optimal settings for Handbrake DVD Video Conversion – FEB19”

Easiest Best Optimal settings for Handbrake 1080p Blu Ray Video Conversion on Mac, Windows and Linux – UPDATED – MARCH 2023

Convert BluRay to H.264 with Handbrake

Convert BluRay to H.264 2023 Handbrake 1.6.1

Convert BluRay to the smallest file size in Handbrake without having to know or understand all of the settings. Just copy my settings and you’re done!

H.264 Vs H.265 – Which one should I use?
If you have a 4K Television and a newer media player you will want to use H.265 – See THIS ARTICLE for instructions.
If you have a 1080 HD TV and an older media player H.264 is best, so use these instructions below.

*Whilst your user interface may appear slightly different than shown here (depending on if you are using Windows, Mac or Linux), the settings and results will be the same across all platforms.

**NOTE** – These settings are for 1080P BLURAY to H.264 Video ONLY
Use these settings if you have a 1080 HD Television and older media player
To convert 1080P BLURAY to H.265 – CLICK HERE!
To convert DVD to H.265 – CLICK HERE!
To convert DVD to H.264 – CLICK HERE!
To convert 4K BLURAY to H.265 – CLICK HERE!

THE SHORT VERSION

1 Open source file in Handbrake and make sure you are on the “Summary” tab
2 Set file format to “MP4’ and deselect “Passthru Common Metadata”
3 Click “Dimensions” tab and set Resolution Limit to 1080p and leave Anamorphic as Automatic, leave cropping “Automatic” and borders “None”
4 Click the “Filters” tab
5 Leave Interlace Detection set to Default, De-interlace set to Decomb, and Preset at “Default”
6 Click the “Video” tab
7 Select “H.264 (x264)” from the Video Codec drop down
8 Select “Same As Source” in “Framerate”
9 Check the “Constant Framerate” button
10 Set “Encoder Preset” slider to “Very Slow”
11 Set “Encoder Tune” to “Film”
12 Set “Encoder Profile” to “High”
13 Set “Encoder Level” to “4.1” – If this wont play on your system drop it back to “3.1”
14 Set the “Constant Quality” slider to “24”
15 In the “Additional Options” box add ref=5:bframes=5
16 Click the “Audio” tab
17 Select the preferred 7.1 or 5.1 channel soundtrack
18 Set “Codec” to “AC3” and the Bitrate to 448kb
19 Set Mixdown to “5.1 Channels” and Samplerate to “48”
20 Click the “Subtitles” tab
21 Click the “X” in the circle at the right side to remove the subtitles track on Windows, or select “None” from dropdown on Mac
22 Click the “Chapters” tab
23 Uncheck the “Create Chapter Markers” option if you don’t want them or leave it checked if you do
24 Give your output file a unique name and save it somewhere easy to find
25 Make a preset to save the settings and Press the Green “Start Encode” button

THE LONG VERSION

Continue reading “Easiest Best Optimal settings for Handbrake 1080p Blu Ray Video Conversion on Mac, Windows and Linux – UPDATED – MARCH 2023”

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unboxing Features and Instructions

Telstra-Gateway-Max-2

I have just received Telstra’s Gateway Max 2 Unit, and my first impressions are overall good. It is aimed very squarely at beginners/novices, with not much for the pro’s to tweak in the back end. It is ultra light, with a somewhat flimsy feel. It has been rock solid so far, with an uninterupted uptime of four days. The unit does not come with instructions, just a simple but adequate Quick Start Card. The firmware does have some nice features such as Dynamic DNS options, Port Forwarding, Parental Controls etc…But not much for those of us that really like to dig in and do some hardcore configuring.

The unit’s very basic interface is at 10.0.0.138

Gateway Max User Interface

Gateway Max User Interface

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Advanced Options

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Advanced Options

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Box Front

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Box Front

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Box Rear

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Box Rear

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Box Side

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Box Side

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Quick Start Card Front

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Quick Start Card Front

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Quick Start Card Rear

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Quick Start Card Rear

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unit FrontTelstra Gateway Max 2 Unit Front

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unit Front

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unit TopTelstra Gateway Max 2 Unit Top

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unit Top

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unit BackTelstra Gateway Max 2 Unit Back

Telstra Gateway Max 2 Unit Back

Easily split large audio files into individual tracks with Audacity

Split large audio files into individual tracks with Audacity
Split large audio filesThis tutorial shows you how easy it is to split large audio files into single individual tracks using the free program called Audacity on Mac, Windows and Linux

You can download Audacity FREE for Mac, Windows and Linux/Unix HERE.

httpvh://youtu.be/72ewbraagj8

Easiest Best Optimal settings for Handbrake DVD Video Conversion on Mac, Windows and Linux

Handbrake Logo

THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE FOR FEBRUARY 2022 USING HANDBRAKE VERSION 1.5.1 HERE

This is a simple easy guide on how to make the best encodes with the smallest file size in Handbrake without having to know or understand all of the settings. Just copy my settings and you’re done!

**NOTE** These settings are for DVD Video ONLY – You can find a Blu Ray Tutorial HERE.

Video encoding is a topic a lot of people are very passionate about. Factors like TV size, Viewing distance, hardware, drive space restrictions and a plethora of other concerns are all valid. But if you are like me, and just want to reduce your episodes to a more manageable size, whilst retaining most of the quality, here’s how to do it.

PLEASE NOTE This method will produce very nice quality videos, that will look good on 1080p TV’s, but may take 2 hours or more to process each hour of video, so my advice is to let it run whilst you are sleeping each night.

Once you have ripped your Disks to MKV files with Make MKV, Open Handbrake (You can download the latest version for free HERE) then press the source button and select the file you want to convert, or if you want to do a batch of files, select the folder that contains all of your ripped MKV’s. Handbrake will import them all, but you will only see the first one. Now it’s time to make some adjustments to the settings.

handbrake-dvd-settings

All of your settings should look like the above screen grab – Click it to enlarge.

1. Set the output format to MKV File

2. Click the button that says “Video”. Make sure the video codec is H.264 (x264)

3. The frame rate should be “Same as Source” and Constant Framerate should be selected.

4. Check Constant Quality and adjust the slider until the RF number goes to 20

5. For the encoder options, slide the preset slider to Very Slow. Trust me, it takes a while, but the quality is far superior, and usually yields a smaller file size. Unfortunately it is a trade off for speed vs quality. Like I said, run it while you are sleeping.

6. Leave “Fast Decode” unchecked.

7. Set Tune to Film

8. Set Profile to High

9. Set Level to 3.1

10. Now click the “Picture Settings” button in the top right side of the window.

Picture Settings ButtonA new window will open. Change all of your settings look like this

handbrake-dvd-picture-settings11. Whilst in the picture settings window, click “Filters” and change all of your settings to look like these as well. Denoise and Deblock will make the picture look SO much better when viewed on larger 1080p TVs.

handbrake-dvd-filters**If you are in the USA you can skip this step, but for the rest of us, we need to know if our video is progressive or interlaced (the method used to draw each frame of video)**

If your video is progressive, you can skip this step, but if it is interlace, you will definitely want to de-interlace the video before you watch it on a 1080 screen, otherwise you will see all kinds of ugly horizontal lines in fast moving scenes like the image below.

interlaced video(If you dont know whether your video is interlaced or progressive, Mac users can use Video Spec to find out, and Windows users can use G-Spot to find out)

If your video is interlaced, make sure “Deinterlace” is checked and select “Slower” for best results.

handbrake-dvd-deinterlace

12. Now you can close out the Picture Settings window and select the “Audio” tab in the main window.

Handbrake Audio SettingsI am a real Audiofile, I love the Dolby Digital and DTS 5-7 channel audio tracks in movies, so I select “Auto PassThru”. But, if regular 2 channel Stereo is ok for you, you can configure that in this area if you want. I figure you are converting a DVD, so you might as well have the best sound quality available. Just select the Dolby Digital or DTS sound track from the drop down window, and choose “Auto Passthru”

13. Click the “Subtitles” tab and select none

14. Click the “Chapters” tab and make sure “Create Chapter Markers” is un-checked.

15. You are now ready to start encoding. If you are only doing one file, just press the “Start” button and Handbrake will start encoding. If you are doing a batch of files, open the File Menu and select “Add All Titles To Queue”

Add All Titles To Queue16. Press the “Show Queue” button to see all your files waiting to be encoded

Handbrake Queue17. Press the “Start” button and your encoding session will begin.

THERE IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE FOR FEBRUARY 2022 USING HANDBRAKE VERSION 1.5.1 HERE