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How to: Get the best image quality out of Handbrake

July 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in How To

Why would you need this:

You might be unhappy with the the video quality of the DVD rips you’re getting from Handbrake. Don’t fret.  Almost all the devices you are ripping files for can handle higher bitrates.

How to:

Lets take for example, the Apple TV.  When you currently rip a DVD using the built in preset for Apple TV, you’ll notice that the standard average bitrate (kbps) is set to 2,000.  What does this mean?  It means the compression rating is set to allow only 2,000 kbps of data throughput per second.  If you up that rate, there is more data, less compression, hence more quality in the image.  The Apple TV can actually handle around 5,000 kpbs, but begins to lock up with any more.  In most of my DVD rips for the Apple TV, I usually change the setting to around 4,500 kbps.  This is more than twice the quality of the default setting, and provides an image that looks almost indistinguishable from the original DVD.

DVD’s are typically encoded at around 8,000 kbps bitrate.  Despite the fact that my Apple TV setting is not quite half that, the quality appears to be just as good.  This is due to the type of compression used in the Apple TV.  Compression algorithms have become extremely efficient compared to the days of DVD. DVD’s are encoded with MPEG2 compression, and the Apple TV files are encoded with .h264, which is an extremely efficient high quality compression algorithm.  As a result you can compress more data into a smaller bitrate.

The second setting we can look at changing would be the 2-pass encoding section.  You will want to check mark this setting. Since a VBR (variable bit rate) encoder will vary the bitrate depending on the complexity of the images, it tends to make mistakes from time to time. Handbrake can do two passes to correct for the compression mistakes. The encoder will make a first pass at encoding the video, then start from the top and do it again. When finished, the encoder analyzes the results before finalizing. By using 2 passes and analysis, the encoder is less likely to make a mistake in choosing the appropriate bit rates.

Due to the fact that you are now essentially encoding the disk twice, it will obviously take twice as long, and due to the higher bit rate, more space is required on your hard drive. But you can be assured that high motion scenes in your DVD’s don’t lose any quality due to abrupt motion artifacts.

Higher Bitrate vs. Lower Bitrate. Notice the compression artifacts in the red area.

Take one afternoon, and experiment with the bitrate and your end device.  You might find that your PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or other device can also handle a lot more data than the default settings lead you to believe.

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Informative: AwkwardTV Wiki (Apple TV Hacks Wiki)

July 9th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Informative

The Awkward TV Wiki is currently one of the most comprehensive websites dedicated to hacking the Apple TV. The site covers almost everything you can do with your Apple TV including version one, two, and even non-hacked Apple TVs.

Hacked Apple TV’s can offer a few advantages over a non-hacked ATV.  With certain plugins installed you’re able to watch DVD Video_TS files directly on the unit, sort of like a DVD jukebox, but no DVD’s necessary. You can install OS X on the unit and use it as a computer.  There are even web browsers available as plugins too. The biggest advantage yet might be that you can install extra video and audio codecs onto the ATV and avoid having to convert every video file you download.

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Review: Handbrake (DVD rip software for the Mac)

July 8th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Reviews, Software Review

The HandBrake icon.The largest barrier in getting your media to your hard drive is having an application that can convert, or “rip” the content of a movie DVD and save it to a file on your computer for playback later through the computer itself or an attached media device such as an Xbox 360, or Apple TV.

One of the most versitle, free tools available on OSX for encoding DVDs into video files is Handbrake, an open-source and free software package.  It is an extraordinarily handy piece of software and is easy to use, to boot.

After downloading and installing via the traditional means, you are presented with a dialog box asking you to point Handbrake towards its input.  This can be either a DVD in your drive, an image file of a DVD, or a Video_TS directory of a pre-ripped DVD sitting on your hard drive.  Once selected, the program will analyze the data to figure out movie length and sound options, then pop up with the main encoding window.  While seemingly complex at first, this window is the key to your future encoding successes and has a handy set of Presets that are available under a button at the top right of the screen.  These Presets can take away a lot of the pain of figuring out what the various controls do by balancing quality and size, via preselected options designed to fit your targeted viewing device.

We here at My Media Delivered have had pretty good success in mating Xbox 360s with Macs (via 360 Connect), so if that is your device set as well, please by all means shoot for the Xbox 360 Preset.  This gives you decent video quality at about 650 megabytes per hour of content.  Other Presets will give varying degrees of quality at big and smaller filesizes (for instance, the iPod Preset will give you drastically smaller filesizes but at reduced quality level… however, don’t worry, on an iPod screen, videos encoded with this preset look great due to their small size, hence, diminishing the flaws).

Handbrake can encode MPEG4 videos (using FFMPEG or Xvid encoding) and H.264 video.  It can also passthrough Dolby Digital (AC3) soundtracks or downconvert to stereo.  Don’t worry if you don’t know what these terms mean… the presets will take good care of you. Anyone willing to tinker with the settings will find they can enhance the quality of their DVD rips by enabling 2 pass encoding, or by increasing the bit rate (the rate of compression).

Currently Handbrake is the best way to get your DVD media turned into those 1′s and 0′s that your hard drive reads. Give it a shot.

Handbrake supports the following devices with presets:

  • Apple TV
  • iPhone/iPod Touch
  • iPod
  • PlayStation 3
  • PSP
  • Xbox 360

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How To: Convert your .MKV DTS audio to AC3 on the Mac for Apple TV

July 8th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in How To

Why would you need this:

Most movies you download from the internet will be in .MKV container format with .h264 video and DTS Surround audio. While the Apple TV can play .h264 video, it cannot play DTS sound, nor can it do this from an .MKV container format. This post will show you how to convert an .MKV into a format that will play on a non-hacked Apple TV maintaining the surround sound.

Prerequisites:

How To:
  1. Download CrossOver and run the installation. (Can be run in Demo mode)
  2. Make a folder on your desktop called “DTS Converter.” (This is where we’ll be placing the windows utilities and doing the conversions.)
  3. Once CrossOver is running, you can copy the downloaded MKV Audio Converter (AudioConverter.EXE) to the “DTS Converter” folder on your desktop.
  4. Double click AudioConverter.EXE, this will launch the application and it will begin to download a few tools that it requires to do the conversion (the MKV audio extractor, the AC3 encoder, and the merging application). Once this new download completes it automatically installs the files and configures the converter application to use them.
  5. On the MKV Tools tab of the application, in the File specification area, select your source file, and target file name. It’s helpful if you rename the target file so that you do not overwrite the source (in case you need to attempt another conversion for some reason).
  6. Check mark the “DTS: Audio Output Parameters”, and select “Convert to Dolby Digital”, uncheck “Preserve DTS track” as you will no longer need it. Uncheck “VORBIS: Audio Output Parameters” as this will not be needed.
  7. You should be ready to convert at this point.  Press the “Run” button under “File specification”.  The conversion of the audio should be fairly quick depending on the speed of your computer and compared to converting video.
  8. Once completed, you should end up with a new MKV file that has an AC3 audio track. We’re not done yet!
  9. Install the Perian codec (make sure you go to the control panel after it’s installed and press the “install codecs” button to activate all the codecs).  Reboot.
  10. Open Visual Hub, drag your newly created MKV with AC3 onto the Visual Hub window.  Change the presets to Optimize for Apple TV 5.1, set the quality to Go Nuts, and check the box H.264 Encoding.
  11. Select a destination for the file and press the start button.
  12. If you have a fast computer, you’ll be done in a few hours.  You’ve now got your movie in the correct format.  But there’s one last thing.  For some reason Visual Hub does not set the AC3 channels properly.  You’ll have to open the original MKV with AC3 inside Quicktime, and go to the window menu and select “Show Movie Properties”, select the AC3 track, then press the “Audio Settings” tab.  Note the channel assignments for all the speaker channels. (1 left, 2 right, 3 center, and so on). Write these down and close the file.
  13. Now open your newly created Apple TV MOV file that Visual Hub created inside Quicktime.  Also go to the window menu and select “Show Movie Properties”, select the AC3 track, then press the “Audio Settings” tab. Click each channel assignment and reassign the tracks to the same settings that were in the MKV AC3 file.  Save your file.
  14. You’re done!  Copy your file to iTunes, and enjoy your HD/AC3 movie on your Apple TV.
NOTE: Since the conversion takes place with Windows software, this conversion will work on a PC.

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