Handbrake - Tips on getting reasonable results

Factual Questions
1

I installed Handbrake last night. I tried my first encode of a DVD on my hard disk. I didn’t make any fancy settings. I accepted the standard preset Regular, Normal.

12 hours later I shut it down in disgust when I realized the crazy thing had created a 16 gig m4v file. This for a 1 hour 11 minute movie. :eek:

I’m not sure what I did wrong. Initially, Handbrake said it would render it in an hour. I watched it go from 10%, 15%, 25%. One hour later it was at 100%. But the thing wasn’t done. I got this in the log…
This was right after the render reached 100%. Every few hours I get a new one of these sync audio. I finally pulled the plug after over 12 hours.

Two questions… Why isn’t this creating a normal 4 or 5 gig MKV or M4V? I’ve seen lots of movies that fit into that size. Why is the rendering taking so insanely long on a brand new pc with a duo 3.16Ghz processor and 4 gig memory?

Is my install bad? Or did I do something wrong? I know millions of people archive their DVD’s with handbrake all the time. I wanted something better than the standard 800MB xvid. A 4 Gig M4V or MKV would be fine. Hopefully, it will render in at least 4 hours.

here is the settings. I used the preset, Regular, Normal

Also, I opened the dvd\movie folder. Not the Video_TS folder. Does that matter?

2

I’m not sure, since I use Handbrake on a Mac, but you might have some luck getting an answer to your question over at the Handbrake forums. It looks like Handbrake was unable to decrypt the DVD, though. Do you have VLC installed?

3

No VLC. I’ve always used Win Media Player Classic to play DVD’s.

I was going to check and see if VLC is required for handbrake. I didn’t install vlc because I was afraid it would break Media Player Classic.

I’m encoding again with the Legacy, Classic Preset. That’s the older one that creates a file with less resolution. I’m hoping it will produce something more reasonable that the Regular preset.

4

Are you trying to do this directly rfrom the DVD, or have you already ripped the DVD files to your hard drive?

Because you need to rip the DVD first. As SanibelMan said, ithe message in your second quoted section suggests that Handbrake is getting caught up on not being able to get through the DVD’s CSS protection.

VLC is not required for Handbrake to work, but in that case you do need to have the unprotected DVD files written to your hard drive. There are programs that will do that, but last time i checked, we weren’t supposed to discuss them on this message board.

ETA: I use Media Player Classic for nearly all of my video watching, but i also have VLC on my system, and it has never caused any problems with my MPC installation.

5

I think this guide might be of use to you. Quoting from the guide:

Beyond that I think you are on your own as the programs used to decrypt commercial DVDs are illegal in many countries.

ETA: I read elsewhere that Handbrake for Windows is unable to use VLC, only the Mac version does.

6

I’m pretty sure the dvd ripped to the hard drive successfully. This is an archive copy of a dvd I own. I’ve played the dvd from the hard drive with Win Media Player Classic. My plan was to make archive MP4’s or M4V’s and put the original dvd’s in storage.

I’ll go ahead and put VLC on my pc. Thanks mhendo for letting me know it shouldn’t conflict with WMPC.

For those that have it working. About how long should I expect it to take to fully create a 100 minute MP4 file on a 3.16 Ghz Duo in the Regular, Normal Preset or the older Legacy, Classic preset? If I had some rough idea (4 hours, 6 hours, 8, hours, 18 hours etc.) that would help a lot. Right now, I’m working blind because I have absolutely no idea what rendering times to expect.

7

I can only tell you what it does on my system, which is a Q8300 Core2Quad @ 2.5GHz. I assume that your processor is the E8500 Core2Duo @ 3.16.

The passmark benchmarks for these CPUs are as follows (higher number equals faster):

Q8300: 3599
E8500: 2414

I just converted a 2h 15m (135 minute) movie on my computer using Handbrake. I used the following settings:

Normal
MP4 file
Strict anamorphic
H.264 video codec, 2-pass encoding, turbo first pass, set for 1Gb file size
AAC audio codec @ 160kbps

Converting this movie took exactly 1 hour. The first pass averaged about 180 fps, while the second pass hovered around 80 fps.

Your processor will be a little slower, but probably not dramatically so. The H.264 codec does take some advantage of my quad-core processor, but i’d still be surprised if the same project took your Core2Duo computer more than 2 hours, and it will probably take less than that.

While Handbrake is working, you should see a command prompt window showing the encoding speed and the amount of time left for each encoding pass.

8

I use Handbrake on linux (able to rip directly from DVD), so my setup isn’t directly comparable. But, as a data point, on my 4-core Athlon II 2.6GHz with 4GB RAM ripping with custom, better than “Regular” settings (i.e., higher quality, more time), it takes about an hour to rip a 2 hour movie using H.264 video and 160 kbps audio. IIRC, “Regular” settings take about half that long. And resultant file sizes are generally between 1 and 1.5 GB.

It’s worth noting that Handbrake is very much multi-processor capable – it pegs all four cores to 100% utilization when I use it.

9

I’ve must have something wrong with an audio driver or audio codec. The video is rendering in a couple hours, just like other people said it would.

Then I get this audio sync crap. It’s been running 14 hours. Obviously that’s not normal.

I may just delete this junk off. I don’t want to gut my Win 7 installation trying to make it work. I’ve already uninstalled handbrake. Installed VLC, and then reinstalled handbrake. It seemed to eliminate some errors from the log. But, then that stinking audio sync stuff started.

Really, all I’ve installed (besides windows) is K-lite-Codec Pack 6.7, Win Media Player Classic, GOM player. Then VLC because of Handbrake. the Codec Pack is pretty standard among anyone that uses Media Player Classic. It has everything needed to play and render video.

Everything has been working great. I play dvd’s on WMPC all the time. I play flac’s with GOM. Everything was great until Handbrake.

Just out of curiosity I’m letting this thing render another 24 hours. I want to see if it ever finishes. :stuck_out_tongue:

10

I do appreciate everyone that encoded a dvd and give me times. At least I know the video part of my encoding is working fine.

11

Have you tried this process with more than one DVD?

If not, is it possible that the DVD you’re encoding has some sort of problem with the audio portion?

12

I’m going to try another dvd tonight.

The MP4 last night got up to 55 gig before I killed Handbrake. Really bizarre.

I’m going to try something that should be small. Like the Ipod preset. That should run pretty quick too.

13

Good news! :smiley: Just encoded a DVD successfully with Handbrake. I tried a different one and it encoded quickly with no issues.

Must be something weird with that other dvd rip. I’m going to try another one tonight.

It’s a relief knowing it’s not my install or windows. I was starting to get pretty worried.

Here’s the clean log from the successful render.

Used Legacy, Classic preset

Windows GUI 0.9.5 2011010300

Running: Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7600.0

CPU: Intel(R) Core™2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz

Ram: 3070 MB

Screen: 1280x1024

Temp Dir: C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\Temp\

Install Dir: C:\Program Files\Handbrake

Data Dir: C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Roaming\HandBrake\HandBrake\0.9.5.3728

CLI Query: -i “G:\From Mom’s PC\DVDs\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)” -t 1 -c 1-18 -o “G:\RIPIT\handbrake\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)-1.mp4” -f mp4 -w 720 -l 400 -e ffmpeg -b 1000 -a 1 -E faac -6 dpl2 -R Auto -B 160 -D 0.0 --verbose=1

User Query: False

[15:14:13] hb_init: checking cpu count
[15:14:13] hb_init: starting libhb thread
HandBrake 0.9.5 (2011010300) - MinGW i386 - http://handbrake.fr
2 CPUs detected
Opening G:\From Mom’s PC\DVDs\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)…
[15:14:13] hb_scan: path=G:\From Mom’s PC\DVDs\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip), title_index=1
libbluray/bdnav/index_parse.c:157: indx_parse(): error opening G:\From Mom’s PC\DVDs\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)/BDMV/index.bdmv
libbluray/bluray.c:960: nav_get_title_list(G:\From Mom’s PC\DVDs\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)) failed (0x19f31b0)
[15:14:13] bd: not a bd - trying as a stream/file instead
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 4.1.3
libdvdread: Encrypted DVD support unavailable.
libdvdread: Device (null) inaccessible, CSS authentication not available.
NAME OPEN FAILED
libdvdnav: Unable to find home directorylibdvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00000000. Regions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
libdvdread: Encrypted DVD support unavailable.
libdvdread: Device (null) inaccessible, CSS authentication not available.
[15:14:13] scan: DVD has 3 title(s)
[15:14:13] scan: scanning title 1
[15:14:13] scan: opening IFO for VTS 1
[15:14:13] scan: duration is 01:15:53 (4553300 ms)
[15:14:13] pgc_id: 1, pgn: 1: pgc: 0x19f5418
[15:14:13] scan: vts=1, ttn=1, cells=0->17, blocks=0->1451644, 1460067 blocks
[15:14:13] scan: checking audio 1
[15:14:13] scan: id=80bd, lang=English (AC3), 3cc=eng ext=0
[15:14:13] scan: checking audio 2
[15:14:13] scan: audio channel is not active
[15:14:13] scan: title 1 has 18 chapters
[15:14:13] scan: chap 1 c=0->0, b=0->71605 (71606), 221351 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 2 c=1->1, b=71606->129996 (58391), 179295 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 3 c=2->2, b=129997->219417 (89421), 274636 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 4 c=3->3, b=219418->297996 (78579), 244516 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 5 c=4->4, b=297997->386954 (88958), 273669 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 6 c=5->5, b=386955->489886 (102932), 317461 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 7 c=6->6, b=489887->606823 (116937), 358717 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 8 c=7->7, b=606824->697389 (90566), 278686 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 9 c=8->8, b=697390->783630 (86241), 264377 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 10 c=9->9, b=783631->871901 (88271), 270475 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 11 c=10->10, b=871902->1000610 (128709), 393797 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 12 c=11->11, b=1000611->1072403 (71793), 219582 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 13 c=12->12, b=1072404->1165734 (93331), 284527 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 14 c=13->13, b=1165735->1288144 (122410), 374716 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 15 c=14->14, b=1288145->1387065 (98921), 304554 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 16 c=15->15, b=1387066->1451633 (64568), 193481 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 17 c=16->16, b=1451645->1460066 (8422), 99277 ms
[15:14:13] scan: chap 18 c=17->17, b=1451634->1451644 (11), 176 ms
[15:14:13] scan: aspect = 0
[15:14:13] scan: decoding previews for title 1
libdvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00000000. Regions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
[15:14:13] scan: title angle(s) 1
[15:14:13] scan: audio 0x80bd: AC-3, rate=48000Hz, bitrate=224000 English (AC3) (2.0 ch)
[15:14:13] scan: 10 previews, 720x480, 23.976 fps, autocrop = 0/0/0/0, aspect 16:9, PAR 32:27
[15:14:13] scan: title (0) job->width:720, job->height:400
[15:14:13] libhb: scan thread found 1 valid title(s)

  • title 1:
    • vts 1, ttn 1, cells 0->17 (1460067 blocks)
    • duration: 01:15:53
    • size: 720x480, pixel aspect: 32/27, display aspect: 1.78, 23.976 fps
    • autocrop: 0/0/0/0
    • chapters:
      • 1: cells 0->0, 71606 blocks, duration 00:03:41
      • 2: cells 1->1, 58391 blocks, duration 00:02:59
      • 3: cells 2->2, 89421 blocks, duration 00:04:35
      • 4: cells 3->3, 78579 blocks, duration 00:04:05
      • 5: cells 4->4, 88958 blocks, duration 00:04:34
      • 6: cells 5->5, 102932 blocks, duration 00:05:17
      • 7: cells 6->6, 116937 blocks, duration 00:05:59
      • 8: cells 7->7, 90566 blocks, duration 00:04:39
      • 9: cells 8->8, 86241 blocks, duration 00:04:24
      • 10: cells 9->9, 88271 blocks, duration 00:04:30
      • 11: cells 10->10, 128709 blocks, duration 00:06:34
      • 12: cells 11->11, 71793 blocks, duration 00:03:40
      • 13: cells 12->12, 93331 blocks, duration 00:04:45
      • 14: cells 13->13, 122410 blocks, duration 00:06:15
      • 15: cells 14->14, 98921 blocks, duration 00:05:05
      • 16: cells 15->15, 64568 blocks, duration 00:03:13
      • 17: cells 16->16, 8422 blocks, duration 00:01:39
      • 18: cells 17->17, 11 blocks, duration 00:00:00
    • audio tracks:
      • 1, English (AC3) (2.0 ch) (iso639-2: eng), 48000Hz, 224000bps
    • subtitle tracks:
      [15:14:14] 1 job(s) to process
      [15:14:14] starting job
      [15:14:14] work: sanitizing track 0 mixdown Dolby Pro Logic II to Stereo
      [15:14:14] sync: expecting 109194 video frames
      [15:14:14] job configuration:
      [15:14:14] * source
      [15:14:14] + G:\From Mom’s PC\DVDs\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)
      [15:14:14] + title 1, chapter(s) 1 to 18
      [15:14:14] * destination
      [15:14:14] + G:\RIPIT\handbrake\Carole King & James Taylor -Live At The Troubadour (dvdrip)-1.mp4
      [15:14:14] + container: MPEG-4 (.mp4 and .m4v)
      [15:14:14] * video track
      [15:14:14] + decoder: mpeg2
      [15:14:14] + bitrate 7500 kbps
      [15:14:14] + frame rate: same as source (around 23.976 fps)
      [15:14:14] + dimensions: 720 * 480 -> 720 * 400, crop 0/0/0/0, mod 0
      [15:14:14] + encoder: FFmpeg
      [15:14:14] + bitrate: 1000 kbps, pass: 0
      [15:14:14] * audio track 0
      [15:14:14] + decoder: English (AC3) (2.0 ch) (track 1, id 80bd)
      [15:14:14] + bitrate: 224 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
      [15:14:14] + mixdown: Stereo
      [15:14:14] + encoder: faac
      [15:14:14] + bitrate: 160 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
      libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 4.1.3
      libdvdread: Encrypted DVD support unavailable.
      libdvdread: Device (null) inaccessible, CSS authentication not available.
      NAME OPEN FAILED
      libdvdnav: Unable to find home directorylibdvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00000000. Regions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
      libdvdread: Encrypted DVD support unavailable.
      libdvdread: Device (null) inaccessible, CSS authentication not available.
      libdvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00000000. Regions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
      No accelerated IMDCT transform found
      [15:14:14] reader: first SCR 146 id 224 DTS 22254
      [15:14:14] mpeg2: “” (1) at frame 0 time 3003
      [15:14:14] sync: video time didn’t advance - dropped 8 frames (delta 326 ms, current 34881, next 35515, dur 634)
      [15:14:14] sync: video time didn’t advance - dropped 11 frames (delta 427 ms, current 47526, next 51048, dur 3522)
      [15:14:32] mpeg2: “” (2) at frame 5323 time 19909540
      [15:14:46] mpeg2: “” (3) at frame 9636 time 36100215
      [15:15:08] mpeg2: “” (4) at frame 16218 time 60807397
      [15:15:29] mpeg2: “” (5) at frame 22094 time 82864432
      [15:15:53] mpeg2: “” (6) at frame 28653 time 107484528
      [15:16:20] mpeg2: “” (7) at frame 36262 time 136047562
      [15:16:50] mpeg2: “” (8) at frame 44860 time 168322305
      [15:17:12] mpeg2: “” (9) at frame 51547 time 193422880
      [15:17:34] mpeg2: “” (10) at frame 57899 time 217266700
      [15:17:57] mpeg2: “” (11) at frame 64389 time 241628538
      [15:18:30] mpeg2: “” (12) at frame 73828 time 277060935
      [15:18:49] mpeg2: “” (13) at frame 79106 time 296873227
      [15:19:16] mpeg2: “” (14) at frame 85933 time 322499328
      [15:19:48] mpeg2: “” (15) at frame 94922 time 356242537
      [15:20:14] mpeg2: “” (16) at frame 102229 time 383670438
      [15:20:31] mpeg2: “” (17) at frame 106879 time 401125375
      [15:20:35] reader: done. 202 scr changes
      [15:20:35] mpeg2: “” (18) at frame 109267 time 410087232
      [15:20:36] sync: audio 32957 time went backwards 0 ms, dropped 1 frames (next 401117760, current 401117760)
      [15:20:36] work: average encoding speed for job is 285.576752 fps
      [15:20:36] sync: got 109249 frames, 109194 expected
      [15:20:36] mpeg2 done: 109268 frames
      [15:20:36] render: lost time: 0 (0 frames)
      [15:20:36] render: gained time: 0 (0 frames) (0 not accounted for)
      [15:23:45] mux: track 0, 109249 frames, 569554255 bytes, 999.97 kbps, fifo 128
      [15:23:45] mux: track 1, 208937 frames, 89128880 bytes, 156.48 kbps, fifo 256
      [15:23:45] libhb: work result = 0
      Rip done!
      HandBrake has exited.
14

I had a similar problem with Handbrake – a 9-minuted DVD (homemade, no DRM crap) ran for over 12 hours without finishing. The last 9 hours or so it said 100% but never completed.

This seems to be a common problem – there is a lot about it on the forums, and it’s even mentioned in the user instructions.

I just got disgusted and uninstalled this product. There are plenty of other DVD products out there that work correctly. Why waste time with a flawed one?

15

Because it’s free, open-source, multi-platform, multi-processor-capable, easy-to-use, and works without issue for many/most people?

16

I’m still debating whether to stick with xvid or go with Handbrake and MP4. The people at Handbrake claim avi is dead. That’s why they dropped support for xvid/divx.

However, the majority of files posted to Usenet and <cough> certain unnamed web sites use xvid. I see some Mkv but they are usually huge files. Like 5 Gig for a single movie.

Maybe Mp4 is the wave of the future, but it seems like the world still uses xvid.

17

The main reason i still often encode with XVid is that my DVD player with a USB slot doesn’t recognize MKV files. I’m going to get myself a set-top box that reads MKV soon, but XVid AVI files are still perfectly good.

I actually still have Handbrake 0.93, which was the last version to support XVid/AVI, on my system. If you want to encode to XVid but want to keep the latest Handbrake, you can try AutoGK for XVid. It’s always worked well for me.

18

Thanks. I’ll look at AutoGK.

I completed another render with Handbrake. Took a little over an hour (Preset Regular, Normal) and it created a 900MB mp4 file. Looks really good in full screen mode. So far it’s working great. I had bad luck with that first dvd. Hopefully, that will be the only one.

That’s about the file size I was hoping to get. It makes archiving my dvd’s practical. I can put the originals away so they don’t get damaged.

I have hdconverttox (creates xvids) on my XP partition (I dual boot between Win 7 and Win XP). It does pretty good. But, handbrake renders quicker.

19

My understanding is that xvid and H.264 are video codecs, while avi and mkv (i.e., Matroska) are containers – I’m not quite sure where m4v fits in, besides signifying mpeg-4 video. So, for instance, one could have H.264 video in an avi file, etc. But (with admittedly only cursory searching) I never could find a clear and concise explanation of how/why the pieces-parts fit together.

Perhaps the OP has some interest in this and won’t see this as a hijack…from someone more knowledgeable than I, do I have that right?

20

That’s right, and i was being somewhat imprecise with my earlier comment.

But, while most media player software on computers will play most codec/container combinations, things are somewhat different with DVD players and even some set-top boxes.

The player, in these cases (or, to be more precise, the firmware on the player) needs to be able to recognize and “open” the container, and it also has to be able to read the encoded video and audio files inside. My DVD player (which is a couple of years old, and was a cheap model) will play AVI files encoded with the XVid or the DivX codec, but not AVI files encoded with H264. In the latter case, i get sound but no video. And it won’t even recognize an MKV file, no matter what codec was used.