Handbrake Help - 6GB move?!

stephw4488 said:

I am a complete newbie at this stuff so please bear with me. But I installed Handbrake so I could transfer my DVDs into an MP4 file to put onto my iphone. I am having trouble with it- when it is finally done (after 4 hours or so), the mp4 file is around 6GB, which is huge.

Could a kind person please walk me through Handbrake step by step and tell me what I am doing wrong? I do not even have enough room for 1 movie on my phone!!

Click to expand...

Turn the quality settings down!

HandBrake Guide. Use "Constant Quality" set to the default 20. Or, use the "Devices" presets to pick your device. Don't pick "AppleTV 3" if you have an iPhone 3GS or below.

stephw4488 said:

I am a complete newbie at this stuff so please bear with me. But I installed Handbrake so I could transfer my DVDs into an MP4 file to put onto my iphone. I am having trouble with it- when it is finally done (after 4 hours or so), the mp4 file is around 6GB, which is huge.

Could a kind person please walk me through Handbrake step by step and tell me what I am doing wrong? I do not even have enough room for 1 movie on my phone!!

Click to expand...

Open the preset toggle and use the built in preset for the iPhone and you will end up with a nice looking and much smaller file.

stephw4488 said:

That is why I am confused. I chose iPhone 4 from the presets list and the file is still 6BG.

Does Handbrake not work on a DVD movie that I bought from the store?

Click to expand...

No, it should work fine. Take a screenshot and show us what settings you're on?

stephw4488 said:

Oh god I never saw that checkbox for Large File Size.... do I need to uncheck that?

Click to expand...

I can't see it making your problem worse.

Look also for audio; don't include languages you wouldn't need ...

stephw4488 said:

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Oh god I never saw that checkbox for Large File Size.... do I need to uncheck that?

Click to expand...

The filesize of the resulting video is directly related to the Constant Quality setting chosen. By default the iPhone 4 setting should choose the correct resolution, and sets the CQ at 20. If this filesize is too big, try 25, if that ends up being too big, try 30.

If you'd rather just have a predictable filesize, set the Average Bitrate to something respectable (the default 2500 should be fine for viewing on your phone).



Good luck!

stephw4488 said:

Thanks Dodge. I just studied and read up on this stuff. Using a bitrate calculator, I set it so the file size would be 1.5 GB, and the output was to use an average bitrate of 1751.

I'm at my wits end with this so hopefully it works. I'm leaving it to finish overnight. Right now it's at 266 MB around 15% :-/

Click to expand...

Great! I was going to recommend the following bitrate calculator, but didn't want to confuse you with more numbers

http://www.3ivx.com/support/calculator/index.html

Technically, you should get a better video quality using the "Constant Quality" mode, but the filesize is hard to control, and it won't matter on a phone anyway. If you want to ensure a specific filesize, it looks like you're on the right path, good luck!