Handbrake Help

[cowman007]

Hello everybody

i have been looking all over the internet for a tutorial on how to use handbrake. Basically I am trying to rip my store bought DVDs onto my hardrive and convert them to Mp4 so that i can view them in front row at full screen at a good quality. I have tried over and over again to do this but mich to my dismay i have been unsuccessful. I have ended up with poor quality rips and today i tried again and my ripped DVD came without any sound. Can anybody help me out with this. What kind of settings should i be using in handrbrake?

 

[millap]

If it's still available on their website, try downloading Instant HandBrake. The interface is much simpler and it will probably do just fine for what you need.

 

[cowman007]

instant handbrake seems to be for ripping DVDs for your iPod and i don't wish to do that. I want to rip my DVDs fro frontrow instead.

 

[millap]

I use the PSP (MPEG 4) option and that produces files at near DVD quality which play just fine in Front Row.

 

[cowman007]

Im looking to play these files at full screen

I f possible i'd like them at better then DVD quality but i dont want the file to be too large. Any suggestions.

 

[millap]

You won't be able to get them 'better than DVD quality' unless they're HD movies. If you want to get the the best quality possible, then you could try extracting the VIDEO_TS folder using MacTheRipper, and then use DVD Assist to play these files from Front Row. The files will actually play using the DVD player app, but you can still use the Front Row interface, and the Apple remote still works as well.

 

[Cromulent]

Download Mac the Ripper and the latest Handbrake (0.9.0) and use the AppleTV preset if you want the best quality for Frontrow.

Use Mac the Ripper to rip a ton of DVDs and then set them all up in a long queue in Handbrake.

I f possible i'd like them at better then DVD quality but i dont want the file to be too large. Any suggestions.

That is impossible. You can not create extra information (i.e image quality) from a source. You can only get a better quality source.

 

[~J~]

Actually, Handbrake will rip and encode all at once. I have been using it constantly for the past 2 months (encoding every episode of Frasier, My Name is Earl, Scrubs, and The West Wing)... yes, I've actually thought about buying another Mac just to encode 24/7.

Here are the settings I use:

MP4 - H.264/AAC
2 Pass encoding (I also use turbo first pass)
I deinterlace as well (fast) - under Picture Settings

For a 30 minute show, I use a file size of 250MB
For an hour show, I use a file size of 500MB

I store all my TV shows on a 750GB Seagate drive connected to my AEBS, and I stream everything wirelessly without issue. Hope that helps!

 

[Cromulent]

Actually, Handbrake will rip and encode all at once.

I know but it wastes time and overuses the DVD drive. If you use Mac the Ripper you can rip loads of DVDs and set Handbrake up to convert them all in one long go without your intervention.

 

[~J~]

I know but it wastes time and overuses the DVD drive. If you use Mac the Ripper you can rip loads of DVDs and set Handbrake up to convert them all in one long go without your intervention.

Smarty-pants!

Haha... I know... but I just dont have that much room on my internal HD... stinkin Vista Ultimate in Parallels... reserved 32GB and only really needs ~12GB. That is a great idea tho, assuming you have the room (remember, each DVD is ~7.5GB, and the encoded files from the DVD are ~1.75GB (for a 30min TV show, 6 episodes). So you need to have ~9.25GB set aside for each DVD... set up 4 DVDs (an entire season) and you will need ~37GB of working space.