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Help! I need the highest quality yet compatible Handbrake Preset!

N

NCRobino

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hello all,

So I am trying to convert some things into mp4 file form so that I can import them into my iTunes Library and use them for both home theater viewing through my Apple TV 3 in the highest possible video quality with 5.1 audio for the best home theater experience streamed from my computer.... yet still have videos that will play on my iphones and ipads when I want to load them on and take them with me.

Can anyone please help me configure a preset for this highest quality and multi channel audio that will play through both Apple TV and also sync to my idevices and play too? Is this even possible?

If not, what do you guys do? Do you put your Apple TV movies in highest quality and keep the seperate of versions for your ios devices? Apple Store bought movies and also digital copies all look great and play great all on all devices... yet I can't quite replicate this myself using Handbrake and would appreciate any help!

Many thanks
Rob

PS. I also accidentally deleted the Apple TV 3 preset and can't get it back, any help there?
 
I would try to "Update built in presets" to restore the ATV3 preset. If that doesn't work, maybe just reinstall handbrake.
 
Thanks! The reinstall didnt work but there was a restore presets feature in handbrake that I found after the fact and that did work. Thank you
 
Keep in mind that the file size will be huge. If you use the Universal/Normal setting or the ATV3 setting it will work fine.

You really need to make two versions if you are going to go with HUGE file sizes.

One thing that I have found is that if the file size is to huge it won't wirelessly stream very well. You might want to use a RAID 0 drive for your movies for the fastest output:apple:.
 
tvguy said:
Keep in mind that the file size will be huge. If you use the Universal/Normal setting or the ATV3 setting it will work fine.

You really need to make two versions if you are going to go with HUGE file sizes.

One thing that I have found is that if the file size is to huge it won't wirelessly stream very well. You might want to use a RAID 0 drive for your movies for the fastest output:apple:.
Click to expand...

TV Guy, thanks for the info! Sorry though, treat me basic... just to clarify, you indeed think I need two versions of each file? One for itunes and one for...?? a seperate drive that can house huge files for apple tv streaming? and the Raid thing is basically taking multiple hard drives and making them one, correct?

I have now run into the problem that the files from the apple tv 3 and any other that I do with handbrake will not transfer to my ios devices.. and on the fluke that they do, they won't play on the phone. Opens and closes immediately when you attempt to play it. I feel I can't proceed until this is remedied. Any help?
 
What generations are your iOS devices? Anything from the iPad retina (iPad 3) and onward should be able to play m4v files created with the Apple TV 3 preset in handbrake. I believe anything from the iPhone 4S onward should also be able to play the same files. If you have any divices that are before that you'd have to drop it down to 720p (the Apple TV 2 preset).

Another thing to check is to make sure before the encode that the handbrake preset isn't creating a file that's bigger than 1920x1080. If it's even one pixal greater than either of the demesions they won't play on your iOS devices (or at least not some of the older ones, for example they wouldn't play on my iPad 3).

It's rare that this happens, but I have seen it happen a few times. It tends to happen to older movies that have 16:9 aspect ratio or close to it. When I encoded my James Bond Blu-rays it happened to some of the older ones.

If you do have older devices I wouldn't bother with two files, one 720p and one 1080p. Just encode to the smallest common denominator among your devices, and make all your video's 720p. That's what I did untill all my devices that I wanted to play the videos on could support 1080p.
 
ATV3 presets (1080p) will play on iPad. (And probably on iPhone 6+) I think you need to re encode with iPhone preset for older iPhone models.
 
salohcin said:
What generations are your iOS devices? Anything from the iPad retina (iPad 3) and onward should be able to play m4v files created with the Apple TV 3 preset in handbrake. .
Click to expand...

Well I have the Apple TV 3 and an iPhone 6, so generational problems aren't the issue here. Seriously, I just convert the MKV in handbrake using the preset for ATV3 and then import... and nothing. It goes into my library, it will play on my ATV3, but either will not transfer to my iphones (both are 6's)at all or it does and starts and immediately stops playing, on both.

Suggestions?
 
I use the ATV3 format for nearly everything. It seems to be highest quality setting which works on my current devices and the (more recent) legacy devices handed onto my kids.
 
shotts56 said:
I use the ATV3 format for nearly everything. It seems to be highest quality setting which works on my current devices and the (more recent) legacy devices handed onto my kids.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but see my above comment, still doesn't work on my ios devices.
 
NCRobino said:
Well I have the Apple TV 3 and an iPhone 6, so generational problems aren't the issue here. Seriously, I just convert the MKV in handbrake using the preset for ATV3 and then import... and nothing. It goes into my library, it will play on my ATV3, but either will not transfer to my iphones (both are 6's)at all or it does and starts and immediately stops playing, on both.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

That's very odd. Can you check the file info in iTunes of one of the files that won't sync? What are the dimension of the video? What's the framerate and bitrate?
 
File info is as follows:

Size 1.71gb
low complexity
mpeg-4 video file
encoded with handbrake 0.0.0 2013052900
video quality SD
bit rate 1660 kbps
dimensions 853x480
codec H.264

----------

frame rate was set to 30fps as per the apple tv 3 preset
 
NCRobino said:
Well I have the Apple TV 3 and an iPhone 6, so generational problems aren't the issue here. Seriously, I just convert the MKV in handbrake using the preset for ATV3 and then import... and nothing. It goes into my library, it will play on my ATV3, but either will not transfer to my iphones (both are 6's)at all or it does and starts and immediately stops playing, on both.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Are we talking streaming via home sharing to iPhone? or syncing from iTunes onto iPhone and then playing it? If streaming, perhaps it is an issue with wifi. ATV3 preset handbrake encodes play fine on my iPhone 6 either way.
 
NCRobino said:
File info is as follows:

Size 1.71gb
low complexity
mpeg-4 video file
encoded with handbrake 0.0.0 2013052900
video quality SD
bit rate 1660 kbps
dimensions 853x480
codec H.264

----------

frame rate was set to 30fps as per the apple tv 3 preset
Click to expand...


It looks like you're converting from a DVD, correct? You're getting a 480p standard definition movie, not an HD movie that you'd get from a Blue Ray. On that basis, I suggest you use the "High Profile" setting in Handbrake, as that will give you an iTunes compatible file that all your devices should just eat up. It may fix your inability to sync these movies to your 6s, but that may be a different issue still.

FWIW, the reference above to two files is really more for Blue Ray rips, where you make one file for your ATV, which will be 5-15 GBs, and one for your iOS devices, which will be much smaller. In the old days, this was done as the ATV files were too detailed to be shown on the handheld screens; nowadays it's more just a question of memory space, as the handheld screens are now 1080p or better.
 
NCRobino said:
TV Guy, thanks for the info! Sorry though, treat me basic... just to clarify, you indeed think I need two versions of each file? One for itunes and one for...?? a seperate drive that can house huge files for apple tv streaming? and the Raid thing is basically taking multiple hard drives and making them one, correct?

I have now run into the problem that the files from the apple tv 3 and any other that I do with handbrake will not transfer to my ios devices.. and on the fluke that they do, they won't play on the phone. Opens and closes immediately when you attempt to play it. I feel I can't proceed until this is remedied. Any help?
Click to expand...

Yes a RAID 0 is two hard drives formatted together for the fastest speed. I have a two two-terabyte drives as storage RAID 1 and a another drive with two 1 terabyte drive as a RAID 0 for play back... Yes this is overkill.

For the best overall compression is the ATV3 preset. I tried to go with higher res settings and it was a waste of time. I haven't had any wireless issues playing back movies that were at the ATV3 setting.

Also remember that you are ripping stuff from DVD's - the video is already compressed to the DVD... when you buy a movie from Apple or online... a 120 min movie is round 4 gig in size. These movies start out at 1 gigabyte per minute in size.

As far as making two different sizes it all depends on how much stuff you want to cram onto your iPhone or iPod. I ripped a Transformer movie that was 2 hours & 30 minutes. The file size was 2.83 gig and that was in Standard Def resolution.
If I had done that in iPod preset it would have been under 500 meg.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice! So aside from not being able to get the files to work still, I will make two versions. One for the iDevices and the other for the ATV3. This is going to be a large project for me and of course, looks like my BR Drive is failing as it now won't read any blu rays, only DVDs. So.... forces are working against me here but I'll be proceeding with your suggestion soon!

Any other advice on getting these other files onto my idevices working would be good. I'll try the Handbrake universal setting and see what that does..
 
Hold on a minute... Before you you start this project we have to figure out why its still not working for you. Do you have any newer Family Guy or a 20 minute show that you can sample. (use something that 16x9) The res on those is mostly 1280x720... Most of the older movies I have ripped were "Normal" after getting the ATV3, I started using the ATV3 setting. Either setting will play on your iPad or iPhone.

File size is everything when you want to stuff your iDevice full. Play with the different presets and see what will load up for you. HD is kind of classified as 1920x1080. SD HD is 1280x720. They are both 16x9.
 
I usually have mine set to "normal", which is fine for retina iPhones, iPads and Apple TV. It encodes to the size of the video,

If I want a smaller file then I use "universal", which takes it down to 480 height, which again is perfectly good for all devices and for 'disposable' content.
 
NCRobino said:
Any other advice on getting these other files onto my idevices working would be good. I'll try the Handbrake universal setting and see what that does..
Click to expand...

As many of us have stated, ATV3 preset handbrake encodes play fine on iPhone also. This seems to be more of an issue with syncing files to the iPhone rather than file size or format. Make sure iTunes is up to date. Try a different USB cable when syncing to iPhone, etc.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the feedback and banter/discussion to help me make some formating decisions before I start going crazy with the importing.

Firstly, I got the ATV3 version to sync to my iphone. Here's what happens, first sync, it goes over.. but doesn't play. Then I delete it and try again and then it won't sync at all. 3rd attempt, file goes over and it plays. I've done this for 3 movies now, this is the pattern. For me, it's not reliable enough, but so weird.

The Universal setting is what I tried next. It sync'd on the first try. Weirdly, and maybe you guys can shine some light here, the "Universal" file setting is .5gb larger and the bit rate is higher than the ATV3 settings. I thought it would all be smaller, so it was a surprise to see the higher settings and size.

I'll test a few more flicks, but so far it seems like the Universal setting is winning out for my idevice format.

About to replace the SATA cable to my Blu Ray drive and see if I can get it working, if not I'll go buy a new drive. Then I am sure to be back here with questions about doing the HD multi channel conversions for use on my Apple TV, so if the Apple TV 3 setting will maintain the HD and multi channel theater settings, then I am set. Otherwise, any pre-advice on that would be welcome!

Take care
Rob
 
Another question, I notice that it would appear int he presets for both Universal and ATV3 there are two audio entries...
The first being the mixdown to 2 channel.

The second shows the 5.1 being mixed to codec AC3 Passthru.

What exactly is the second entry doing? It doesn't appear I get a 2 channel and a 5.1 channel audio track to choose from in the file, so ...??? Am I missing something here?

Thanks
 
Good news! I got my BR Drive working!

Disconnected all cables, restarted computer.

Changed the SATA cable in case it was faulty.

Plugged it all back in.

Drive works fine!

So I am ready to start the process I think for both versions of the files.

I am going to use Universal setting for iDevices.

I am going to use ATV3 setting for Blu Ray and DVD content for my ATV3 streaming and will keep those in a seperate folder outside of the iTunes library (I think I can do this, right?) for streaming.

If any of that seems like it should be altered, please let me know before I start!

Lastly, any suggestions for reliable mass storage drives? I don't want to do this and have it all fail or some BS like that.

Many thanks!
 
Final question (no promises!).

Should I set the audio output for the HD files I am doing from Blu Rays to be 6.1 (it's defaulting to 5.1) since my setup includes a middle rear channel? Is it possible that my receiver automatically reconfigures the audio to include the 6th channel if I don't? I have a Pioneer VSX - 1022K.

Thanks
 
Where'd everyone go?

So I am slowly getting things moving. I am converting the blu rays, but for some reason... even though the source shows 1080p, they are converting down to 720p even on the apple tv 3 setting... so i am manually changing the ratio width to 1920 so that I get a full HD version for the ATV3. Any reason I shouldn't be doing this?
 
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