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Is handbrake safe?

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FiremanMike

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 26, 2011
263
9
Forgive me for being gun-shy, this little macbook is the first mac I've owned since the days of the Mac IIe, I've been a PC user for a long time.

I have a lot of DVDs that I want to import into my iTunes. I have yet to understand why it's so easy to import a CD but so difficult to import a DVD. Anyhow, it seems handbrake is the program of choice for importing DVDs.. When I loaded it, it said the 32 bit drivers were incompatible and I needed to download some library file for the 64 bit operating system.

Is this a safe thing to do? Is handbrake really that great? Am I just paranoid because I'm a reformed PC user?

Thanks
 
I use Handbrake on my MacMini (as I use it as a media server) and its great as a convertor tool and I have never had any issues with it.

(You can also get it for Windows ;))
 
Depending on your location and the DVD versions you have it may not be legally safe. It's not going to harm your computer in any way.
 
Yeah, I tried it before on my PC and had terrible results. Audio offset from video by half a second, completely bogged down my system, inconsistent video results, crashing, etc..

Ripping a dvd now, here's hoping..
 
Depends on weather conditions and how fast you are driving. I would want to pull the handbrake at 90 mph.
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...Oh, you mean the software? Yes. Perfectly safe.
 
It's not safe for a laptop -- it will burn your chip up and result in a system meltdown, and burn your house down. This is why I avoid this, and trust a larger machine like a Mac Pro, only, when running these kinds of apps.
 
WardC said:
It's not safe for a laptop -- it will burn your chip up and result in a system meltdown, and burn your house down. This is why I avoid this, and trust a larger machine like a Mac Pro, only, when running these kinds of apps.
Click to expand...

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic (in which case it's probably a little too subtle for the internet) or are just really are that dumb (I hope not, and don't be insulted if you're not).

In case anyone reading this doesn't already know, you cannot burn your house down by running a piece of software. Overheating computers shut down, they don't spark fires.

WardC, again, I hope it was a joke, but I suspect it's a bit too subtle for the masses.

jW
 
Mal said:
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic (in which case it's probably a little too subtle for the internet) or are just really are that dumb (I hope not, and don't be insulted if you're not).

In case anyone reading this doesn't already know, you cannot burn your house down by running a piece of software. Overheating computers shut down, they don't spark fires.

WardC, again, I hope it was a joke, but I suspect it's a bit too subtle for the masses.

jW
Click to expand...

Hahaha. C'mon now, he's being sarcastic.
 
is handbrake safe for your computer? absolutely. Is it safe for your free time and wallet? thats debatable. those "few dvds" will turn into "all dvds" then "all blurays" then you need a big raid system to store your new movie library. then another raid array to backup said movie library. then hours tagging and organizing. Handbrake is a gateway drug into less money and time. beware!
 
FiremanMike said:
Forgive me for being gun-shy, this little macbook is the first mac I've owned since the days of the Mac IIe,
Click to expand...

'Little notebook' isn't very descriptive, listing your hardware & software is huge (either with your post or in your profile). :D



WardC said:
It's not safe for a laptop -- it will burn your chip up and result in a system meltdown, and burn your house down. This is why I avoid this, and trust a larger machine like a Mac Pro, only, when running these kinds of apps.
Click to expand...
ECUpirate44 said:
Handbrake use=crank up the fans!
Click to expand...
kettlecorn said:
all i know is, my computer gets butt hot when using handbrake.
Click to expand...

Mal said:
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic
Click to expand...

GGJstudios said:
Based on a few other of his posts I've seen, quite likely!
Click to expand...

I've heard of how heavy handbrake is :eek: :eek: w/o higher ram & ssd's.
I'm thinkin' that only 'burn your house down' is :rolleyes:. Yeah, burn ur chip up & sys meltdn is stretching it but I think he's trying to make a point.
Heavy lifting should be performed on larger machines if ur gonna run :cool:.
 
FiremanMike said:
Ok, next question

anamorphic - strict vs "keep aspect ratio" vs loose
Click to expand...

There are a LOT of different settings you can employ - and no "correct" answer, because everyone has different expectations and usage.

I'd suggest reading up on the forums relating to Handbrake, or search Google for what in particular you're looking to encode.

I'd also suggest using a program to up the fan speed to help keep temperatures cooler. Things can get toasty, and the fact is, cooler temps = longer lifespan for just about any component. SMC Fan Control works well for this.

You'll find (unfortunately) that the best settings don't apply to everything, especially so with animated content.

Just be sure to thoroughly test your first encodes on ALL the devices you wish to use it on, before you go and process your entire library. ;)
 
If you were playing back via Windows Media Player on your PC, know that WMP tends to offset audio in MP4 files by about a second. I was wrestling with this for an entire day at work a few weeks ago and ended up just encoding a WMV file. The actual file Handbrake generated was fine, it was just WMP that couldn't play it properly.
 
blkprlz said:
...but I think he's trying to make a point. Heavy lifting should be performed on larger machines if ur gonna run :cool:.
Click to expand...
Intel isn't the only company that realized years ago that consumers are increasingly moving away from desktops as their primary computers.

Is it better to do the encoding on a desktop? Sure, as desktop CPUs have twice the thermal headroom available to go Turbo with, with orders of magnitude better cooling options on tap. If you prefer, you can chill it with liquid helium. Does this mean CPU-intensive jobs belong exclusively to the desktop? Hell no.
 
If running your CPU at 100% for extended periods damaged your laptop Apple did a piss poor job designing it. I've used handbrake to encode for years. From junk Dell notebooks to my current MBP and have never had a problem. It's the best free piece of software I've ever used.
 
mykelala01 said:
Have you tried Ripit

http://thelittleappfactory.com/ripit/
Click to expand...

Ripit and Handbrake serve slightly different, but complimentary purposes.

Ripit takes a DVD and produces an ISO (or .dvdmedia file) that applications like DVD Player will recognize as a DVD. It's about as easy as it gets for getting the raw contents of a DVD into a format you can store on your HDD. However, unless your player of choice supports raw DVD rips, you'll need to re-encode/convert using a program like Handbrake. Ripit is also commercial software and costs a little bit, but it's come up in bundles and sales before, so iyou have a good chance of getting it at a discount.

Handbrake converts the DVD-format audio and video to a movie file (.mkv, .mov, .avi, etc...) that generally takes up less space and is playable in a variety of different players. It's complex and has lots of different options to tweak, but has sensible defaults. (I'm not 100% sure that it won't directly rip DVDs - I've always used it on ones i've previously ripped. It's entirely possible that intermediate step isn't 100% necessary anymore) In any case, Handbrake is totally free.
 
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