streaming purposes, 4.0 is more than enough, but if—like us—
you’ve been happily ripping away at 4.1, all may not be lost, as
we’ll reveal later.3
SET UP HANDBRAKE PRESETS
When you come to rip or convert video in Handbrake,
you’re confronted by a bewildering array of choices
spread across multiple tabs. Some settings are important for
compatibility purposes, while others affect the quality of the
video and audio stream, plus allow you to incorporate subtitles
and named chapters. While the compatibility settings remain
consistent across your video streams, you may want to apply
different quality settings depending on the type of media being
converted (for example, TV episodes versus movies).
>> Rather than manually setting these up each time you
convert a different type of video, Handbrake enables you to
store customized settings in the form of presets. Configure your
settings—when it comes to audio and subtitle settings, make
sure you configure these via the “Selection Behavior” button
to ensure they’re stored with the preset [Image B]—and then
choose “Save New Preset” to give them a suitable name. Be sure
to select “Custom” under “Dimensions” if you’ve configured a
specific size (such as reducing 1080p HD streams to 720p to save
disk space) before clicking “Add.”
>> How many presets you need is obviously up to you—for
example, you may have different settings for NTSC and PAL DVD
rips, or a range of UltraHD (4K) and HD settings, depending on
specific movie genres (say action versus animation), or movie
versus television.4
BUILD YOUR FIRST UNIVERSAL PRESET
Open Handbrake and choose to open a disc, folder, or file.
Use the “Title” drop-down to select the video you wish to
convert, then it’s time to work your way through the various tabs
of options.
>> Start with “Summary.” Make sure “MP4” is selected as
the format, and check both “Web Optimized” and “Align A/ VCStart.” On the “Dimensions” tab, leave the “Width” and
“Height” boxes alone, unless resizing video as outlined
above. Set “Anamorphic” to “Automatic” and “Modulus”
to “2,” while leaving “Cropping” to “Automatic.”
>> The “Filters” tab is where you can correct problems
with the original source material. The “Detelecine” and
“Deinterlace and Decomb” filters deal with interlacing
problems that are visible as “combing” effects. These
are clearly visible in older broadcast material that’s
converted to DVD, and should be visible in the preview on
the “Summary” tab. If you need it, set “Detelecine” and
“Interlace Detection” to “Default,” and “Deinterlace” to
“Decomb” (default preset) to cover most bases [Image C].
>> The other three primary filters—”Deblock,”
“Denoise,” and “Sharpen”—should normally be left
disabled, applied in extreme situations only. “Deblock”
is a last-resort option for when the original video is so
blocky it’s unwatchable. Experiment with pushing the
slider up one notch at a time, choosing the best trade-off
between removing the artifacts and removing too much
detail to leave the image “soft.”
>> “Denoise” works to reduce grain or blur. Choose
the “NLMeans” filter—it’s slower than the other filter,
but more effective. The “Sharpen” filter does what
you’d expect, but the same rule applies to both filters:
The stronger the settings, the greater the side effects.
Start as low as possible (“Ultralight” or “Light”) and
click “Preview > Live Preview” to encode a 45-second
segment of your movie to see the effects of your tweak.5
ENSURE MAXIMUM COMPATIBILITY
The “Video” tab is a key part of making sure
your media adheres to Plex’s direct-play
recommendations. Choose “H.264 (x264)” or “H.265
(x265)” depending on your source material. Ensure
“Framerate (FPS)” is set to “Same as source” and thatDThe libdvdcss-2.dll trick
allows you to rip directly
from DVD in Handbrake.
But what about Blu-rays?
Sadly, you can’t rip directly
in Handbrake; instead you
need to first rip the Blu-rayto one or more unencrypted
MPEG-2 files, then import
them into Handbrake for
conversion. Our current tool
of choice is MakeMKV Beta
(www.makemkv.com). You’ll
get a 30-day code for rippingBlu-rays; thereafter, either
update to the latest version
or input a new key via http://www.
makemkv.com/forum/
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053
(alternatively, choose “Help
> Purchase” to buy a one-time code for $50). Once
ripped, point Handbrake to
the folder containing your
files, and convert them to
the smaller and universal
MP4 format, following the
advice in the main tutorial.RIP BLU-RAYS
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