Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 4/24/2011, 10:00 PM
Yes, I do ;?)
Start with the Normal profile, and make changes shown here:
http://ovationplayers.com/yttut/Thumbnails.html
Don't use VFR. Encode .mp4, not .m4v
Pay particular attention to the Advanced settings.
Weight-p and Pyramid-b must be OFF.
You'll be happy.
Mike M. wrote on 4/25/2011, 9:57 AM
On my 095 version of HB, I don't see the option for .mp4.
Under the container selection there are two: mp4 and mkv. In the video tab, there are two options MPEG-4 (ffmpeg) and h.264/x.264. However, it always seems to produce a m4v

Do you simply change the name of the extension ? Or am I blind ?

For non-VFR (assuming you mean variable frame rate). I don't see that setting, other than presetting/encoding a new frame rate.

But if you mean non-VBR, then I assume that would be using "Constant"

Thanks musicvid

musicvid10 wrote on 4/25/2011, 11:04 AM
Handbrake 0.9.5

1) Tools->Options->UNCHECK "Always use iPod/iTunes friendly extension (.m4v) for MP4." Then make the other changes as needed, and save it as a Handbrake preset.

2) VFR = Variable Frame Rate. Don't use it. Instead, select a fixed frame rate in the Video Pane (not "Same as Source"). This is clearly indicated in the tutorial pictures I linked for you. Follow them and you won't go wrong, I promise.
;?)
Laurence wrote on 4/25/2011, 11:12 AM
Why? While I consider the Handbrake H264 format to be top notch for delivery and upload to services like Youtube and Vimeo, I would never use it for a working renderable format. There would be just too much quality loss with successive renders. Why do you want to use Handbrake instead of Cineform .avi or the Avid .mov codec?
Mike M. wrote on 4/25/2011, 11:44 AM
A good question Laurence.

What I have is are a few "stubborn" video files that I can't get directly into Vegas 9. One is a m4v file. My goal is simply to find a format (container/codec) that works with Vegas Pro 9c. Sure I'd like to minimize compression artifacts, but the question is how?

I'm not sure, but some of the other "free" tools like Handbrake won't convert this file correctly. Plus, I only want a segment of the whole file. Handbrake will do this with the segment feature.

Below are the specifications of the "suspect" video file. Perhaps they will reveal something I need to do.

Thanks for your ideas.

General

Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 607 MiB
Duration : 1h 17mn
Overall bit rate : 1 090 Kbps
Writing application : HandBrake 0.9.2 2008021900


Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1h 17mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 960 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 496 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.290
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 24.813 fps
Original frame rate : 25.000 fps
Minimum frame rate : 12.500 fps
Maximum frame rate : 100.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.122
Stream size : 534 MiB (88%)
Writing library : x264 core 58 svn-736M
Encoding settings : cabac=0 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x131 / me=umh / subme=6 / brdo=0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=0 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=abr / bitrate=960 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2008-08-05 12:35:05
Tagged date : UTC 2008-08-05 14:55:45

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version : Version 4
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1h 17mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 145 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 71.3 MiB (12%)
Encoded date : UTC 2008-08-05 12:35:05
Tagged date : UTC 2009-03-11 19:31:10

Text
ID : 3
Format : Apple text
Codec ID : text
Duration : 1h 17mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 bps
Stream size : 384 Bytes (0%)
Mike M. wrote on 4/25/2011, 11:51 AM
musicvid:

I saw that option and it is indeed unchecked. Using your advice, I thought maybe the option was "stuck" so I checked and unchecked it and still the save destination reports a m4v. Perhaps this is caused by the original source being an m4v?

Sorry if this Handbrake discussion is OT
musicvid10 wrote on 4/25/2011, 12:03 PM
You need to uncheck the option before you load the file. Works for me. You can manually change the file extension but I haven't tried it in Vegas. You're right, maybe these questions would be better if posted in the HB forum. Many others have used the settings I posted and they work.