Handbrake users -- best settings to convert H264 to H265

Hi there

Converting 1080p MKV files encoded in H264 to H265

What's the best setting to use keeping original quality as much as possible -- a 2hr film currently with my H264 encode is around 4GB for MKV file.

The source is full HD 1080p captured from SKY Q minibox. Quality on playback is excellent but I want to store a lot of these on an external HDD so want to compress the size down a bit.

(note you need to use an HDMI splitter to get stuff off the SKY Q minibox otherwise the capture device won't see anything (DRM).

The capture device doesn't unfortunately capture in H265 which is why I need the conversion step.

I would like to get about 50% of that size with H265 - but not sure of the settings in Handbrake I should use.

Any video editors here --help please !!!!!

I'm not bothered if the final container is MKV or MP4 so long as it's encoded H265 and quality is very similar (preferably identical) to original file.

Cheers
jimbo

essenbe said:

Jimbo I have never done exactly what you are trying to do, but I do use Handbrake a lot. I typically use the default settings and encode H264/MP4. I get good quality and smaller file sizes with the default settings.

Hi there @essenbe

Thanks for the reply -- however the problem is the Video capture device captures in the fixed format in Real time so I need to re-encode afterwards

I've found a program that seems to work --it "embeds" Handbrake into it's own GUI and is FREE (really Free -- not one of those "swindly" -Free Downloads that then ask you to PAY !!) and has the basic settings set to what I need -- I've compared with running Handbrake with cloning those settings -- works the same.

encoding though takes a while even with an i7 processor -- so run overnight !!!


VidCoder 1.5.34 / 2.34 Beta - Download

Note I'm going over to HEVC / H265 for all my videos now where possible since I can get SKY Q to serve up full 4K UHD TV now and playing that on a decent TV is far superior to even full 1080p

However unless you have a TV > around 48 ins -- better if it's bigger-- the average person might not notice the real improvement over 1080p- and also remember that on these large TV sets your standard SD and DVD stuff (576p) starts to look a bit ragged unless the TV's have good upscaling which they don't seem to have.

However HEVC / H265 at 1080p gives excellent quality for 2 hr movies with around 1.2 - 2GB file sizes so worth while.

Note currently PLEX won't serve H265 - it will have to transcode while serving video but I'm sure that will change soon with the popularity of UHD 4K TV and streaming services.

Watched SKY SPORTS at the weekend on 4K on a large TV. Unlike 3D this format will be a WINNER if you have the large TV's for it. !!!

(If you are outside UK or Rep. of Ireland SKY TV is a satellite provider - available also in W.Europe / Nordic countries via VPN / subscriptions paid in UK - SKY Q now transmits several services in 4K --great too).


Cheers
jimbo

A very good forum for help on video questions is videohelp.com

Transcoding is generally a bad idea. Can you adjust the encoder on the box to reduce the file size? Maybe buy an extra drive? You can never have too many hard drives.

jimbo45 said:

What's the best setting to use keeping original quality as much as possible -- a 2hr film currently with my H264 encode is around 4GB for MKV file.

These original files... is that encoding being done on the fly by the capture device? That 4 gigs per file sounds a bit excessive.

My current concern about h265 is that it's not widely supported. For example I have a Samsung "smart" TV and a "smart" Samsung BR player... both of which I use to play h264 files from a flashdrive. None play h265 or vp9. I can only play h265 on my PC.

Have you tried two pass h264 encodings at 66-75% the current bit rate?


And how much work are you willing to do when external HD prices are so low? Last Dec I bought a 4 TB drive for $120.

Winuser said:

A very good forum for help on video questions is videohelp.com

Not to mention the infamous Doom9 forums
Doom9's Forum - Powered by vBulletin

Michael said:

Transcoding is generally a bad idea. Can you adjust the encoder on the box to reduce the file size? Maybe buy an extra drive? You can never have too many hard drives.

My concern about lowing the bit rate during capture is that it may introduce too many artifacts.

jimbo45 said:

The source is full HD 1080p captured from SKY Q minibox. Quality on playback is excellent but I want to store a lot of these on an external HDD so want to compress the size down a bit.

BTW... is the capture at 24fps or 30?

If you don't know... get MediaInfo if you don't already have it. MediaInfo