HANDBRAKE H.264 PROBLEM SOLVED!! DOWNLOAD HERE!!!

704x400=281.600
Maximum permitted pixel count are about 230.000

in short: No, 704x400 is to high pixel count

what bit rate would you suggest I use?

Set the average video bit rate about 125-150 kbps lower than you want your final average audio and video rate to be. Actual rates will depend on number of light/darks scenes, amount of rapid action, etc. contained in movie.

As to dimensions, 320x240 is the recommended max for H.264, but others have said they've experimented with higher resolutions that worked. Let us know if you find a good combination that works.

The max dimension for a 4:3 movie would be about 544x416.

Thanks again for the info. I any one else has gotten a high resolution to work, let me know. Is there a formula or a set max on the iPod or does it vary depending on length of file? Apple guys.... have a max #?

h.264, the largest size supported is 320x240. If you go over this, it will not work according to apple. I have not tried larger than this myself.

Glor

for mp4, any combination of resolution that keeps you below 230400 will work. I did a 704x327 when I ripped Batman Begins.

Glor

Hi, All!

Raphael has hit the nail on the head regarding setting the average bitrate lower when using HandBrake for an H.264 encode. The 768 Kbps setting produces a file with a bitrate that exceeds the 768Kbps maximum specs for H.264 on the iPod.

Gary

I have had great luck getting DVD's onto my Ipod by using a combo of Mac the Ripper and Handbrake. Here are my settings:

In Mac the Ripper:
Open the "Mac the Ripper" Program ( http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/14414)
Hit "Mode"
Do a "main feature Extraction" (You can do" full disk" extraction for movies with multiple parts.)
Go to the file menu and pull down "file save to."
Choose Save location
Then hit "go!"

In HandBrake:
Open the Program
Choose the "DVD Folder Image" using the "browse" button. You should choose the "Video_TS" folder of the video
In the "source" window, choose the track to extract

In the "destination" window choose:
File format: MP4 File
Codecs: MPEG-4 Video/ACC Audio
File: Use the Browse button to place the file, then name it

In the "video" window:
Framerate: Same as source
Encoder: FFMpeg
Quality: Average Bitrate 768
2-Pass Encoding (not necessary if you are tight for time)

In the "audio" window
Language: whatever is the default
Sample Rate: 44100
Bitrate: 128 or 160

Click on the "picture settings" button
Size: 320 x 240 (height may vary if 16:9 format)
Click "close"

Click "Rip"

Hi Graeme, you'll get much better results when encoding in h.264. It will take longer to encode, but the file size will be smaller and there are much less compression-glitches in the movie.

CALLING ALL EXPERTS: Jon Walker, iDaze, Glor...(excuse me if I've missed anyone from this list, please don't feel excluded).

Having read all the posts in this excellent thread, there still seems to be many different opinions about the optimum ripping settings.

What I would like to know is what your personal recommendations are for rip settings in Handbrake. MPEG4 or H.264, what aspect ratio, what bitrate, 1 or 2 pass etc.

In particular, what do you use for a) widescreen films, and b) normal 4:3 ratio films?

Just thought it would be good to get your preferences - then the less technically able people (myself included) can benefit quickly and easily from your wisdom!!

Thanks, Mat.

I have had great luck getting DVD's onto my Ipod by using a combo of Mac the Ripper and Handbrake. Here are my settings:

Hey Graeme, thanks for the great post, but I'm foggy as to what the advantage of using MacTheRipper is? Wouldn't it be easier to just let Handbrake open the dvd AND rip it? I'm sure you have your reason. Every once in awhile Handbrake won't be able to open a DVD I have, so I'm going to try your way on that one. I thought I was out of luck for that movie, but I'm pretty sure your way's going to work. Thanks for the tip!

CALLING ALL EXPERTS: Jon Walker, iDaze, Glor...(excuse me if I've missed anyone from this list, please don't feel excluded).

Well, not sure I'm an expert, but I've been getting some pretty good looking results. First off, it seems I'm one of the few people that's encoding specifically for viewing on the ipod only, so if you want to view on a tv, then don't use my settings, use a larger mpeg, or a larger h.264 setting if it's wide screen.

My settings are h.264
1 pass
650 kbps
320X240 (or 320 by whatever the hight ends up being for a widescreen film)
all of the other settings on handbrake I leave alone. (actually 1pass is default, so you can leave that setting alone too)

Reasons for my settings:

h.264:
It's just more crisp to me than mpeg4 on the ipod screen, and well worth the extra encoding time, as I plan on enjoying these rips for quite awhile.

1pass vs 2pass:
I really couldn't tell a difference on the ipod screen. maybe you could if you were outputting to a tv, but for the ipod screen, I couldn't tell. And holy smokes 2pass h.264 takes forever.

650kbps:
This is a tricky one. The ipod can handle up to 768kbps according to Apple, but it can actually handle more than that. However, just because you type in 768 into Handbrake doesn't mean you're going to get that result. Like someone else said in this thread, it depends on the movie. Some people have been able to enter even higher than 768 into Handbrake and have their ipod accept it. But after spending 5 hours ripping a dvd at 768 once and having the result end up at 924kbps and then having the ipod not accept the video I've been chickening out and using 650kbps, which is looking great on the ipod, and so far working every time. Also, if you want to check your final rip just open the movie in QT and click get info from the menu and it will show you your average kbps.

320X240
Like I said, for the ipod screen only, then 320 width is going to be perfect. One trick I used on a widescreen movie though was to uncheck the "keep aspect ratio" and then bump up the hight one click. It didn't look too stretched at all to me, and fills up the ipod screen just a bit more.

Anyway, probably more than you wanted to know.

It really depends on what you are going to do with it. If you intend to only view the video on the iPod then go with h.264 at 320x240 with the bitrate at around 700 (so you don't go over the max 768k - this max also includes the audio bit rate). 2 pass will make for a better video but it may not be noticable on the iPod.

If you plan on viewing the video on tv via the iPod video out, then I would say go with mp4 instead. Can set the aspect ratio to be anything as long as it does not go over 230400 pixels. I normally use handbrake in the fixed aspect ration mode and then go up and down the scale to find the closes setting that puts me just under 230400. For instance, with Batman Begins, I selected 704x327. I normally select a bitrate of around 1.5m but you need to decide what's best for you, since the higer bit rates also increase the size of the file. Max bitrate for mp4 is 2.5m. I always do 2 pass, but remember, it will take twice as long to rip (but it does not affect the size of the file).

Glor

Nice post Joel. Thanks.