How do I get better at video encoding?
I've been encoding anime for the past few days, I've read some x264 guides and stuff but I want to learn how to use better software like FFmpeg and mkvmerge.
I've been using handbrake nightly with the x264 10-bit dll.
Can someone recommend me some good beginner guides.
Does Handbrake support WebM?
Yes
encode in vp8 then run it through mkvmerge with the .webm extension
Why not vp9?
Thanks m8
Sup Forums doesn't support vp9
>newbie encoding guide v1.0 [04-06-2017]
>Video codec
Use HEVC, hardware decoders for it are plentiful.
>Quality
Use CRF unless you desperately need to fit your video in a specific streaming bandwidth (VBR) or fit inside a specific medium such as a 1GB file size or dvd (VBR 2 pass). 22 CRF means a good quality compared to original and 16 CRF means high quality compared to original. Using any other CRF beside 0 for lossless encodes should be avoided.
>Preset
The "fast" preset should almost always be used as it gives you the best balance between video compression efficiency and encoding speed. Anything faster will give you bigger file sizes and anything slower will give you slower encoding speeds.
>Encoder
Staxrip should be used for most things unless you really need to fine tune your shit, in which case MEgui will suffice
>10-bit or 8-bit
Generally 10-bit will help out with color banding and improve compression efficiency but at the cost of little hardware decoding support. So only use 8-bit if general hardware decoding compatibility is important to you.
stop using the GUI of handbrake is step #1
HandBrakeCLI -i $FILE -o $FILE\ output.mkv -E av_aac -B 160k -6 stereo -R 48000 -e x264 -2 -T -b 2000 -v2 -s1
that's basic bones encode there
it has output of mkv and mp4
you'd use ffmpeg for it, which is a lot easier than doing multiple steps
Why not the GUI tho?
Any difference in quality or encoding speed?
get kicked in the dick
not much speed difference, but lots more options and filters in handbrake specifically, very small ram usage benefit.. but it doesn't use much anyway
it's also good if you encode on a headless server
Does it have to do anything with my guide? If so I'd love to hear it so I can improve it.
If not, go die of sepsis in your sleep.
VTV
how about 12-bit hevc?
is the very best! 4 2 transcode 8-bit scene tv show and movie 2 hecv 2 save the space on you're hd
>ffmpeg
LOL no. Get MeGUI and learn Avisynth, since you want high bit depth debanding into 10 bit at a minimum.
placebo, it gives longer encoding times at no noticeable improved image quality.
10-bit is already giving the encoder 1024 levels of R, G, B to choose from compared to just 256 levels. More than enough for the best encodes.
I've been encoding for 7 years for anything 1080p I use handbrake with these settings file sizes around 20gb for full movie this is inline with most "pro" bdrips from private trackers
>.mkv
>auto anamorphic
>modulus 2
>Auto cropping
>h.264
>Framerate: same as source
>Variable Framerate
>adsverage bitrate: 28000kbps
>Veryfast encoding
>Encoder tune Film
>Scan for forced subs
>add all preferred language subs
>Add preferred audio tracks
>Auto passthough all tracks
You must be a bored troll or very fucking stupid.
enlighten me
Encoding anime is different from encoding live action movies, also even I as a beginner know those settings are pure cancer.
>h.264
use hevc grandpa
>adsverage bitrate: 28000kbps
why not just CRF 16 or 0?
>Veryfast encoding
guaranteed shit quality with VBR and huge file size with CRF
Make an account on doom9. You're going to need it, and there's like a 10 day waiting period before you can post.
I don't know where you download your movies from bud but these settings are pretty much standard quality for most of my 450+ collection
I don't have a single HVEC encode
CRF is placebo slider
Veryfast encoding
>guaranteed shit quality with VBR and huge file size with CRF
proof lacking in every encode I've seen
Already made it, the wait period is 5 days
Your encodes are the size of the Bluray. What's the fucking point?
Also
>VLC
not understanding bit rate > encoding quality
well done 1080p looks better than average 4k
>Implying i watch anything on the computer with VLC and don't have a 65" tv
The point of a good encoding is to reduce the file size while trying to maintain the original quality.
Those are remuxes, not 28k.
i can't get a single fucking thing to transcode
always ends with a failure, handbrake and a dozen other programs give me the same failure, tried with another hdd and still same bullshit.
why the fuck wont this goddanm computer fucking backup, merge, and compress my massive dvd collection?
Blu-Ray m2ts sources do not exceed 40mbps
Encoding at 28000kbps results in abut a 10gb per file savings with nearly no quality loss
Post mediainfo of Dumb and Dumber.
yeah, fuck this shit.
Don't give up man, at the beginning it was the same for me but I kept reading guides and down test and know my encodes are great.
It's easier if you just learn it from MeGUI
torrenting it would save power and save me from having to deal with this faggotry.
also not illegal to have digital copies of shit i own, so i'm not breaking any laws with it neither
Encoding is a hobby. If it's not something you're interested in, don't do it.
it's a tool more than anything
compare 1 & 2
one file is 33gb the other is 19gb audio is untouched all subs and chapter intact
Picture file sizes differ only from program outputting
...
...
Here's a couple of tips:
>Read the fucking documentation
x265 has some great documentation which, for the most part, is applicable to x264 as well. It's Important you know what most of the settings mean.
>Learn avisynth/vapoursynth
Vapoursynth has a higher learning curve and better performance. Avisynth has better documentation and support.
>check the encode settings of good anime encodes with mediainfo
This will give you a good baseline to tune your own encodes with.
>Experiment with your encodes
This is the most important tip. Encoding is very much a trial-and-error process completely dependent on your video source. Make multiple test encodes with various filter and encoder settings.
Experiment with a variety of video sources. You don't need to encode the entire source. For the sake of time, experiment with small portions of video.
Not if you want to be good at it. There's so many ways that the source can be fucked, and unfucking it takes time, knowledge, and effort.
If you're interested in quality, it's now a hobby.
What did you do to that poor thing?
>audio untouched
That's a waste.
he cut 7 pixels off each image, lol...
2 is raw blu-ray m2ts 1 is h.264 encode
play again next week
8 bit and 10 bit aren't directly comparable.
The quality is terrible. Your encode fucked the range which is an improvement over that posterized mess.
>compare 1 & 2
They aren't even the same frame.
ask on there, #encode-autism discord.gg
>#encode-autism
lmao
step 1: stop using Handbrake
step 2: start using ffmpeg
step 3: get fucked
step 4: lean how to encode
step 5: still get fucked as you realize how useless what you've one is
This is what I do. -e x264_10bit If you want 10bit encodes. I've messed around with VP8 and VP9, but I don't think I'll mess with webm until AV1 is more mature. I don't like to use Handbrake autocrop when doing episodes of stuff so I'll look at a couple of the videos per season to see how it thinks they should be cropped then use --crop X:X:X:X for everything. This way whatever player you're using doesn't bounce around every time the resolution changes on the next episodes.
HandBrakeCLI -i '/Anime/' -t 1 -o ~/Anime_S1_E01.mp4 -e x264 -d -2 -T -b 768 -B 128 --crop 0:0:0:0 --encoder-profile high --encoder-tune film --encoder-preset placebo --encoder-level 3.1 --keep-display-aspect -s "1,2,3,4,5,6" -a "1,2,3,4,5,6"
I guess I should also mention this is for 480p DVDs otherwise that bitrate would need to be higher. --encoder-tune animation and possibly lower bitrate for cartoons.
