I'm trying out Handbrake to rip some of my DVDs to MP4 for use with my PS3. I found the old PS3 template that Handbrake used to have, but the quality of the ripped video files is a little less than impressive. The template seems fine when I am using it for animated titles, but live action just look fuzzy. I'm not too familiar with any ripping programs as the most I have done in the past is simply rip my DVDs to ISOs for use with PS3 media server, but the file sizes are getting a little out of hand. I'm hoping someone here has some advice on how I can/should configure the ripping/encoding settings to get the best possible quality out of the video files.

Only hand break I use is the one in my car for cornering in the late evening

I use it quite a bit, but usually only output to "Apple Universal" for use in iTunes, iPod and appe TV. Something about that setting means that it scales very well to different screen sizes. I know that option outputs to mp4, but not sure if they are PS3 compatible. I may have to try that!

For my PS3 I stuck with Handbrake 0.9.3 and used these presets based on the original audio (2 channel vs 5.1)

<Preset>
<Level>0</Level>
<Name>PS3 - Basic 2.0</Name>
<Query> -f mp4 --decomb -p --detelecine -e x264 -q 0.64 -a 1 -E faac -B 160 -R 48 -6 dpl2 -D 1 -U -F -x level=41:me=umh:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=6:direct=auto:weightb=1:b-pyramid=1:subq=9:analyse=all:8x8dct=1:tre llis=1:no-fast-pskip=1 -v </Query>
</Preset>
<Preset>
<Level>0</Level>
<Name>PS3 - Movie 5.1</Name>
<Query> -f mp4 --decomb -p --detelecine -e x264 -q 0.64 -a 1 -E faac -B 384 -R 48 -6 6ch -D 1 -U -F -x level=41:me=umh:ref=3:mixed-refs=1:bframes=6:direct=auto:weightb=1:b-pyramid=1:subq=9:analyse=all:8x8dct=1:tre llis=1:no-fast-pskip=1 -v </Query>
</Preset>

The only thing you need to watch for is if it's a really long movie and gets over 4GB you may need to drop the video quality from 0.64 to 0.62.


Here's a zip file with the install for Handbrake 0.9.3 and the preset file. Assuming you're using windows that is.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13796619/Handbrake-093.zip

And of course my usual beg for drop box referrals to get me more space. :D http://db.tt/4DenbNp

None of that really makes any sense to me. It looks nothing like the .plist I downloaded. Would it be possible for you to make screenshots of the settings within the app? That would likely make much more sense to me.

EDIT - I really need to type faster. I'll check out your download there before we resort to screenshots. I've been using 0.9.5, which might be the source of the problem I'm having with the .plist I downloaded, since it should be for a pre-0.9.4 version of Handbrake.

Yea, they changed a LOT of things in 0.9.4, and I haven't managed to find a set of settings I like yet. I'll eventually get around to it, but until then this preset has given me great audio and video on the PS3. Not comparable to Blu-ray, but no one so far has seen a difference between the files and original DVD's.

Woah, either this version of Handbrake is very un-optimized or the settings are very intensive. A movie that was projected to take 2-3 hours to encode in 0.9.5 is projected to take more than a day to encode in 0.9.3. I guess I'll report back my results sometime tomorrow or Monday.

Very intensive settings. I went for a longer encode time resulting in higher quality. They don't give you that option in 0.9.4 which is one of the reasons I couldn't find the settings I liked in it.

That "longer encode time" is an understatement. The ETA seems to have settled out around 75 hours to complete a 3 hour movie (bear in mind I am doing this on a machine that is not that great). Couldn't the quality be achieved by simply using multi-pass encoding instead of an intense single pass?

EDIT - After freeing up some resources (I forgot I had my PlayOn and PS3 Media servers running), the ETA did drop to about 55 hours. Better, but still not great.

Wow, that is a long time. Ok lets cut down some advanced settings and see what we can get it down to. After loading the profile go into the advanced tab and uncheck "No Fast-P-Skip" and set the Trellis to 0. Also uncheck "8x8 DCT". Let me know what it's down to after that, it should help significantly.

Also if it's a 3 hour movie, drop the constant quality down from 64% to 62% to keep it under 4GB so it'll play on the PS3.

The ETA still hasn't quite settled, but it's already much better. It's currently in the 10-12 hour range, while originally it bypassed that completely and went straight up from 22 hours.

I use Handbrake regularly. FWIW, I rip to MKV so I can include multiple audio/subtitle streams, which I don't think is possible with MP4 files.

I don't know anything about PS3s, but I encode at constant quality, RF:19. I was dissatisfied with the default RF:20, though I might be fooling myself. Are you encoding HD content? According to the Handbrake website/wiki, RF:20+/-1 is good for DVD-quality video, RF:22+/-1 for HD content.

I'd stick to the newer versions of Handbrake, unless you're somehow using current x264 encoders with older Handbrake versions.

The PS3 has a fairly limited ability to play file formats and the general consensus seems to be MP4 is the best for the job. Since I don't care for or need multiple audio streams or subtitles, it seems good enough for me. I'm not even sure the PS3 can do MKVs anyway.

Zooooom! That was the sound of everything you just said going right over my head ;). Like I said, I've never used Handbrake or pretty much an other encoder/ripper before. I don't see anything that resembles the settings you are talking about in the 0.9.3 version I'm currently using. These are standard DVDs, not Blu-Rays or other HD content in any way.

I'd love to use the latest version of Handbrake (assuming that it will produce better results), the problem is, they dropped preset support for the PS3 a couple versions back and I don't know enough about Handbrake or the PS3's file requirements to wing it on my own (hence this post).

PS3's can't handle mkv's natively (I know it's just a container, but I don't write the PS3 software) so it'll have to go through another application in order to be played.

Also the reason I don't like the newer versions of Handbrake is that they dumbed it down quite a bit, and assumed that people didn't understand the previous settings or weren't willing to use them. I remember seeing a post by one of the devs flat out saying that they didn't think enough people were willing to use all the settings so they removed the option to change them.