[kwlug-disc] OT: Sensible Transcode/Handbrake settings for Blu-ray files

[CrankyOldBugger]

I've been having good luck lately (after a long time trying to figure out
what I was doing wrong) with handbrakeCLI.  However, I'm not ripping, I'm
taking already-made mp4s, adding subtitles and creating mkvs.  So your
mileage may vary.  But if you can figure out the command-line parameters
then you can set-it-and-forget-it and get your desktop back.

What I really like about the CLI version is that I can make up a big script
that will handle dozens of movies in sequence.  I just let it roll
overnight.

But..  45 gig is indeed too big for a Blu-ray.  I've got 4k rips that are
less than half that size.

One thing I noticed when looking at handbrake forums is that it's better to
use presets (try to use the presets, or better yet, make your own) and that
setting your bitrate to Constant Quality is supposed to be better for file
sizes than any variable bitrate quality.  Suggested is Constant Quality of
22-23 for Bluray and 18-19 for DVD.

Now those of you with sensitive ears might want to look away now... but if
you have a legit copy of a movie, you could try to download a orrent that
has a nice file size.  "From what I hear", there's a popular guy name YIFY
who does just that.  I believe his website is at yts.ag, but be prepared
for popups.  Of course, I would know nothing about this torrent stuff, but
I hear that he is an expert at making good resolution rips at low file
sizes.  Now if you happen to find an explanation of _how_ he does this
somewhere on the web, then please do share with the group.


On Fri, 5 Jan 2018 at 09:29 Charles M <chaslinux at gmail.com> wrote:

> Good chilly morning KWLUG! I've been ripping DVDs and Blu-ray discs
> for several years now for use on the KODI server attached to our
> living room TV and shared with a couple of Android boxes in other
> rooms. During that time I've been battling with storage problems. DVDs
> are not so much of an issue, the file sizes are small, and the quality
> is acceptable for the medium. Blu-ray files are the real problem. I
> use MakeMKV on Linux (licensed user, was worth it) to rip Blu-rays.
> MakeMKV is great, but the resulting Blu-ray files are sometimes very
> large (45GB).
>
> I started re-encoding a file once with Handbrake, but stopped once I
> realized it was going to take over an hour to re-encode it on my
> A8-5600k (16GB, NVidia GeForce 650Ti). Part of the reason I stopped it
> was because I had no idea if:
>
> * The video would retain a decent amount of detail (can you still see
> details in the face/eyes)
> * The size would be much different? Blu-rays are already highly compact
> AFAIK
> * Would the subtitles still be in the resulting file? (subtitles are
> important for me)
>
> My solution up to this point has just been to throw more storage at
> the problem. At first it was adding a 3TB drive to the existing 2TB
> drive, then another 3TB drive, before finally breaking down and buying
> an 8TB drive. At the moment I'm just using the 8TB drive, with the 2,
> 3, and 3 as external backup drives. I'm embarrassed to say I'm running
> out of space on the 8TB drive (I blame Game of Thrones).
>
> Ideally wondering if someone has a script to batch process files using
> ffmpeg or transcode with reasonable settings for quality?
>
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