Safe place to download Handbrake?

Hey all, I’m wanting to download Handbrake for subtitle editing. But I don’t want bad stuff on my computer. Any suggestions?

Thanks! 😃

Also, Handbrake will burn subtitles into video, right? I already have the .SRT files and need to get them into the videos before I import into editing. Is this the software I want or do I need something else? Thanks again! 😃

Handbrake’s site is perfectly safe. And yes, you can import SRT files and burn them into the video. Or just mux them in as a subtitle track.

ChainsawAsh said:

Handbrake’s site is perfectly safe. And yes, you can import SRT files and burn them into the video. Or just mux them in as a subtitle track.

Thanks!

ok great I got the subtitles working on handbrake. Is there any loss in image quality? I don’t have any quantitative proof but it seems like the picture on the new file doesn’t pop out as much as the old one, but it could just be my imagination.

Well, Handbrake reencodes the video, so there will be a drop in quality to some degree. How much of a drop depends on your encode settings. If you’re just loading up the file and clicking “start,” you’re gonna end up with a not-super-great encode.

In my experience, find the bitrate of your source file and use a bitrate of about 500kbps higher than that. Use 2-pass encoding, and turn your encoder preset down to a slower setting (the slowest setting you can stand, really). That should give you an output file that’s roughly the same quality as your original.

Oh, and make sure you’ve turned off everything under “filters” and have your framerate/FPS set to whatever the framerate of your source file is. I don’t know how much “constant” versus “variable” framerate matters, but I’ve always checked “constant” and had no problems.

For audio, if you want to keep the same level of quality, it’s actually pretty damn easy. In the audio tab, there’s a drop-down menu labeled “codec” - just choose the “passthru” option that matches the source format (so, for instance, if your source audio is AC3, choose AC3 passthru; if it’s MP3, choose MP3 passthru; if it’s AAC, choose AAC passthru; and so on).

If you don’t know where to find any of this information for your source file, download MediaInfo and use it to open your file - it’ll give you all that information and more.

Thanks ChainsawAsh, that’s nice of you. I will try all those today.

Ok I followed your instructions to a “T” but the playback seems jerky on the new video. I’m going to post the mediainfo report here:

General-
Format: MPEG-4
Format profile: Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID: mp42 (isom/mp42)
File size: 392 MiB
Duration: 1 h 38 min
Overall bit rate mode: Variable
Overall bit rate: 555 kb/s

Video-
ID: 1
Format: AVC
Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec
Format profile: Main@L3.1
Format settings: CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC: Yes
Format settings, RefFrames: 3 frames
Codec ID: avc1
Codec ID/Info: Advanced Video Coding
Duration: 1 h 38 min
Bit rate: 425 kb/s
Width: 1,206 pixels
Height: 720 pixels
Display aspect ration: 5:3
Frame rate mode: Variable
Frame rate: 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Minimum frame rate: 23.974 FPS
Maximum frame rate: 23.981 FPS
Color space: YUV
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0
Bit depth: 8 bits
Scan type: Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.020
Stream size: 300 MiB (77%)
Color rang: Limited
Color primaries: BT.709
Transfer characteristics: BT.709
Matrix coefficients: BT.709

Audio-
ID: 2
Format: AAC
Format/Info: Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile: LC
Codec ID: mp4a-40-2
Duration: 1 h 38 min
Source duration: 1 h 38 min
Bit rate mode: Variable
Bit rate: 126 kb/s
Channel(s): 2 channels
Channel positions: Front: L R
Sampling rate: 44.1 kHz
Frame rate: 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode: Lossy
Stream size: 88.6 MiB (23%)
Source stream size: 88.6 MiB (23%)

I had constant frame rate on the last Handbrake encode but seems like the difference between max and min on the variable framerate source isn’t that much different so is it the problem? Or no deinterlacing / decombing? Just trying to minimize as much loss as possible since this is a slow very visual dramatic film.

I guess there is some jerk in the source file I’m using (I’m sure has some loss on it too) but feels like a bit more on the Handbrake encode. There is a lot of camera movement in the film, not just rotating but actual camera movement on a dolly or tracks or whatever where the jerk becomes distracting. I think there’s also a depth disparity issue between foreground and background objects that are out of focus, but maybe I’m just being fussy. The source picture has better detail but the encodes I did, sometimes you’ll see background objects that like like impressionist painting, they get real blotchy.

That’s an EXTREMELY low bitrate for 720p video…what was the bitrate of the original source? And the framerate?

In fact, if you could also post the MediaInfo of the source video, that’d be helpful.

Actually that is the source video, I downloaded it + subs from Youtube.

My problem is that I’m trying to edit two movies into a double feature cut. I have the Criteria Collection BluRay of the first movie and it is gorgeous, a true work of art. The second film is likewise but it’s only available on DVD and then upscaled from them. There is a real quality mismatch trying to cut the movies together so I just have to settle for lower quality now, although I’d like to preserve what I can.

Sounds like the source you’re using was converted from 29.97fps to 23.976fps by someone who didn’t really know what they were doing then, which means there’s probably not a lot you can do about it, at least not using Handbrake.

Damn, thanks anyway. What would you recommend? Great looking Criterion Collection Bluray for movie #1 and DVD for Movie #2, how to cut these together?