1/6/2016 STOPUSINGH264RIGHTNOW!
|YanD,Ericolon:RandomFudgeups
YanD,Ericolon:RandomFudge
ups
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STOPUSINGH264RIGHTNOW!
YanD/February28,2015
(UPDATE:useMP4containerandthemostcurrent
versionofhandbrake(0.10.1)andstockvlc(2.2.1)
insteadofwhateverIrecommended,thecurrentversion
ofvlcandhandbrakeworksjustfinewithh265mp4
video)
Ijustdidmyfirstencodeinx265,theencoderforH.265/HEVC.Iamhappyto
announcethatasof2:54PMGMT+8,h264isDEADtome(atleastforHDvideo).It
wasa2hourscifiactionfilmat1080p24fps,encodedusinghandbrake0.10.0withthe
followingsettings:MKVContainer(becausethemp4containerdoesntplaybackinthe
h265buildofvlcbylibdeh265(win/mac)(getthe64bitversion,the32bitdoesnt
work)(ignore,seeupdateabovegetvlcHEREinstead)Video:Codecx265,Framerate
Sameassource,ConstantFramerate,ConstantQuality28RF,x265PresetUltrafast
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1/6/2016 STOPUSINGH264RIGHTNOW!|YanD,Ericolon:RandomFudgeups
Audio:HEAAC,Bitrate96,DolbyProLogicIImixdown.Onmyi54670processor,
x264atthesamesettingsencodes3timesfaster,ataround90fpswhilethex265
encodedasaround30fpsaverage.However,whatsurprisedmewasthatafterthe90or
sominutesencodingthex265encode,theresultingfilehadYIFYcomparable1080p
qualitybuthadonlyafilesizeof806mb.Itsx264equivalentencodetook1/3rdthetime
butalsoresultedina2.23gbfile.Heressomescreens:
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1/6/2016 STOPUSINGH264RIGHTNOW!|YanD,Ericolon:RandomFudgeups
Illbethefirsttoadmitthatthequalityisfarfromperfect,but1)itslessnoticeable
whenthevideoisinmotionand2)Imeancomeon,thisislessthan1mbpsofvideo
encodedataspeedof30framespersecond!Besides,imaginehowmuchbetterthe
qualitywouldbeifthesliderwassimplymovedtothepositionofsay23.Imguessing
thatusinghighcompressionwillfurtherreducethefilesizeby40%,althoughprolonging
theencodetimebyafactorof10xorsomething.Turnsout,encodingspeedisanone
issue.Anybodydoingvideothingsatall,YOUHAVENOEXCUSENOW,
SERIOUSLY!So,asaninexperiencedx265encoder,Imheretooffersome
uneducatedguessatinstructionsonhowtoencodeh265videoinhandbrake.
1.InstallVLCandHandbrake,thenopenHandbrake,ImportVideobydraggingintothe
windoworselectingviathebuttonSource,File
2.SelectmkvMP4ascontainer.Thisissueprobablydoesntaffectothervideoplayers,
butthelibdeh265buildofvlcdoesnotplaybackh265mp4filesproperly(nonissuefor
newestversionofstockvlc).
3.Adjustthevideooutputwidthifnecessary.Asforcropping,ifthesourcevideohas
noblackbarsbutthenumbersinthetop,left,right,bottomfieldsareanynumberother
thanzero,itsaproblemwiththesoftwaresautodetection.selectthecustomoption
andeditthenumbertozero.
4.ClicktheVideotab.
5.SelectH.265(x265)asthevideocodec.
6.Frameratefpssameassource,oranynumberfrom23.976to60dependingonthe
framerateofyoursourcematerial,Idrecommendconstantframeratebecauseitgives
thebestquality.
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7.Forqualitysettings,ifyouremakingYIFYstyleencodes,aqualityof28is
recommended.Ifyouwanthighqualitypreservationthennudgethatconstantquality
slidertoanRFof23forapleasantviewingexperience,orto15ifyoureallyneedthe
detail.Ruleofthumbisforthesamedetail,h265cutsthebandwidthbythreequarters
comparedtoh264.
8.UnchecktheUseAdvancedTabinsteadcheckbox.selectx264PresetUltrafastif
yourenotsurehowfastyourCPUis.Peoplewithhigherendhardwareareadvisednot
topushthepresetbeyondMedium,assumingyoudontwanttowaitforever.edit:Itis
possibletocrankituptotheVerySlowpresetwhichyieldedRF23qualityat1000kbps
inmytestencodeofa1080pvideo,butexpect3hoursper10minutesifyoureona
desktopi54670orbetter,and2hoursper10minutesifyoureonadesktopi74xxxor
better(roughestimate,Idontactuallyownani7).
9.x265Tune:None
10.H.265Profile:None
11.MovetoAudiotab.
12.Switchtotheaudiotab.Ifthegreyboxisemptyandyourvideoissupposedto
haveaudio,clickaddtrack.Ifyourvideocontainsmultipleaudiotracksandyouwant
toaddaspecificoneofyourchoice,clickaddtrackforanewtrack,andthenclickthe
onthelistboxbesidesource,inthetrackyouaddedandselectfromthelist.
13.ForAudioCodec,use64128kbpsHEAAC(FDK)ifyouredoingaYIFYstyle
encode,oruseAAC(FDK)at320kbpsforhighquality,andmaxitoutto448kbpsifyou
needthedetail.Donotuseabitratehigherthanthatofyoursource.
14.Ifyouwanttohavesurroundsound,changethemixdowntothenumberofchannels
inthesourceaudiotrack,howeverkeepinmindthereisnopointinincreasingthe
amountofaudiochannelsbeyondwhatisinthesource.KeepinmindthatDolbyPro
Logicretainssomesurroundsoundwhenmixingdowntostereotracks.
15.Subtitles.Additthesamewayyouaddaudio.ForeignAudioScanscansfor
specialsubtitles.DeselectBurnInunlessyoureevil.
16.Chaptermarkers.Ifyoursourcehasthem,checkthecheckbox.
17.MakesurenothingsintheAdvancedtab,thenclickaddtoqueueifsomethingelse
isencoding,orclickStartdirectly.
18.Wait.
19.Onceyouredoneencoding,dontcloseHandbrake.Reviewthetheresultsusing
thelibdeh265buildofVLC.ifyouliketheresultsandthinkyoumightwanttodoa
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