Advice about Handbrake, please

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Advice about Handbrake, please

geekIT

2419 posts

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#214920 2-Jun-2017 19:25

A week or so back, I asked a question about an MKV movie file that had no audio when played on TV through my Western Digital TV Live media player.

Several helpful people (Athlonite and robjg63) suggested I re-encode the audio (which is apparently AC3) with Handbrake.

I downloaded and installed the latest Handbrake, then pointed it at the offending MKV.

But now I'm baffled as to the options I need to select.

It's very likely quite simple for anyone familiar with the software, but I'm headscratching.

And, unfortunately, the Handbrake forum hasn't been forthcoming with advice.

Help, please :-)

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

rb99

3423 posts

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#1793937 2-Jun-2017 19:49

Don't know much about this really, but have read that if you want to fiddle around with audio tracks while not touching the video, Handbrake isn't the best thing to use as Handbrake can't really resist fiddling with the video at the same time.

Might be worth having a go with Avidemux which is free stuff for editing videos https://www.videohelp.com/software/AviDemux got it off this https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/364610-Converting-the-audio-in-an-mkv-without-re-encoding-the-video thread.

It suggests other programs as well, just mentioned Avidemux as that's the only one I've ever used before. Apparently tell it to copy the video (as is) but change the audio format.

Guess this doesn't help much, but you might be lucky with a bit of experimentation (while making sure you keep a copy of the original of course).

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

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#1793952 2-Jun-2017 20:12

i didn't know handbrake can re-encode audio?

robjg63

4098 posts

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Subscriber

#1793976 2-Jun-2017 21:09

Yes - it can re-encode audio.

I seem to recall you open the file, then click the Audio tab.

You should see the soundtrack bit - should show as AC3 if thats what it currently is.

Just click the codec dropdown and change it to something else - perhaps mp3.

There are settings on the main tab to choose the output container mp4/mkv - maybe have a fiddle with that.

Then just hide 'start encode' - should create a new file for you.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

aumouth

73 posts

Master Geek

#1793994 2-Jun-2017 21:50

Toggle the Preset, and choose 'Fast 720p30'. Choose your source file, set the destination, and click Start :)

geekIT

2419 posts

Uber Geek

#1794032 2-Jun-2017 23:12

Thanks, guys. The things that puzzle me are:

1) The file is an MKV movie. Do I need to output to MKV or MP4? Both options are noted as available.

2) Picture Tab - Default preset is 'Fast 1080p30'. There are many options including Fast720p30, mentioned by aumouth.

3) Audio Tab
Shows five selector boxes plus two bolded words in the below sequence, beginning at left. I assume the box values result from the default preset of Fast1080p30? These are:
Box 1) 1 English (EAC3) (5.1 ch) (no options)
Word - Codec
Box 2) AAC (avocodec) (10 options here including MP3, AC3, and a bunch ending with 'passthru')
Box 3) Bitrate ('Quality' is only other option)
Box 4) 160 (13 options ranging from 64 to 512)
Word - Mixdown
Box 5) Dolby Pro Logic II
Options:
Mono
Stereo
Dolby Surround
5.1 Channels

Do these defaults look OK?

Thanks for helping :-)

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#1794047 2-Jun-2017 23:42

1) The file is an MKV movie. Do I need to output to MKV or MP4? Both options are noted as available.

whichever you prefer. It's just a container.

2) Picture Tab - Default preset is 'Fast 1080p30'. There are many options including Fast720p30, mentioned by aumouth.

3) Audio Tab
Shows five selector boxes plus two bolded words in the below sequence, beginning at left. I assume the box values result from the default preset of Fast1080p30? These are:
Box 1) 1 English (EAC3) (5.1 ch) (no options)
Word - Codec
Box 2) AAC (avocodec) (10 options here including MP3, AC3, and a bunch ending with 'passthru')
Box 3) Bitrate ('Quality' is only other option)
Box 4) 160 (13 options ranging from 64 to 512)
Word - Mixdown
Box 5) Dolby Pro Logic II
Options:
Mono
Stereo
Dolby Surround
5.1 Channels

Do these defaults look OK?

Thanks for helping :-)

you only really need to worry about these three dropdown boxes. Select the options you want . . . probably something like aac, 160, stereo

robjg63

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#1794088 3-Jun-2017 10:13

You may actually find that just opening the file and saving it in a different container (in this case MP4) may actually make it work on your media player without changing the codec. Worked once for me on a problem file.

But changing the audio stream to something common like MP3 will be more likely to fix it for you.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

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geekIT

2419 posts

Uber Geek

#1794164 3-Jun-2017 11:19

Thanks very much, guys. I'll try those settings now.

Farcus, can you tell me which version of Handbrake produced your image? I'm just curious - it's slightly different to the 1.0.7 version I got yesterday.

Later: OK, just started the re-encode, it's forecasting about 20minutes.

One thing I forgot to mention - the file has built-in English subtitles. I guess these are 'hard-coded'?

I looked at the Subtitle tab before I said 'Go' and the first box showed: 'Foreign Audio Scan' with checks against 'Forced only' and 'Burn In'. 'Default' was unchecked.

There were two options to 'Foreign Audio Scan' - '1 English (UTF8)' and '2 English (UTF8)'.

Anything there that I should have changed?

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

farcus

1554 posts

Uber Geek

#1794196 3-Jun-2017 13:18

geekIT:

Thanks very much, guys. I'll try those settings now.

Farcus, can you tell me which version of Handbrake produced your image? I'm just curious - it's slightly different to the 1.0.7 version I got yesterday.

Later: OK, just started the re-encode, it's forecasting about 20minutes.

One thing I forgot to mention - the file has built-in English subtitles. I guess these are 'hard-coded'?

I looked at the Subtitle tab before I said 'Go' and the first box showed: 'Foreign Audio Scan' with checks against 'Forced only' and 'Burn In'. 'Default' was unchecked.

There were two options to 'Foreign Audio Scan' - '1 English (UTF8)' and '2 English (UTF8)'.

Anything there that I should have changed?

I'm also using 1.0.7 but on linux which would account for the visual difference.

If your subtitles aren't hard coded you'll need to use mkv instead of mp4. If they are hard coded then either is fine.

if the subtitles are harcoded then ignore the subtitle tab - there's nothing you can do there that will change anything - it's only for seperate subtitle files (or those included in the mkv container).

to be honest, I've never used handbrake when including subtitles. I have always just encoded the file with handbrake then added in the subtitles later using mkvtoolnix

geekIT

2419 posts

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#1794287 3-Jun-2017 17:55

Thanks, Farcus.

Heads-up: Handbrake finished the job without reporting errors. However, the original 2.2GB MKV file had been reduced to 650MB. And the sound still didn't work.

I finally got a reply from the Handbrake Forum in response to my query about how I could re-encode just the audio section of a movie file, and Woodstock said:

"You can't. Handbrake is a VIDEO encoder, that also works with the audio. It will always re-encode the video. There are other programs that will "just" do the audio. ffmpeg is one that is available for most platforms, but it is "command-line oriented", rather than giving you a graphic user interface."

So I searched some more and followed rb99's links above (post #2) and tried TEncoder. (4.5.10 portable 64bit)

TEncoder did the job perfectly without a glitch. It's very easy to set up and program, and the GUI is easy to follow. It took about 3 mins to do the recode.

And because the subject movie was E1 one of 10, I was able to queue up the other 9 and TEncoder processed the lot in about 30 minutes. Excellent app.

Also suggested was Avidemux but TEncoder did such a good job I didn't bother to try it.

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey