My Hi Res PB handbrake presets, downloadable, with a sample video.

This was just posted in another thread but the title of that thread will not lead everyone to know there is downloadable presets here for the taking. So not to bomb the board but here it is.

OK, I just did up a very nice video using the native res of the playbook and a bit rate average of 5000. Its amazing. 5000 is enough to have it look amazing on the playbook without using up too much space. It's killer. I'll save a pre set and share after supper. I made it from a 720p .mkv file I came across. it was at an average bit rate of about 6500 but since we are changing the resolution (used 1024x416 to keep aspect perfect) I thought dropping to 5000 was ok too.

here is a link to the sample: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32425604/SAMPLE.m4v

Here is the preset, made on a mac but it should work on any system with handbrake: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32425604/PB1...6%405000.plist

And here is a preset at the same resolution but at a bit rate of only 1500, good for lower quality stuff, streaming from a hosting place or for when you want smaller files. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32425604/PB1...6%401500.plist

Here is a sample of the lower bit rate pre set: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32425604/SAMPLE1500.m4v

Depending on the video source used, you should check the picture settings tab in handbrake. You want to click keep aspect ratio and set the width to 1024. This will maximize the video for the playbook screen. You can always set the width to 1280 (for true 720p) or even 1920 (for true 1080p) but this is only useful if you are going to output to an external screen as the play books native resolution is 1024x600 and using higher res only makes it work harder and waste your battery. Just my 2 cents.

Also these files have dual audio as default, Pro Logic II AAC @ 320, and MP3 stereo @ 160.

I'll post a third preset for lower res stuff in a little while, but i will do it tonight. :)

1024*576 is the correct resolution to use if you want to keep the same 16:9 aspect ratio on the Playbook. I like Handbrake, but it isn't updated often, there are tons of other great converters with better image quality and compression handling.

I would say the best video converter out there is Freemake video converter. It's free, has great codec support, VERY easy to use, has decoding and encoding hardware acceleration, and super simple presets. They even included a Playbook preset that makes things look amazing!

Originally Posted by CanadianThomas

Here is the preset, made on a mac but it should work on any system with handbrake: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32425604/PB1...6%405000.plist

Thanks for the info - tried to download the presets but got a dropox error. Any chance of checking the link?

Rgrds

Just tried Freemake, works well and is loads faster then handbrake. With the PB setting there is no guessing on the output video size.

Thanks for the tip, but since I stream everything from a Simple Media Server for the Playbook, that I hacked up, storage space is not so much an issue.

What is though, is the limited Codec support, I'm commonly having to take MKVs, re-encode the AC3 track to AAC, and insert the AAC track into the mkv video.

I also have my Stargate collection, I either need to re-encode these, or re-rip them.

Holding out for OS 2 to see if AC3 support is added.

Originally Posted by homer1475

Just tried Freemake, works well and is loads faster then handbrake. With the PB setting there is no guessing on the output video size.

just finished downloading this; i only see a setting for the Torch but not playbook, was the option removed or can i use a different preset?...also when converting do you have to tweak the audio as i have read that certain audio files are not supported on the playbook.

When you choose "to Blackberry" you get a popup, on that popup click the picture of the device that is shown, you will then get an option for devices. The playbook is the last one listed. The playbook option converts the video to mp4 and the audio to AAC. No guessing involved.

Originally Posted by homer1475

Just tried Freemake, works well and is loads faster then handbrake. With the PB setting there is no guessing on the output video size.

Freemake has PB preset setting? Sold.

Any other converters have PB presets?

anyone got a place to share your movies, etc?

Originally Posted by sushistew

anyone got a place to share your movies, etc?

megaupload.com :D

Originally Posted by rickster21

megaupload.com :D

yes i know sorry i was trying to be lazy:D

anyone converting and posting where we can download besides megaupload, maybe something more forum like or whatever is for lazy people?

i am also going to be downloading and converting my own soon, handbrake and or freemake.

thanks everyone

For those of you that haven't yet tried Freemake, I would suggest you don't. I just converted a flick using both Handbrake and Freemake to compare and contrast the Playbook template in Freemake and my own template in Handbrake. I know Handbrake does have a few bugs that probably won't get updated, however, the conversion done by Handbrake, albeit slower, was much better. After watching the Freemake version, I noticed that after about every 3 seconds, there was about a 3-4 frame drop. It was a non-action movie I ripped, yet it looked like the something straight out of the Steven Seagul sped up action scene library. I was very unimpressed. To be sure, I compared the same scene with Handbrake and it was flawless. The source file was flawless as well. The Freemake conversion was extremely annoying and, in my opinion, unacceptable. So, I think I'll be heading back to my trusted, yet buggy, Handbrake to do my converting.

Thanks for the suggestion Freemake suggestion though. :)

Originally Posted by emailthisaddress

For those of you that haven't yet tried Freemake, I would suggest you don't. I just converted a flick using both Handbrake and Freemake to compare and contrast the Playbook template in Freemake and my own template in Handbrake. I know Handbrake does have a few bugs that probably won't get updated, however, the conversion done by Handbrake, albeit slower, was much better. After watching the Freemake version, I noticed that after about every 3 seconds, there was about a 3-4 frame drop. It was a non-action movie I ripped, yet it looked like the something straight out of the Steven Seagul sped up action scene library. I was very unimpressed. To be sure, I compared the same scene with Handbrake and it was flawless. The source file was flawless as well. The Freemake conversion was extremely annoying and, in my opinion, unacceptable. So, I think I'll be heading back to my trusted, yet buggy, Handbrake to do my converting.

Thanks for the suggestion Freemake suggestion though. :)

There is always the option of using a custom setting instead of the Playbook preset. I find it gives better quality to use custom settings with an AVI container.:cool:

One thing you should note about Freemake is that using beta drivers for your CPU or GPU will screw up the video quite a bit. I learned that one a while ago when using the Battlefield 3 beta drivers for my nVidia graphics card. If your not using the beta drivers, make sure the ones you are using are up to date.

I also think the entire preset library has been changed in the latest version of the software, this may affect the video quality too.

The last thing that could affect your video would be the hardware acceleration. If you use an older, slower computer for converting, Freemake may give worse results. I guess you could try turning off the hardware acceleration from the options.

Hope I could help :D

the links in the OP aren't working for me. Has anyone been able to download the .plist files?

I've just downloaded Freemake today based on this thread. Have had no problems with it so far, have converted a couple of videos and dvd's using the preset for Playbook and think the result is superb. :)

I tried many encoders and none of them could handle 1080i streams (OTA HD television). I used Handbrake and it was the only one that could convert it to M4A format. Just my �2.

Never heard of the M4A format until now, what requires it?
I see that Freemake supports it, but after looking through all the settings I can only come to the conclusion that Freemake can only read it not write it.

Originally Posted by TheScionicMan

the links in the OP aren't working for me. Has anyone been able to download the .plist files?

Links are DOA unless OP reups.

OK I somehow managed to download via google search and reupped them.

CREDIT TO OP.

https://rapidshare.com/files/1217428...416_5000.plist

Those settings work well. I have found that you can lower the video bitrate even more and still get a good picture for the PB. The result is fairly small files.
That is a matter of preference though.

....just getting into this. Are Handbrake and Freemake still the state of the art for video conversion to playbook?

Originally Posted by slalom

....just getting into this. Are Handbrake and Freemake still the state of the art for video conversion to playbook?

i've been using Freemake for abt a month or so,,, ez & works great,,, be sure to do a security scan before install & when converting, be sure to choose playbook from dropdown menu...