“Today we’re looking at two new third-generation tools, the open-source project HandBrake 0.8.5b1 (free, PC/Mac) and Techspansion’s VisualHub 1.23 ($23, Mac), both designed to create 320×240, 640×480, and even Apple TV-ready video files,” Jeremy Horwitz reports for iLounge.
Horwitz reports, “As we note in all articles dealing with the creation of iPod-formatted videos, the copyright laws of your country may limit your right to transcode DVDs or other copyright-protected content into other formats; consult your local laws before using any program capable of removing copyright encryption.”
Horwitz reports, “With that disclaimer out of the way, it’s worth noting that HandBrake and VisualHub are both designed to transform movies into Apple-compliant video formats, but they take different approaches to copyright protection: VisualHub converts only unprotected files, transforming content you’ve created with a digital camera or downloaded from the Internet into iPod-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-ready formats. HandBrake, by comparison, is an end-to-end solution for converting even protected DVDs into one of these formats.”
Horwitz reports, “HandBrake’s main selling points are its simplicity, efficiency, and pricing. With the program running, you insert a DVD into your computer’s DVD drive, watch as HandBrake identifies the disc, then you select it and hit ‘open,’ pick the preset for your device, and hit Start. No other work is required…”
Full article here.
MediaFork is more reliable for me. I believe HB and MF are merging. The non-beta software should be interesting.
Not so much merging, they’re the same thing.
HB became MF. Now it’s back to HB.
Why is it still illegal to convert DVD into iPod based Video and others?
I thought it was legal since I own DVD and I was able to convert them but I learned that Apple doesn’t support Handbrake and other company similiar Handbrake?
Illegal…
It’s illegal to break the encryption on a DVD in the USA, but the fair-use doctrine allows you to make a back up, so it’s a tricky legal issue in the US of A. At least this is what I’ve always read.
What, because technology changes I must buy the same move over and over again in multiple formats? This is what the studio’s of course want, but that is an absolute racket in the highest order.
Just becuase new technology comes out to view entertainment on, I’m not leaving my legacy physical media behind, thus handbreak is the perfect solution to keep the content you purchased with you and relevant for years to come.
“consult your local laws before using any program capable of removing copyright encryption”
Yeah I’ll get right on that.
Media companies have lawmakers in their back pocket, a bastardization of democracy, where you pay to run a mafia like racket to collect more money for the same products every time there’s a shift in technology.
It should be illegal, but when people with money write the laws, they call the shots.
But consumers are not stupid, and laws or no laws, if you try to force us to continually pay for something we’ve already paid you for and own, we’ll revolt and work around the law.
“What, because technology changes I must buy the same move over and over again in multiple formats?”
Like going from Live Music > Wax Cylinders > LPs > 8 Tracks > Cassettes > CDs > MP3s > AAC…
Let’s break the cycle.
Media companies argue that the material you buy from them is licensed only. That is you buy the right to use the material in the container provided.
I understand that they want to protect their material and given the wholesale trading of music on pirate networks I don’t blame them. However limiting the use of material you have legitimately have paid for sucks.
In the end providing easy to use digital files that are cost effective will be the best way to beat the pirates. Make it a no-brainer for customers to buy movies, songs etc online and the majority will be willing to pay for it or rent it if the price is reasonable.
I miss the 8-track. Driving down the road, hit a bump, new song.
Miss those days…
I’ve been using the new HB for a few DVD’s and it works great! I had two DVD’s that I own that would not rip with the current mediafork but ripped fine with the new HB.
I like the new apple tv preset, but I’m wondering why they chose to not have 2 pass encoding added, I’m guessing its because it rips much faster without it.
I’m ripping a DVD right now with 2 pass checked and its taken nearly four hours.
Does anyone know if there is a big benefit to using the 2 pass?
Brown.Recluse
While Handbrake is simpler to use, I have had better results with VisualHub.
Maybe this new version of HB will solve the problems I had trying to put “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” on my son’s iPod.
BR
Try the boards a isquint.org. There is a good explanation in there somewhere, I just couldn’t find it right off.
@Gow: except “Fair Use” is not some clearly defined set of rights ensconced in law, and unfortunately in America the Digital Millenium Copyright Act is. Do a little research if you are unfamiliar with this draconian measure that has basically (at least until challenged in a high court) taken away many of your “rights” – by which I mean, really, things that were either gray area, turned a blind eye to, assumed, tolerated, or had been previously supported or upheld in court decisions over the years.
Things like the right to make a backup. Things like the right to time-shift or media-shift content for your own convenience. Things that seem perfectly logical because they only involve you doing things for yourself, not to modify or profit from someone else’s content.
However, the DMCA basically says you have no rights whatsoever to the content you license, and criminalizes things like decrypting content without permission.
Would this be how I can get The Matrix Trilogy over to my iPhone at a decent quality?
“Why is it still illegal to convert DVD into iPod based Video and others?”
It is illegal because when you buy a DVD, you own two things, a $.50 disc, and a license to play the movie from that disc. When you purchase that DVD, you are essentially agrreing to the terms of the license.
The problem that I see with that license is that I don’t believe it to be a legally binding contract. In order for a contract to be deemed legal, it must be equitable to both parties (within reason).
While it may go against the license agreement to put the movie on your iPod, you will never see lawsuits over that issue, because there is no damage. For instance, how could Fox claim damages from me ripping a Star Wars DVD and playing it in my iPod, when I have purchased the movie on VHS, on VHS as a special edition and on DVD. If you upload it to BitTorrent, then you will see the lawyers attack.
Handbrake is great! Too bad MactheRipper is fading into the sunset.
MacTheRipper is fading? Since when? It’s still in development and gets updated just as fast as Sony puts out now forms of protection.
I’ve had this HB release crash on me 3 times now…. going back to MF.
Buster…MTR 3.0 R14 ROCKS! 2.66 is fading… Sony has pretty much killed it. But I have no problems with 3.0 R14. Hitup Geezerbutt for the donation link… it is worth the price.
That said above, I have not tried the new handbrake, so I am not sure how it handles Sony discs like Casino Royale.
I like to rip the movie with MTR to hard drive then use whatever the last version of HB is. No lag time waiting for DVD media.
MacPro dual quad rips at 180 FPS… less then an hour to do a 2 pass encode 3000 kbps video, 320 AAC audio 2 hour movie. Life is good.
The Dude abides.
Oh man, I still get the titties at MDN. Now it’s eHard Bodies.
My favourite things: titties, Macs and bigotry rolled into one supersaturated blowout bonanza.
I’d have an orgasm if I could just stop clicking “refresh” at MDN…
Well! Look who’s back-it’s not me at 7:20
@TT
Do you ever feel that you have a secret admirer ?
“….Like going from Live Music > Wax Cylinders > LPs > 8 Tracks > Cassettes > CDs > MP3s > AAC…….”
Chrissy, you forgot about reel to reel !!
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“Do you ever feel that you have a secret admirer ?”
That is so gay…….
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“forgot about reel to reel”
did you ever hear of Sony’s ‘Elcaset’?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elcaset
forerunner of the Beta (in success)
oh yeah, I remember those, TT …
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and I also seem to recall something called DAT..
That went over like a fart in a spacesuit, huh ?
I still hear of DAT players being used. I don’t know why. Won’t update to ADAT, I guess.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item–i-AMP-467R094P.html
refills are available
The Dude-
Nice performance on your MacPro. My PowerMac 2 CPU (2.7 Ghz) only does around 19 fps and takes almost four hours to do a 2-pass at 3000 kbps video, 160 AAC audio 2 hour movie. And it sounds like a vacum cleaner in the process. Argghhh!
hmm. 19fps is not so good- I’m averaging 28fps on a macbook, 1200kbs h264, 160 AAC, 2 pass. It does howl though. I have to think something is not quite right with the G5. Our G4 MDD 867 gets 8fps w/ similar settings- I would expect more than 3X that out of the G5. . .
I also have a 1.25 GHz eMac with a gig of ram… does the same file type in about 3-4 hours. I do not go direct from DVD anymore… I noticed that it is faster to rip the DVDs with MTR first, then do HB.
Recently discovered that you can schedule multiple compression in succession with HM when you already have the DVD ripped! This is great for overnight ripping when a movie would finish at like 3 AM and you are not up to do the next in line… constant progress. I have about 300 more movies to do. Rip about 10 then batch them out.
The Dude abides.
ohh, forgot…. about 16 fps on the eMac listed above. I think something is wrong with your G5… or you are ripping from DVD. Try MTR the disc first and see how that works for you.
The Dude abides.
it is our duty as humans to rip copy burn and save every movie you come into contact with therby archiving and preseving this amazing artistic and historical record for future generations
dont rely on your videostore to do it
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MTR is great for download. DVD2one rocks when it comes to compression. My C2D iMac compressed 6.6 GB to 4.2 GB in 8 minutes. It has DVD burning integrated, too, so once you have those VideoTS files on your hard drive, you’re only ~25 min away from a backup.
hi !!
to : The not Dude
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you sure have something problematic by our setting of HB!
I have a 1,25GHz G4 Ibook, and i get it turning near of 25 fps
– no other process
– 2 pass encoding
– ffmpeg codec to .avi
– 2 acc tracks
– subtitles
i can’t guess what 🙁
I wonder, as Brown.recluse, if a 2 pass encoding offers a real advantage … Any opinion ?
I forgot to add that i’m always riping from my HD, to keep my iBook Dvd reader away from this heavy duty task !
I’ve always felt that handbrake was messy and confusing. That and the crashes. I have MTR 3.0 R14d and there has not been a single DVD it cannot rip. Then I use VisualHub to convert, but, sadly, I have a PowerBook so it takes quite a while. There are few movies I actually put into iTunes though. Mostly I rip the main feature then use Popcorn 2 to compress to single layer DVD. I suppose if I had an AppleTV that would be different.
“0.8.5”…
I am really losing my patience with software that is eternally in “pre-release”. S**t or get off the pot. If you can’t release a version deserving of “1.0”, you have no business being a software developer.
LordRobin,
HB is open source, all volunteer work. The software is free. They are risking prosecution with no compensation just to help you with fair use. Give them a break.
Regarding 2 pass encoding:
2 pass gives a less artifacted (pixelated) image than single pass. It is only really noticeable when the image is really moving. Could see the difference on Riverdance (blazing feet!), but not on The Pink Panther cartoons. And it takes twice as long …
I’ve had a problem with converted ripped and compressed DVDs into H264. Anyone got any ideas for a workaround?
When using the H.264 Video codec in HandBrake 2 pass encoding is very time consuming and does not improve the quality any, as far as I can see.
I just ripped my copy of The Departed both ways and played them side by each and saw no difference.
I have no problems with the H.264 codec as used by HandBrake. It is at least twice as good, quality wise, as HandBrake’s MPEG-4 Video codec and the file size is smaller.
I think I remember something about h.264 being better at small file sizes… like ripping for the iPod. But when you are compressing at 3000K there is a lot of data there I guess… the h.264 is not a great deal different… I wish I remember where I read that. But I did the “Pepsi Challenge” too… I do not do h.264 due to no noticeable (to me at least) difference and it takes a LOT longer to compress.
@Faabb
Our settings may be a little different… and each machine even at same processor speed will vary slightly. Implementation and drivers for devices also vary in products. But I rip as said before at 3000 kbps, 320 AAC audio, 2 pass, but I also do MP4 file type because I have had issues with iTunes playing the movies from AVI file types… FFmpeg encoder, FPS same as source, no subtitles and no second language. I also run iTunes 24/7, and the Safari may also be open sometimes.
-The Dude abides.
JrTzqpWallace-you must find velcro confusing and messy also.
I have been using handbrake for around 1 year-ripped over 100 videos from DVD-not a single “crash”.
Great program.
The DVD-to-MPEG is a powerful, convenient, and high-efficient software to convert DVD to MPEG1 or MPEG2. It is easy to use, fast in speed, excellent in quality and reasonable in price. And the publisher offers excellent after service that ensures the convenience and joy for all users in using the software. The most important thing is that its super easy use is beyond your imagination.
http://www.mobile-video-converter.com/mpeg-to-mobile