What Backend/Frontend Encoder Do You Use?

[Damundai]

Just trying to get an idea what everyone out there is using for a backend/frontend encoder after you have ripped your movie to .mkv format.

I am currently running Windows 10 w/ all the latest updates.

I used to use Handbrake but it kept crashing on me every 8 - 10 hours of encoding requiring me to do a complete shutdown and restart. Thought it was a software problem then found a lot of folks having the same problem and with them alot of it was hardware deficiency/inefficiency. With me, I found it was the software.

I recently found another program that gives me the same size output files (nearly... within 100MB or so on a full 2 hr movie) of what Handbrake used to give me but the video quality is SOOOO much better (not blocky or blurry).

I am currently using FFMPEG (latest version) with FastFlix front-end. Easy to use and only took me about an hour to get used to how to setup profiles and such. Does batch conversions as well and quite a bit faster than Handbrake! And I've had it running for over 24 hours so far with no crashing.

Also using Free Video Volume Booster for those movies who's audio is not quite loud enough.

So.... what are you using?

[Ezatoka]

https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/1.3.0/tech ... rmats.html

HandBrake uses FFmpeg under the hood and generally can open whatever FFmpeg will, in addition to disc-based formats like DVD and Blu-ray.

Besides, I'm running Handbrake on Win 10 as well, and never had the problems you mentioned, so I doubt it would be the software causing the problem.

of what Handbrake used to give me but the video quality is SOOOO much better (not blocky or blurry).

Then you just did something wrong with the parameters. Handbrake can at least achieve the same quality than FFMPEG considering it relies on it.

quite a bit faster than Handbrake

Again, parameters. Either quality or any filters used. Can also be depending on if you encode with CPU or GPU as the latter one is quite faster (whereas with GPU the quality still is considered relatively worse than with CPU encodes). Ffmpeg also usually utilizes only one core, whereas Handbrake more than often uses all of my 24 cores for encoding even if only transcoding two videos at the same time.

Handbrake has a forum and a GitHub where one can easily place problems to see, if someone can help with that.

[dcoke22]

I've been using Other Video Transcoding. Like Handbrake and FastFlix, it uses ffmpeg under the hood.

Like Ezatoka, I'm curious if you're using GPU encoding now with FastFlix? Handbrake can do GPU encoding as well, since it is a thing ffmpeg can do.

If you were using CPU encoding before and GPU encoding now, I wonder if it was crashing because your computer was overheating (or running very, very warm) which eventually lead to some instability? Perhaps you've got some fans and/or heatsinks that need to be cleaned.

[stevenm56]

Nube here. Why doesn't the author add a handbrake to mkv so we only need one program. Or did I miss that in one of the faqs?

[Woodstock]

MakeMKV is developed in a different country than handbrake is, so coordination between authors would be difficult at best. Plus, each program has its own unique users. Some use both, most do not.

[drxenos]

Just trying to get an idea what everyone out there is using for a backend/frontend encoder after you have ripped your movie to .mkv format.

I use my own frontend tools (scripting engine and a GUI transcoder). For a backend, it uses HandBrake, ffmpeg, mkvmerge, whatever it needs to get the job done.

I used to use Handbrake but it kept crashing on me every 8 - 10 hours of encoding requiring me to do a complete shutdown and restart. Thought it was a software problem then found a lot of folks having the same problem and with them alot of it was hardware deficiency/inefficiency. With me, I found it was the software.

I rarely had a problem with Handbrake. I've had it running nonstop for about 15 weeks once, transcodering many blu-ray TV shows and movies.

[dcoke22]

I rarely had a problem with Handbrake. I've had it running nonstop for about 15 weeks once, transcodering many blu-ray TV shows and movies.

Nicely done. I've managed to keep ffmpeg busy for 7 or 8 days straight before, but 15 weeks is a high bar!

[drxenos]

Nicely done. I've managed to keep ffmpeg busy for 7 or 8 days straight before, but 15 weeks is a high bar!

Yeah, my daughter laughed at me because my Blu-ray addiction had reached a new high.

[Damundai]

I've been using Other Video Transcoding. Like Handbrake and FastFlix, it uses ffmpeg under the hood.

Like Ezatoka, I'm curious if you're using GPU encoding now with FastFlix? Handbrake can do GPU encoding as well, since it is a thing ffmpeg can do.

If you were using CPU encoding before and GPU encoding now, I wonder if it was crashing because your computer was overheating (or running very, very warm) which eventually lead to some instability? Perhaps you've got some fans and/or heatsinks that need to be cleaned.

Ever since I switched to FastFlix, I haven't had that problem.... found out my rebooting was due to the "active hours" set on my computer and the system would reboot if no mouse movement was detected during off hours, so there's that. Still get better overall quality with FastFlix than Handbrake (out of the box). Never really got into depth with FFMpeg options to try and figure out the difference.

[thetoad]

I don't transcode. storage space is "cheap", my time is not (i.e. say an 8TB Drive is $120, if a movie is 75cents or less to store.

[dcoke22]

I don't transcode. storage space is "cheap", my time is not (i.e. say an 8TB Drive is $120, if a movie is 75cents or less to store.

There are other reasons to transcode. If you want to take some of your collection with you on a phone or tablet or stream it outside your home, doing that with 30GB blu-ray rips is often problematic. Creating a 10-bit h.265 version of a blu-ray rip turns that 30-ish GB file into a 5-ish GB file that is nearly indistinguishable from the source.

And storage is cheap, right up until it isn't. In the USA at least, 18TB enterprise grade drives cost about $300, and 22TB drives are available for about $600. If one's storage needs can be met with a single drive, life is very simple. It costs a modest sum beyond the costs of hard drives if one's storage needs can be met with up to 4 drives. Even 6 drives isn't all the difficult, though not what I'd call cheap. Personally, I am using TrueNAS on a system I've built that holds 12 storage drives. That system is roughly $1000 + the cost of hard drives and is at the moment providing me about 120-ish TB of protected storage (and is doing a bunch of home server tasks).

Digitizing my movie collection has made my life richer in many ways while also making my wallet lighter.

[thetoad]

I don't transcode. storage space is "cheap", my time is not (i.e. say an 8TB Drive is $120, if a movie is 75cents or less to store.

There are other reasons to transcode. If you want to take some of your collection with you on a phone or tablet or stream it outside your home, doing that with 30GB blu-ray rips is often problematic. Creating a 10-bit h.265 version of a blu-ray rip turns that 30-ish GB file into a 5-ish GB file that is nearly indistinguishable from the source.

And storage is cheap, right up until it isn't. In the USA at least, 18TB enterprise grade drives cost about $300, and 22TB drives are available for about $600. If one's storage needs can be met with a single drive, life is very simple. It costs a modest sum beyond the costs of hard drives if one's storage needs can be met with up to 4 drives. Even 6 drives isn't all the difficult, though not what I'd call cheap. Personally, I am using TrueNAS on a system I've built that holds 12 storage drives. That system is roughly $1000 + the cost of hard drives and is at the moment providing me about 120-ish TB of protected storage (and is doing a bunch of home server tasks).

Digitizing my movie collection has made my life richer in many ways while also making my wallet lighter.

i mostly use plex for that.

Yes, that requires being online, but that's generally not been a problem, and if I'm going offline for an extended period of time, I just load up a HD. Also, not all storage has to be kept online at all times.

At the end of the day, the time it sets to set up an encode / validate that everything worked well, can be measured in at least a few minutes (lets say 5-10, 5 to be generous). To me, its just not worth it anymore to encode. as I said, my time is too valuable. I've spent thousands on hard drives over the past 10+ years, but its much less than my time would have cost.

[drxenos]

i mostly use plex for that.

Yes, that requires being online, but that's generally not been a problem, and if I'm going offline for an extended period of time, I just load up a HD. Also, not all storage has to be kept online at all times.

At the end of the day, the time it sets to set up an encode / validate that everything worked well, can be measured in at least a few minutes (lets say 5-10, 5 to be generous). To me, its just not worth it anymore to encode. as I said, my time is too valuable. I've spent thousands on hard drives over the past 10+ years, but its much less than my time would have cost.

If by "online," you mean "connected to the Internet," Plex doesn't require that at all. You only need to be connected if you're accessing your media through the Internet (and given how big your files must be, I assume not).

[thetoad]

i mostly use plex for that.

Yes, that requires being online, but that's generally not been a problem, and if I'm going offline for an extended period of time, I just load up a HD. Also, not all storage has to be kept online at all times.

At the end of the day, the time it sets to set up an encode / validate that everything worked well, can be measured in at least a few minutes (lets say 5-10, 5 to be generous). To me, its just not worth it anymore to encode. as I said, my time is too valuable. I've spent thousands on hard drives over the past 10+ years, but its much less than my time would have cost.

If by "online," you mean "connected to the Internet," Plex doesn't require that at all. You only need to be connected if you're accessing your media through the Internet (and given how big your files must be, I assume not).

online means the storage being "online" ergo attached/available, vs in cold storage. i.e. giving X amount of "online" storage, encoding will allow you to store more and have it be available. However, the cost of the time to do that vs the cost of just paying for more cold (i.e. not online/available) storage is too much, I'd rather just pay for more storage.

if 8TBs cost $120 and that can store 200 movies. Lets say encoding it would make it store 600, but that 600 now takes me 600*5 minutes (or 50 hours). spending $240 (i.e. extra storage cost) to save 50 hours of my time, is well worth it.

[drxenos]

online means the storage being "online" ergo attached/available, vs in cold storage. i.e. giving X amount of "online" storage, encoding will allow you to store more and have it be available. However, the cost of the time to do that vs the cost of just paying for more cold (i.e. not online/available) storage is too much, I'd rather just pay for more storage.

Ah, I get what you're saying now. Dang words with multiple means!