10 ms·

HandBrake 1.2.0 Released

232 points by frereubu 8y ago

lysium 8y ago
I have nothing to say but that I am pleased that such a great software is still in active development. I've just updated! Thank you very much.
bratao 8y ago
Reading the changelog, one entry catch my eye: "Switched core decoding library from Libav to FFmpeg" Do anyone know who won the fight of this fork?
- th0ma5 8y ago
  I don't know anyone "won" but I believe ffmpeg has remerged.
- m45t3r 8y ago
  Considering that mpv[1] recommends FFmpeg I would say FFmpeg won. I say that because mpv is one of the projects that mostly use parts of FFmpeg internals and also one of the first projects to use modern futures (and deprecate older versions too). [1]: https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv#ffmpeg-vs-libav https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv#ffmpeg-vs-libav
  - m-p-3 8y ago
    YouTube-DL also uses FFmpeg to remux or convert data streams when needed too.
  - m45t3r 8y ago
    modern futures -> modern features
- hannob 8y ago
  It's been a while that ffmpeg has effectively "won". A couple of linux distros that used to default to libav have switched back years ago. I'm surprised it took handbrake so long.
- rndgermandude 8y ago
  There is of course no official winner, but as of right now libav essentially withered and mostly died. Maybe the project will become more lively again in the future, but probably not. Of those downstreams who ever switched to libav, most have switched back to ffmpeg, incl Debian and now Handbrake. The development of libav slowed to essentially a halt with next to no activity in their git, and their latest release was 11 months ago, while ffmpeg had two major releases (4.0, 4.1) and numerous point releases in that period. libav, in my humble opinion, also suffered from NIH where they sometimes - with what looked to me like religious zealotry - insisted on doing stuff own their own, while ffmpeg at the same time happily merged tons of changes from libav. This gave ffmpeg, in addition to their brand recognition and associated network effects, yet another advantage. It also didn't help that libav created a lot of bad publicity for themselves, starting with them trying to take over ffmpeg in a hostile manner initially instead of forking, or when their debian packages (maintained by a libav member IIRC) started telling users that ffmpeg is "deprecated". Or when one of their folks sent ffmpeg a "cease and desist" letter claiming copyright of the logo they had been using for quite a while, insisting ffmpeg stop using it. (That's why libav still uses the 2d zigzag logo, while ffmpeg switched to a 3d zigzag one).
  - icelancer 8y ago
    > religious zealotry This describes the entirety of the libav initiative from birth to death. Good riddance.
    - hitekker 8y ago
      Agreed. The maintainers were awful at leadership, and generally seemed like a bunch of venomous folks.
- j1elo 8y ago
  Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) was shipping libav, but since 16.04 (Xenial) it went back to ship ffmpeg instead. So for Ubuntu LTS users at least, FFmpeg had "won" since at least 2016
idlern 8y ago
I like Handbrake but wish it has the functionality of MakeMKV too
- alexgaribay 8y ago
  You can if you’re on macOS. You can make it to where handbrake can read the Blu-ray. http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/directly-rip-and-convert-bluray-disks-with-handbrake http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/directly-rip-and-conv...
  - jerrysievert 8y ago
    thanks for this! I love handbrake, and am thankful for makemkv, but read Blu-ray so infrequently that I download a new makemkv each time. this is a fantastic compromise.
  - torstenvl 8y ago
    Will these libraries continue to work after the 60-day mark?
    - alexgaribay 8y ago
      I’m unsure. I have a paid license for MakeMKV and it hasn’t been an issue for me.
- bisby 8y ago
  I was reading through the Handbrake changelog and noticed it mentioned changes to how blurays are handled on linux... So I tried to rip a bluray and it worked. Hopefully I can survive without MakeMKV now.
- gsich 8y ago
  MakeMKV first, then Handbrake after.
erlend_sh 8y ago
Hands down one of the best pieces of software I’ve ever used. Never had any problems with it, does what it says on the tin.
fireattack 8y ago
Great software in term of both quality and active development, and I also have very positive experience interacting with their dev/contributors (reporting bugs etc.). But not sure why this is on front page today, as it has been released almost a month isn't it?
- justinator 8y ago
  Perhaps they finally did put down that cocktail.
- frereubu 8y ago
  I noticed that it hadn't been submitted, perhaps because it was so close to Christmas. It's one of my favourite examples of free software in active development, and wanted to flag the update. Plus there are some pretty significant changes, like the move to ffmpeg.
- cookiecaper 8y ago
  I've always been a little unclear on the barriers between Handbrake and its dependencies. Does Handbrake maintain custom forks/patchsets that get applied to ffmpeg, etc.? I knew Handbrake as a GUI for ffmpeg, and in my research, I have come across one or two things that implied there was something unique about their backend that wasn't yet upstream, but ultimately not much else. Since you're familiar with the project's development, would you mind clearing some of this ambiguity up for me? Thanks.
  - _Gyan_ 8y ago
    Handbrake applies about a dozen patches on top of the FFmpeg tree. See them at https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/tree/master/contrib/ffmpeg https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/tree/master/contrib/f... Note that HB uses a release (4.1) rather than git master HEAD. So, some of those patches may get rescinded with new ffmpeg releases. Also, it's best to think of ffmpeg as having two parts: the libraries (codec, format, ...) and the API controller which sets up the processing pipeline and manages its run i.e. parsing the commnad line, registering input/output streams, and executing the required operations. The latter for ffmpeg is in fftools/. Handbrake implements its own top-level controller.
NelsonMinar 8y ago
This is huge: "Added support for AMD VCE and Nvidia NVENC hardware-accelerated encoders". Shouldn't that mean 5-10x increases in encoding speed for your average gaming Windows machine?
- wmf 8y ago
  Yep. Video quality may be lower and hardware encoders don't support as many features as x264/5 though.
  - FooHentai 8y ago
    The quality point is key here, unless there's some magic switches for NVENC that make better output. There's a very visible quality drop when streaming with NVENC, but that's realtime.
    - wmf 8y ago
      NVidia says Turing has much higher quality encoding but I haven't seen any confirmation.
- izacus 8y ago
  Yes, but beware that those encoders don't come close to providing the same quality at given bitrate. Unless you're in a huge hurry, you should stick to x264 which will generate a significantly better looking video at the same filesize.
  - IntelMiner 8y ago
    NVenc has gotten a lot better over the years. Using the "slowest" preset definitely seems to give the best results I encoded 1250GB~ of Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu Ray's to 355GB of H.265/HEVC video, and I feel the result speaks for itself https://i.imgur.com/VklppOK.jpg https://i.imgur.com/VklppOK.jpg FWIW. Running the file through an i7-4790 would take roughly 4 1/2 hours A GTX 1000 series does it in 4 minutes
caoilte 8y ago
Great software. Just wish I didn't need it so often.
LeoNatan25 8y ago
One huge issue with HandBrake is the very deep 8bit pipeline limitation, which is showing its age and lack of forward thinking. HandBrake is incapable of properly encoding 10bit streams. Until that is fixed, I had no choice but to find an alternative.
- naikrovek 8y ago
  Not gonna mention what the chosen alternative is? Ok...
  - LeoNatan25 8y ago
    ffmpeg, sadly. No other UI wrapper gave me what I needed. MeGUI is nice, but requires AviSynth and extracting audio and video, for which I no longer have the patience.
- da_chicken 8y ago
  At least when I run it, I get options to select both x264 and x265 in 10 bit.
  - LeoNatan25 8y ago
    Yes, the option exists, but it is not a real 10 bit, because internally the pipeline is limited to 8 bit.
    - _Gyan_ 8y ago
      What does this mean? Once you've a decoded 10-bit raster, what's the limitation you're encountering?
- dpg23 8y ago
  What content comes in 10-bit in the first place? HDR is just becoming a thing and I'm pretty sure that's restricted to UHD Blu-rays.
  - 8y ago
dylan604 8y ago
Years ago when HandBrake started to ship without deCSS and use non-DVD sources, we were finally allowed to use it at work as a UI for ffmpeg to make mp4 files with x264. Due to lawyers, we were not allowed to use any software that bundled deCSS. No VLC for us, but that was okay with its lack of frame advancing.
- jmiserez 8y ago
  Couldn't you have forked it, removed the deCSS code and used that internally? It's opensource after all, same with VLC.
nvr219 8y ago
I loved handbrake but haven't used it in a long time since I haven't bought a DVD/blu ray in a long time.
- darkpuma 8y ago
  Not that I would do this, but I've heard that sometimes people rent DVDs/BDs from public libraries and then rip them..
  - naikrovek 8y ago
    Yeah, but who would do that? There's no such thing as a pirate; those are stories to scare little children and media company executives.
dpg23 8y ago
Lovely piece of software.
walterbell 8y ago
Does anyone have recommended settings for H.265 encoding of 1080p, which is comparable in quality to H.264? The former seems less sharp, using default HB presets.

232 points by frereubu 8y ago

I have nothing to say but that I am pleased that such a great software is still in active development. I've just updated! Thank you very much.

bratao 8y ago

Reading the changelog, one entry catch my eye: "Switched core decoding library from Libav to FFmpeg" Do anyone know who won the fight of this fork?

th0ma5 8y ago
I don't know anyone "won" but I believe ffmpeg has remerged.
m45t3r 8y ago
Considering that mpv[1] recommends FFmpeg I would say FFmpeg won. I say that because mpv is one of the projects that mostly use parts of FFmpeg internals and also one of the first projects to use modern futures (and deprecate older versions too). [1]: https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv#ffmpeg-vs-libav https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv#ffmpeg-vs-libav
- m-p-3 8y ago
  YouTube-DL also uses FFmpeg to remux or convert data streams when needed too.
- m45t3r 8y ago
  modern futures -> modern features
hannob 8y ago
It's been a while that ffmpeg has effectively "won". A couple of linux distros that used to default to libav have switched back years ago. I'm surprised it took handbrake so long.
rndgermandude 8y ago
There is of course no official winner, but as of right now libav essentially withered and mostly died. Maybe the project will become more lively again in the future, but probably not. Of those downstreams who ever switched to libav, most have switched back to ffmpeg, incl Debian and now Handbrake. The development of libav slowed to essentially a halt with next to no activity in their git, and their latest release was 11 months ago, while ffmpeg had two major releases (4.0, 4.1) and numerous point releases in that period. libav, in my humble opinion, also suffered from NIH where they sometimes - with what looked to me like religious zealotry - insisted on doing stuff own their own, while ffmpeg at the same time happily merged tons of changes from libav. This gave ffmpeg, in addition to their brand recognition and associated network effects, yet another advantage. It also didn't help that libav created a lot of bad publicity for themselves, starting with them trying to take over ffmpeg in a hostile manner initially instead of forking, or when their debian packages (maintained by a libav member IIRC) started telling users that ffmpeg is "deprecated". Or when one of their folks sent ffmpeg a "cease and desist" letter claiming copyright of the logo they had been using for quite a while, insisting ffmpeg stop using it. (That's why libav still uses the 2d zigzag logo, while ffmpeg switched to a 3d zigzag one).
- icelancer 8y ago
  > religious zealotry This describes the entirety of the libav initiative from birth to death. Good riddance.
  - hitekker 8y ago
    Agreed. The maintainers were awful at leadership, and generally seemed like a bunch of venomous folks.
j1elo 8y ago
Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) was shipping libav, but since 16.04 (Xenial) it went back to ship ffmpeg instead. So for Ubuntu LTS users at least, FFmpeg had "won" since at least 2016

idlern 8y ago

I like Handbrake but wish it has the functionality of MakeMKV too

alexgaribay 8y ago
You can if you’re on macOS. You can make it to where handbrake can read the Blu-ray. http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/directly-rip-and-convert-bluray-disks-with-handbrake http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/directly-rip-and-conv...
- jerrysievert 8y ago
  thanks for this! I love handbrake, and am thankful for makemkv, but read Blu-ray so infrequently that I download a new makemkv each time. this is a fantastic compromise.
- torstenvl 8y ago
  Will these libraries continue to work after the 60-day mark?
  - alexgaribay 8y ago
    I’m unsure. I have a paid license for MakeMKV and it hasn’t been an issue for me.
bisby 8y ago
I was reading through the Handbrake changelog and noticed it mentioned changes to how blurays are handled on linux... So I tried to rip a bluray and it worked. Hopefully I can survive without MakeMKV now.
gsich 8y ago
MakeMKV first, then Handbrake after.

erlend_sh 8y ago

Hands down one of the best pieces of software I’ve ever used. Never had any problems with it, does what it says on the tin.

fireattack 8y ago

Great software in term of both quality and active development, and I also have very positive experience interacting with their dev/contributors (reporting bugs etc.). But not sure why this is on front page today, as it has been released almost a month isn't it?

justinator 8y ago
Perhaps they finally did put down that cocktail.
frereubu 8y ago
I noticed that it hadn't been submitted, perhaps because it was so close to Christmas. It's one of my favourite examples of free software in active development, and wanted to flag the update. Plus there are some pretty significant changes, like the move to ffmpeg.
cookiecaper 8y ago
I've always been a little unclear on the barriers between Handbrake and its dependencies. Does Handbrake maintain custom forks/patchsets that get applied to ffmpeg, etc.? I knew Handbrake as a GUI for ffmpeg, and in my research, I have come across one or two things that implied there was something unique about their backend that wasn't yet upstream, but ultimately not much else. Since you're familiar with the project's development, would you mind clearing some of this ambiguity up for me? Thanks.
- _Gyan_ 8y ago
  Handbrake applies about a dozen patches on top of the FFmpeg tree. See them at https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/tree/master/contrib/ffmpeg https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/tree/master/contrib/f... Note that HB uses a release (4.1) rather than git master HEAD. So, some of those patches may get rescinded with new ffmpeg releases. Also, it's best to think of ffmpeg as having two parts: the libraries (codec, format, ...) and the API controller which sets up the processing pipeline and manages its run i.e. parsing the commnad line, registering input/output streams, and executing the required operations. The latter for ffmpeg is in fftools/. Handbrake implements its own top-level controller.

NelsonMinar 8y ago

This is huge: "Added support for AMD VCE and Nvidia NVENC hardware-accelerated encoders". Shouldn't that mean 5-10x increases in encoding speed for your average gaming Windows machine?

wmf 8y ago
Yep. Video quality may be lower and hardware encoders don't support as many features as x264/5 though.
- FooHentai 8y ago
  The quality point is key here, unless there's some magic switches for NVENC that make better output. There's a very visible quality drop when streaming with NVENC, but that's realtime.
  - wmf 8y ago
    NVidia says Turing has much higher quality encoding but I haven't seen any confirmation.
izacus 8y ago
Yes, but beware that those encoders don't come close to providing the same quality at given bitrate. Unless you're in a huge hurry, you should stick to x264 which will generate a significantly better looking video at the same filesize.
- IntelMiner 8y ago
  NVenc has gotten a lot better over the years. Using the "slowest" preset definitely seems to give the best results I encoded 1250GB~ of Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu Ray's to 355GB of H.265/HEVC video, and I feel the result speaks for itself https://i.imgur.com/VklppOK.jpg https://i.imgur.com/VklppOK.jpg FWIW. Running the file through an i7-4790 would take roughly 4 1/2 hours A GTX 1000 series does it in 4 minutes

caoilte 8y ago

Great software. Just wish I didn't need it so often.

LeoNatan25 8y ago

One huge issue with HandBrake is the very deep 8bit pipeline limitation, which is showing its age and lack of forward thinking. HandBrake is incapable of properly encoding 10bit streams. Until that is fixed, I had no choice but to find an alternative.

naikrovek 8y ago
Not gonna mention what the chosen alternative is? Ok...
- LeoNatan25 8y ago
  ffmpeg, sadly. No other UI wrapper gave me what I needed. MeGUI is nice, but requires AviSynth and extracting audio and video, for which I no longer have the patience.
da_chicken 8y ago
At least when I run it, I get options to select both x264 and x265 in 10 bit.
- LeoNatan25 8y ago
  Yes, the option exists, but it is not a real 10 bit, because internally the pipeline is limited to 8 bit.
  - _Gyan_ 8y ago
    What does this mean? Once you've a decoded 10-bit raster, what's the limitation you're encountering?
dpg23 8y ago
What content comes in 10-bit in the first place? HDR is just becoming a thing and I'm pretty sure that's restricted to UHD Blu-rays.
- 8y ago

dylan604 8y ago

Years ago when HandBrake started to ship without deCSS and use non-DVD sources, we were finally allowed to use it at work as a UI for ffmpeg to make mp4 files with x264. Due to lawyers, we were not allowed to use any software that bundled deCSS. No VLC for us, but that was okay with its lack of frame advancing.

jmiserez 8y ago
Couldn't you have forked it, removed the deCSS code and used that internally? It's opensource after all, same with VLC.

nvr219 8y ago

I loved handbrake but haven't used it in a long time since I haven't bought a DVD/blu ray in a long time.

darkpuma 8y ago
Not that I would do this, but I've heard that sometimes people rent DVDs/BDs from public libraries and then rip them..
- naikrovek 8y ago
  Yeah, but who would do that? There's no such thing as a pirate; those are stories to scare little children and media company executives.

dpg23 8y ago

Lovely piece of software.

walterbell 8y ago

Does anyone have recommended settings for H.265 encoding of 1080p, which is comparable in quality to H.264? The former seems less sharp, using default HB presets.