[HOW TO] Using Handbrake To Convert Video For The Nook Color

[gadgetrants]

I've followed the instructions explicitly, and handbrake is estimating over 12 hours to convert a DVD??? What am I doing wrong? Please help...

Hi! Sorry to hear about the trouble. Can you explain what you've done so far (and what your computer resources are) and we'll see if it can be sped up a bit?

-Matt

 

[miabelle1967]

Hi! Sorry to hear about the trouble. Can you explain what you've done so far (and what your computer resources are) and we'll see if it can be sped up a bit?

-Matt

Thanks for getting back to me! I'm happy to say that I have narrowed it down to 6 hours to convert. Woot. But it DID work, so that's a start.

I have to say that, initially, I was trying to convert the movie directly from a DVD, rather than ripping it to my computer first -- so I don't know how much that had to do with the 12 hour conversion issue... I realize that was probably not the correct way...

So, then, I used a program called "DVD Fab" to rip/copy/decode (whatever the right term is) a movie from my DVD collection onto my computer running Windows XP (just an ordinary 2 yr old, base model Dell desktop computer). That took about 20 mins for the DVD to rip....

I then ran Handbrake and followed -- to the TEE -- the exact steps explained in the overview in steps 1 and 2 at the beginning of this thread... Once I hit convert/start, I went to bed because it said it would take about 6 hours (which is a definite improvement over 12 or 13, for sure)

This morning, everything went perfectly, and I was able to successfully transfered the video to my Nook Color (which took about 5 mins to copy over, whereas, my first failed attempt took over 30 mins just to COPY to the Nook...), and it plays beautifully -- but there are black bars to the SIDES of the screen, so I'm not getting full screen viewing... but AT LEAST, it plays, has perfect sound and the picture quality is gorgeous.

I don't know if it's my computer that's slow? Or if I'm not setting something properly, but if you could give me any tips on how to speed up conversion, or, more importantly, how to get it to reach the sides of the screen on my nook (it was set at 720 x 0, and when I checked "keep aspect ratio" -- it made the height 544).

Happily, the movie came in at under 1G, so at least the file size is manageable!

Thanks again for your input, it is truly appreciated!

 

[gadgetrants]

Hmm, I've seen lots of good comments about DVD Fab, so I can't point my finger that way. But I wonder if you'd try an experiment, and download and use DVD Shrink to rip your disk. Oh wait!...that's not in my original explanation. Hmm...let me think. OK, just found a good how-to for DVD Shrink here:

How to use DVD Shrink to backup a DVD movie

or

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9425/how_to_use_dvd_shrink/

DVD Shrink will create a VOB file of your ripped movie, and we can try and convert that with Handbrake. I'm still puzzled about your black bars, though. Are you using the built-in movie player on the Nook?

(Just noticed the 1967...does that mean you're a 1967 baby like me?! Oh, and I was born in Encino...)

-Matt

 

[miabelle1967]

Hmm, I've seen lots of good comments about DVD Fab, so I can't point my finger that way. But I wonder if you'd try an experiment, and download and use DVD Shrink to rip your disk. Oh wait!...that's not in my original explanation. Hmm...let me think. OK, just found a good how-to for DVD Shrink here:

How to use DVD Shrink to backup a DVD movie

or

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9425/how_to_use_dvd_shrink/

DVD Shrink will create a VOB file of your ripped movie, and we can try and convert that with Handbrake. I'm still puzzled about your black bars, though. Are you using the built-in movie player on the Nook?

(Just noticed the 1967...does that mean you're a 1967 baby like me?! Oh, and I was born in Encino...)

-Matt

Yes, indeedy, I'm a 1967 baby! How funny! I lived in Encino for a few years, now I'm over in Studio City... but born in NYC....

But I digress... sigh... I don't know why they make this all so complicated -- if you're going to advertise that there's a video player on the device, shouldn't this be a simpler process, i.e., buy movie, connect USB, transfer to device? It seems you have to be an IT specialist to get anything done unless you're an iTunes user... grrr....

Okay, off the soapbox now, sorry, thanks again for your help, though.

Yes, I'm using the video player on the NC (My Files/Videos)... So I should use DVD Shrink instead of DVD Fab? How do I convert the VOB? Are the Handbrake settings the same?

Thank you again for your friendly help... I really do appreciate it!

 

[gadgetrants]

Yes, indeedy, I'm a 1967 baby! How funny! I lived in Encino for a few years, now I'm over in Studio City... but born in NYC....

But I digress... sigh... I don't know why they make this all so complicated -- if you're going to advertise that there's a video player on the device, shouldn't this be a simpler process, i.e., buy movie, connect USB, transfer to device? It seems you have to be an IT specialist to get anything done unless you're an iTunes user... grrr....

Okay, off the soapbox now, sorry, thanks again for your help, though.

Yes, I'm using the video player on the NC (My Files/Videos)... So I should use DVD Shrink instead of DVD Fab? How do I convert the VOB? Are the Handbrake settings the same?

Thank you again for your friendly help... I really do appreciate it!

Hey, I'm the one with the soapbox.

I don't have any experience with DVD Fab...my concern is that I don't know whether it modified the VOB file when it pulled it off the disc. In the case of DVD Shrink, I've had great results. I think the main thing to look out for is when you're on the Video tab, to set Framerate (FPS) as "Same as Source."

At this point, it's just an experiment to see if it helps to use a different ripping program. It should take about 10 minutes to rip the file, and then--this is important--instead of encoding the whole video with HB, you can select the preview option near the top, and it will give you a short clip. You can then test that on the NC to see if you're still getting the bars!

(My dad is from Brooklyn...but I grew up in L.A./San Diego! A taxi driver once asked me if I was from NY...???)

-Matt

 

[Schnoidz]

The resulting video looks great and the audio is louder and in sync. The problem is that the video still has a slight stutter, especially during sweeping/panning shots. Any ideas on how to fix that? My Nook Color is overclocked to 1.1 GHz.

I'm getting the same slight stutter using the settings in the OP. Same results when changing from RF 20 to Average 1000 or RF 21. RF 30 was almost smooth but the quality was poor. Changing from H.264 to MPEG-4 (FFmpeg) was very smooth but with a loss of quality (but not bad).

I've tried different players.
Double Twist
ES Video Player
Movies
QQPlayer
and VitalPlayer which I like the best.

The brightness control in VitalPlayer works great on the RF:20 files but blows out the brightness on every other setting when the brightness is increased.

I'm working with files from a GoPro camera. Testing both 1920*1080 29.97 fps and 1280*720 59.54 fps (reduced to 720*400 29.97 fps).

All files play smoothly on the computer (Win 7 - 64, I7 -12 GB RAM)

I'll keep playing with settings. Today is my first attempt with HandBrake.

 

[lartomar2002]

I'm getting the same slight stutter using the settings in the OP. Same results when changing from RF 20 to Average 1000 or RF 21. RF 30 was almost smooth but the quality was poor. Changing from H.264 to MPEG-4 (FFmpeg) was very smooth but with a loss of quality (but not bad).

I've tried different players.
Double Twist
ES Video Player
Movies
QQPlayer
and VitalPlayer which I like the best.

The brightness control in VitalPlayer works great on the RF:20 files but blows out the brightness on every other setting when the brightness is increased.

I'm working with files from a GoPro camera. Testing both 1920*1080 29.97 fps and 1280*720 59.54 fps (reduced to 720*400 29.97 fps).

All files play smoothly on the computer (Win 7 - 64, I7 -12 GB RAM)

I'll keep playing with settings. Today is my first attempt with HandBrake.

don't forget that every time you re-format a video there will be some loss in quality

 

[Schnoidz]

I use the same source files for each test. The RF:20 looks fantastic and the Average 1000 also looks very good. It's just the slight, almost imperceptible stutter that keeps it from being perfect. I usually work with Adobe Premiere Pro and want to find the perfect settings so I can edit and export from there. I'm testing Handbrake because AVI has given us a great starting point with this thread. Once I get what I consider perfect for me, I'll use MediaInfo to see all it's properties which I can hopefully save as a Nook setting in Premiere Pro.

 

[682202]

Does anyone know how to get subtitles to display using Handbrake? I have played around with the settings but have had no luck.

When I copied the movie with DVDFab I made sure to copy the subtitle files also.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Android Tablet Forum

 

[gadgetrants]

Hey guys! Sorry for being such a bad host -- I haven't checked this thread as often as I should! I'm especially intrigued by the subtitle issue -- has anybody made any progress on this? I had the impression Handbrake has a straightforward option for doing it, but I haven't tried it myself. If I get a chance this weekend, I'll let you know what I find!

-Matt

 

[zemdarin]

Hi Gadgetrants, the best free program for ripping id DVDFab in conjunction with FreeDVD and FixVTS works well om Windows computers. DVD shrink is also good but old and can't rip everything as well. I still use it though to shrink my films to get them onto single disc, but now with Avidemux and Freemake Video converter I prefer to make an MKV film and put them either on my external hard drive or pen drive to play through my LGBD550 Blu Ray player in 5.1 digital. That is why I came to this forum, to find out how I can do that using Handbrake, which makes great mkv films I can watch on my computer, but not my TV. Is it because it is written for apple computers, even though I do have the Windows version. I look in media Info and find they are almost identical, but as yet haven't made one that will play on my TV screen. I like to keep my disc's pristine and back-up my films to watch in my own home and to make an inventory of them for my personal use. I followed your tutorial hoping it would work but it failed, I only used the 60 second mkv it made for viewing though.

 

[zemdarin]

After struggling with subtitles to play on Apocalypto, I have finally managed to do it, using Freemake video converter which gave me three alternatives of subtitles. I selected subtitle 2 and it ripped and made me an mkv film at 1.98Gb in 55 minutes, which was acceptable for my pen drive and external USB, where I keep my mkv films. The quality is excellent. I would still like to be able to use Handbrake to do the same, but keep failing miserably even though they are great to watch on my computer. Sorry I really don't know what a nook is yet, I am in the UK.

 

[J515OP]

Nook = NOOK® by BARNES & NOBLE, World's largest bookstore - Barnes & Noble. In this case the Nook being referenced is the Nook Color.

 

[zemdarin]

I see now thank you. We have them, but for me the screen is way too small. I am always at home, so only need my computer. We also have something called Kindle which is like a book, I expect you have seen them on Amazon. I thought I might get help here with Handbrake, so I could watch my films on my TV in MKV file system. I have been to the Handbrake site but my computer is always saying there is something wrong with their licence or something similar and warns me it could harm my computer.I already know how to do it, but can't manage it with Handbrake which seems very good.

 

[J515OP]

Yes, unfortunately this is an older thread and doesn't get as much attention now. I suggest you PM gadgetrants as he has more experience with handbrake. Hopefully somebody else with the proper experience will see this and also chime in.