Compressing video with HandBrake | Other Documentation | WebTV Solutions

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About HandBrake

HandBrake is an excellent freeware, for compressing videos in H.264 (MPEG4) format. Depending on the encoding settings, the resulting videos can be played back on desktop computers and mobile devices (iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad / Android Smartphones and Tablets, etc.) - Flash and HTML5-.

The HandBrake Main Window (without profiles installed).

Installing Compression Profiles

On Windows

1) Unzip the "HandBrake_098_presets.zip" or "HandBrake_099_win_presets.zip" file -depending on your HandBrake version- (inside it you will find a file named "user_presets.xml").
2) Make sure HandBrake is not running (otherwise close it!). 
3) Copy the "user_presets.xml" file inside the "HandBrake" folder located in the Windows user profiles,
On Windows XP: 
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\HandBrake or
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\HandBrake
On Windows Vista:
C:\Users\<username>\Application Data\HandBrake or
C:\Users\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\HandBrake
On Windows 7/8/10:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\HandBrake or
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\HandBrake
NOTE: In order to see the AppData folder, you must enable the option to show hidden folders. 
For more info about where presets are stored, visit: http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Presets 
WARNING: Current presets will be overwritten.
4) Open HandBrake (on Windows: Start/Programs/HandBrake/HandBrake ).
5) That´s all! the new profiles (Presets) should appear at the right with names like "WebTV..." 
6) In case the new profiles do not show, try clicking the "Options" button at the bottom of presets, and click on "Update Built-in Presets". Repeat steps 1-4 if necessary.

The HandBrake Main Window (with profiles installed).

On Mac OSX

1) Unzip the "HandBrake_098_presets.zip" -only for HandBrake 0.9.8- file (inside it you will find a file named "UserPresets.plist").
2) Make sure HandBrake is not running (otherwise close it!). 
3) Copy the "UserPresets.plist" file inside the folder:
/Users/<YourHomeDirectory>/Library/Application Support/HandBrake
WARNING: Current presets will be overwritten.
For more info about where presets are stored, visit: http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Presets 
4) Open HandBrake.
5) That´s all! the new profiles (Presets) should appear at the right with names like "WebTV...".
NOTE: If presets are hidden, click the "Toggle Presets" button (top-right).

Compressing a Video File (Windows)

1) Click on "Source"/"Video File" to select the source video file you want to encode.
NOTE: We recommend to use a source video file with the highest possible quality.

After selecting the source file, a warning message will be displayed, just click the "OK" button to continue.


2) The selected file will appear next to "Source".
3) Select the destination folder and file name (click on "Browse").
NOTE: We recommend to include the quality as part of the file name, this way it will be easier to identify it when you are ready to upload it to your WebTV.
4) Select a profile (preset) from the list.
NOTE: The quality of the selected profile (Ex. 1250Kbps) should match (or be similar to) the quality specified in your WebTV configuration (check out the Configuration:Video tutorial). If your WebTV has multiple qualities, you must compress the video in each of the specified qualities. In this example we have used a 1250Kbps profile, but if your WebTV is configured, for example, for 700Kbps and 1250Kbps videos, then you must compress your video using the corresponding profiles.
Choosing a Preset
- If your video source is HD or SD and is recorded at 25fps then use the "SD PAL" presets.
- If your video source is HD or SD and is recorded at 30 or 29.97fps then use the "SD NTSC" presets.
- If your video source is 4:3 then choose the corresponding 4:3 preset.
- If your video source is 16:9 then choose the corresponding 16:9 preset.
- Use the HD presets ONLY if you want to export an HD video.
The video files of our demonstration WebTVs have been compressed using the following presets:
• WebTV SD PAL 16:9 700Kbps ("Normal" quality)
• WebTV SD PAL 16:9 1250kbps ("HQ" quality)
NOTE: Please, keep in mind that our videos are 16:9
5) Click on the "Start" button in order to start the compression process.


6) The compression process will start. The progress will be shown at the the bottom-left of the screen.


7) When done, the "Encoding Finished" message will be displayed.

Compressing a Video File (Mac OSX)

1) Click on "Source" to select the source video file you want to encode.
NOTE: We recommend to use a source video file with the highest possible quality.


2) The selected file will appear next to "Source".
3) Select the destination folder and file name (click on "Browse").
NOTE: We recommend to include the quality as part of the file name, this way it will be easier to identify it when you are ready to upload it to your WebTV.
4) Select a profile (preset) from the list.
NOTE: The quality of the selected profile (Ex. 1250Kbps) should match (or be similar to) the quality specified in your WebTV configuration (check out the Configuration:Video tutorial). If your WebTV has multiple qualities, you must compress the video in each of the specified qualities. In this example we have used a 1250Kbps profile, but if your WebTV is configured, for example, for 700Kbps and 1250Kbps videos, then you must compress your video using the corresponding profiles.
5) Click on the "Start" button in order to start the compression process.


6) The compression process will start. The progress will be shown at the the bottom of the screen.


7) When done, the following screen will appear:

Other considerations

1. Modifying a compression profile. In this tutorial we have used a compression profile to encode a video file in H.264 format. However, it is possible that you require to modify a profile to better suit your WebTV's qualities. One of the most important thing to keep in mind is the "Web optimized" option, that must always be checked, and the target bitrate; for example, if you plan to encode videos for a bandwidth of XXXKbps, that number must be the result of adding the audio track bitrate and the video track bitrate; if the audio track bitrate is 128Kbps, then the video track bitrate must be XXX - 128.
2. Speeding up the compression process. It is possible to speed up (considerably) the compression process by disabling the "2-Pass Encoding" option located in the "Video" tab. However, although the compression time will almost be reduced to half, the quality of the resulting video will be lower. Additionally, keep in mind that every time you select a "WebTV..." preset, that option will be re-enabled; therefore, you will need to disable it again if necessary.
3. What happens if I upload to the WebTV a video file with a different bitrate than the one specified for a particular Quality?. Well, the worst thing that could happen is that the automatic bandwidth detection won't be reliable. Therefore, from a user´s perspective, we recommend to keep the system consistency.