How to Use Handbrake

Guide Note

Have a huge movie collection that you'd like to view using different formats? Handbrake, free software for Macs and PCs, rips your DVDs so you can play them on your iPod, Apple TV, or even your PS3. How to Use Handbrake will show you the ins and outs of converting your DVDs.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What Handbrake Can Do
• Step 1: Download and Install
• Step 2: Change the Source Settings
• Step 3: Change the Destination Settings
• Step 4: Change the Other Settings
• Step 5: Tips for Using Handbrake
• Conclusion
• References

Handbrake Tips

1. Depending on how much space you have available, choose the settings wisely. Most of the time, you won't need the highest quality video or audio.
2. You can only convert DVDs that are made for viewing. Disks filled with random AVI, MPG, WMV, or MOV files won't be converted.
3. If you've already ripped a DVD to your hard drive and need to convert it, choose the VIDEO_TS folder.
4. Stay within piracy laws. Handbrake is only a tool, and you are responsible for the content you convert and how you use it.

Disclaimer

The content in this page is for legal conversion of files under fair use. Do not use the information in this guide for any kind of illegal distribution of copyrighted material or for commercial use.

• by Kudra

Introduction

• You've got the latest technology: the DVDs, the iPod, even the Apple TV. But unfortunately, if you wanted to play a DVD on your iPod, or record something on your Apple TV, you'd be out of luck.¹

• Not any more. Handbrake, free software for Macs and PCs, allows you to rip your DVDs so they can be played in a variety of formats, permitting you to watch your favorite flicks on iTunes, your iPod or even on your Apple TV.²

What Handbrake Can Do

• Handbrake takes your movie DVDS and converts them to MPEG-4 files, making for easier play, and much easier transfers.²

• Simply put, here are the benefits of using Handbrake:

1. 

   (Creative Commons photo by Kenneth Lu)
   It allows you to back-up your DVD movie collection.²
2. It's open-source, which means not only is it free, but the bugs will be fixed quickly and by a community of users.³
3. Handbrake will make a copy of nearly any copy-protected DVD, encrypted or unencrypted with CSS, PAL or NTSC, AC-3, LPCM, or MPEG audio.²
4. Handbrake creates an MPEG-4, AVI, or H.264 file, which means you can play it via iTunes, Apple TV, your iPod or even on a Sony Playstation 3.⁴

Step 1: Download and Install

• First, download the software and install it on your system.

1. Handbrake is available for Mac, Windows PCs, and Linux. The latest version is 0.9.2, and can be downloaded at http://handbrake.fr/.⁴
2. Once downloaded, depending on your computer's operating system, you'll be asked to install the program. Follow the directions on your screen and you'll be fine.
3. Now, all you need to do is find a DVD and put it into your computer.
   • Remember though, Handbrake only converts DVDs that can be played in a DVD player. So if you've got a disk filled with video files, such as AVI, MPG, WMV, MOV, etc, it won't convert them.⁴

Step 2: Change the Source Settings

• In order to get the optimum quality and settings that suit you, the first thing to do is to change the source settings.

1. 

   (Creative Commons photo by Wesley Fryer)
   Once you've inserted the DVD that needs converting into your computer, start the Handbrake software.
   • If a dialog box doesn't open up, click on the icon that says Source and select your DVD drive.⁴
2. Handbrake will open the main Handbrake window and scan your DVD to detect the various titles and chapters.¹
3. Select the proper title.
   • -Your DVD is likely to have several titles and chapters (like headings and sub-headings) for the main movie, and for other special features.¹
   • -The correct title is usually the title with the longest duration.¹
4. Sometimes, when you try and open a DVD, you might get a confusing set of folders and sub-folders.
   • If you've already ripped the a DVD to your drive and want to convert it, you'll need to choose the VIDEO_TS folder.⁵

Step 3: Change the Destination Settings

• Once you've chosen the source, the software will automatically ask you to selected the destination.

• The way your picture and sound quality will turn out in the resulting file depends on the settings you choose in this step. You could always go with the default settings, but if you'd like more control over the output, here's how to do it.

1. One of the first things you need to decide is what format you'd like the output file to be in.
   • -There are some presets that can be found on the Presets Toggle bar, and you can select any one of those, such as those for Apple TV, iPod and PS3.⁴
   • -If you're new, a good thing to remember is that the larger the screen size, the larger the file size will be, and hence the more time it will take for Handbrake to convert your files.⁴
2. Next, you want to choose the destination location.
   1. The default location for Handbrake's output files is the Desktop.¹
   2. Choose a different location if you'd like to save your file elsewhere, else just copy it over once it's done.¹
3. Name the resulting video file.
   • Handbrake will typically give it a default, but you may not recognize that name, so try and do so yourself.⁵
4. If you know what you're doing, go to the Advanced Settings and select the options that you feel would be best for your purposes.

Step 4: Change the Other Settings

• Once you've chosen the source and destination settings, you're pretty much set to go. Just click on the Start button and the program will do the conversion for you.⁴

• However, there are a few other settings to keep in mind in case you choose to get a little more involved.

1. Shrink the file. By default, you'll be ripping the files at full-size. While that's great for quality, you're going to need a lot of storage space. Especially, if your ripping several movies or TV shows, you're going to fill up your hard drive pretty quickly. Here are a few ways to save some space:¹
   

   (Creative Commons photo by William Hook)
   1. Cut out the credits by unselecting that chapter in the Source Settings.¹ It's usually the last one.
   2. Movies are typically made for the big screen. Since you're going to be watching the video on your computer or iPod, you can afford to cut down on the picture quality.¹
   3. You can select the desired size for the file, which is useful if you have only a limited amount of space.¹
   4. You can also slim down the quality of the audio using Handbrake's Audio section.¹
2. If your DVD has several audio tracks, you can select a preferred audio track for the region you live in.
   • Language 1 is usually English in America.
3. If you want a high-quality file, you'll want to select 2-pass encoding. With this setting, the encoder will go over your video twice so that it's as good as can be.
   • This does mean that it'll take twice as long, but it'll look and sound better even with a smaller file size.⁵

Step 5: Tips for Using Handbrake

• Handbrake is a very powerful, and very efficient tool to have, especially if you have a huge collection of movies that you want to back-up, or to watch on different media. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Always check the copyright notices on the DVDs you plan to copy.
   • Make sure you know the local laws, and never use the software for illegal purposes, such as for piracy or commercial gain. ⁴
2. If you want to rip TV episodes instead of a movie, you either need to convert the episodes one at a time, or try a simpler solution: build a queue. To build a queue:
   1. First select the Enable Queue options.
   2. Set up all of the options for each episode.
   3. Click, Add to Queue.
   4. Repeat for each episode.¹
3. To add subtitles, use the subtitle section of Handbrake to select from the ones available on your DVD.
   • Once you've selected a subtitle, Handbrake will imprint it onto your finished movie.¹

Conclusion

• 

  (Creative Commons photo by Seth Anderson)
  Handbrake is not the only method available for ripping DVDs, however, it is known to be one of the best. Not to mention, completely free. The developers have a lot of documentation available on the website, so be sure to check it out before using.

• And again, make sure to follow the law. The law is murky at best on the ripping and conversion of movies, so when in doubt, check to make sure.⁵

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References for How to Use Handbrake

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12} Macinstruct: How to Rip DVDs with Handbrake
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Mac360: Put DVD Movies on Your Mac. Use HandBrake (June 25, 2008)  
3. ↑ Lifehacker: Rip DVDs to Friendlier Formats with Handbrake (August 20, 2007)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} AppleSource: How-to Use HandBrake to Copy Your DVDs (August 21, 2007)
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Macworld: Mac Gems - HandBrake 0.9.0 (December 21, 2006)