What is a good standard filesize for ripping 3D Blu-Ray to compressed MKVs?

[Stealth3si]

I personally rip no BluRays myself but I've seen BluRay compressed rips from many different sources with significant file size gaps. I have neither compared the output video quality of these different filesize versions, particularly on a HDTV screen of say a standard 46". For example, some 1080p rips are 1-3GB in filesize whereas another 1080p rip of the same movie from a different source is 6-12GB. There are however 40+GB filesize versions and I think they are uncompressed rips.

What is a good standard filesize for ripping 3D Blu-Ray to compressed MKVs?

[jagabo]

Just like with shoes, there is one size that is perfect for everyone. 4.3 GB.

[Stealth3si]

Just like with shoes, there is one size that is perfect for everyone. 4.3 GB.

So try to make at least 4.3GB?

[aedipuss]

wow. what color is your hair? i'm guessing blonde.

[Stealth3si]

wow. what color is your hair? i'm guessing blonde.

NO! what do you care?

[jagabo]

I was being facetious. There is no file size or bitrate that is right for every video. Different videos require different bitrates. Use constant quality encoding (CRF in x264) and encode to the quality level you want. Every video will have the quality you specify. Let the bitrate and file size fall where it may.

[Cornucopia]

What I don't get is why noobs continue to assume BD and DVD and DV are uncompressed even after much pronouncement and evidence to the contrary!

A 3DBD often contains 35-45 GB of movie data. And this is already compressed at ~30:1 (and that's not taking into account the 3d compression). So you want to extract & convert it (and in doing so lose the efficiency of the MVC codec)...and make it 1/10th that size? So that's ~300:1 compression. God, that's going to look like crap! Why do this?

Scott

[aedipuss]

hehe, just give'm some love like me :-\

[jman98]

A 3DBD often contains 35-45 GB of movie data. And this is already compressed at ~30:1 (and that's not taking into account the 3d compression). So you want to extract & convert it (and in doing so lose the efficiency of the MVC codec)...and make it 1/10th that size? So that's ~300:1 compression. God, that's going to look like crap! Why do this?

Scott

Most people truly don't care. Remember, most people are not like the members here. Most American watch EVERYTHING in 16:9 without even a hint of a complaint when it makes people in 4:3 sources look fat. I can't speak for people in other places, but I know that Americans do that.

Anyway, I think the OP's post could be restated thusly:
"What file size is optimal for 3D MKV files? I'd like to be able to tell by just knowing the file size if the video is likely to be crap or good so I don't waste my time downloading bad ones." I'm pretty sure that's the secret intent behind the post.

Smaller is generally worse. All we can do is give general guidelines.

[Stealth3si]

A 3DBD often contains 35-45 GB of movie data. And this is already compressed at ~30:1 (and that's not taking into account the 3d compression). So you want to extract & convert it (and in doing so lose the efficiency of the MVC codec)...and make it 1/10th that size? So that's ~300:1 compression. God, that's going to look like crap! Why do this?

Scott

Most people truly don't care. Remember, most people are not like the members here. Most American watch EVERYTHING in 16:9 without even a hint of a complaint when it makes people in 4:3 sources look fat. I can't speak for people in other places, but I know that Americans do that.

Anyway, I think the OP's post could be restated thusly:
"What file size is optimal for 3D MKV files? I'd like to be able to tell by just knowing the file size if the video is likely to be crap or good so I don't waste my time downloading bad ones." I'm pretty sure that's the secret intent behind the post.

Smaller is generally worse. All we can do is give general guidelines.

Then why so many supply and demand for smaller version?

[Tom Saurus]

jman98: I usually watch DVD box sets on my Mom's 480p television which is 20 inch LCD television that is widescreen. Most of the times I am quite content with leaving it on the full screen size, but lately since we bought some classic TV box sets I chose the 4:3 setting with a black box on the sides to watch it as the shows were originally broadcast. I have took a liking to that way of watching them now.

[Baldrick]

Don't post torrent links to warez.

[jagabo]

One would guess that the 13 GB video is better quality than the 1.9 GB video. But you won't really know until you've downloaded them both and compared. Generally, a full 1080p movie at 1.9 GB with x264 is going to be missing a lot of fine detail. And even the 13 GB video will be missing some fine detail if compared to the original Blu-ray. The issue is what losses you're willing to accept vs how big the download is. And, of course, you don't know how well they were converted and what settings were used. And whether those settings are compatible with your intended playback device (most devices don't support all h.264 features).

[Stealth3si]

So basically everyone is generally saying the higher filesize the better quality. (Obviously not in all cases due to bad encoder settings and/or original sources.)

As a general rule, what bitrates should be my goal on the following resolution rips? If possible, I want you to give me a specific number to start with so I can guage where my rips should begin even though you can't give out specific guidelines.

720p. What is an acceptable bitrate or rather what should be the threshold of the bitrate where it starts to go beneath X,XXX Kb/s before 720p starts to lose shed loads of the extra detail that sets it apart from DVD? For example, is it possible to produce 2GiB 720p at 2,000 Kb/s yet not blur a lot in places where there used to be detail?

1080p. In the same vain as before, at what number should the bitrate never drop below before the detail that sets it aside from 720p begin to vanish? i.e., 6,000 Kb/s? 7,000 Kb/s? IOW, is what I would get left with in this case be the equivalent of an over-sized 720p? i.e., 720p quality or just over at a 1080p resolution?

[manono]

As a general rule, what bitrates should be my goal on the following resolution rips?

Have you learned nothing from all this? There is no 'general rule'.

There is no file size or bitrate that is right for every video. Different videos require different bitrates. Use constant quality encoding (CRF in x264) and encode to the quality level you want. Every video will have the quality you specify. Let the bitrate and file size fall where it may.

[jagabo]

As a general rule, what bitrates should be my goal on the following resolution rips?

There is no bitrate that is right for every video, even at the same frame size. You should use constant quality encoding. That way you always get the quality you specify. The encoder will use whatever bitrate is necessary to deliver that quality. Try a few test encodes with some short, varied samples and decide what quality level you are happy with. Then encode all your videos at that quality level. I usually use CRF=18 in x264. Lower values will give you higher quality (larger files), higher values give lower quality (smaller files). Most people use higher CRF values (lower quality) than me.

[Stealth3si]

if there are any one here who encodes a lot of videos both in noticeably poor quality and good quality using the same equipment under the same conditions, have you noticed a pattern or trend or average of bitrates for 720p rips and 1080 rips?

For instance:

good 720 rips should fall in what range? 2000-3000
bad 720 rips should fall in what range? 1000-2000
good 1080 rips should fall in what range? 6000-7000
bad 1080 rips should fall in what range? 7000-8000

as for selecting the quality preset, what program is CRF value found in and what is it called?

[FulciLives]

Try the program called handbrake. It is a fairly simple-to-use x264 converter that is capable of excellent quality. Obviously there are others but handbrake is really all you need (and what you should stick to until you perhaps do and learn more through experience).

handbrake has several "presets" and I normally pick the one called "Regular - High Profile". One note of caution while using handbrake ... there is a setting on the VIDEO tab for FRAMERATE (FPS) and handbrake always wants to set that to "Variable Framerate" but you should always change it to "Constant Framerate"

I would try a CRF of 18 but sometimes I go as low as 16 or so. Unless the movie is extremely long you should get just about any movie to fit a Dual Layer DVD disc (in other words no bigger than 7.95GB filesize) when sticking at 720p size.

Please note that I've never ever dealt with 3D material. This is all based on non 3D HD sources. Personally I have no interest in 3D and my HDTV can't even do 3D anyway.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jagabo]

CRF is a single pass quality mode in the x264 encoder (the best h.264 encoder and it's free and open source). Just about every free conversion program uses x264 for h.264/AVC compression. XMedia Recode, Handbrake, Xvid4Psp, MeGUI, etc.

You should also use the "tune" options for "film", "animation", "grain", etc.

Which is more important to you -- quality or exact file size? When you need to fit a video on a CD or DVD you go for file size -- eg, 4.3 GB to get the best quality you can on a DVD (you don't really know what that quality will be but if you go smaller you'll get lower quality and will waste space on the DVD, if you go larger the file won't fit on a DVD). When you don't need a specific file size use quality based encoding to get the quality you want. You always get the right bitrate (and hence file size) for that quality.