Handbrake AVI to mp4 conversion questions

[Ad_astra]

Hi,
I have a ton of AVIs from miniDV and Hi8 tapes that I'd like to convert to mp4s. Just started playing around with Handbrake to figure out the settings.

First off, if anyone can share the "best" settings for SD video, it should save a whole lot of time.

A couple of questions -
Why would any 480p preset result in a bigger file than a 1080 preset?
Why would two different AVI files converted using the same settings result in different video and audio characteristics when I look them up in the resultant two mp4 files? Data rates and bitrates differ roughly by a factor of 5; audio bitrate in one of them is 161 (although I did change the Handbrake default from 160 to 256) whereas the other one shows 235?

Thanks!

[aramkolt]

Kind of depends, are you wanting to upscale them? If your destination is something like YouTube, you'll get a lot more bitrate if you upscale to 1080. Also, do you want it to end up as 59.94 frames per second, or 29.97? Youtube caps out at 12000kb/s for 1080p60, so not sure there's much advantage going beyond that if that is the final destination. Looks like 1080p30 is 8000kb/s just for reference.

[davexnet]

In general the preset names are a little arbitrary with regards to expected file size.
The real items that matter are the "preset" and "constant quality" settings

Assuming you want to convert to mp4 with AVC video and aac audio, choose a preset of medium or slow
and a constant quality value of 18-22 (18 being the best quality/biggest file size) and encode a small clip from you file for analysis

[Ad_astra]

Thank you for responding. The goal is to play the files on a TV. No upscaling, keep the stuff as close to the original AVI as possible, just smaller file size.

I'm still puzzled why the more "appropriate" preset of 480 results in a bigger mp4 file than the "less" appropriate 1080 preset.

Also wondering about my second question about how two different files processed with the same settings end up with vastly different video and audio properties.

[davexnet]

Thank you for responding. The goal is to play the files on a TV. No upscaling, keep the stuff as close to the original AVI as possible, just smaller file size.

I'm still puzzled why the more "appropriate" preset of 480 results in a bigger mp4 file than the "less" appropriate 1080 preset.

Also wondering about my second question about how two different files processed with the same settings end up with vastly different video and audio properties.

You have to compare the quality settings used as I mentioned.

Regarding your second question, the usage of constant quality for bitrate control will result in different file sizes depending on the
complexity of the source. If you want a fixed size use 2-pass vbr instead.

I found the audio encoding to be accurate enough; aac @ 160 kbps was almost the same size as mp3 @ 160 kbps (CBR)

If you want to discuss anything specific, put up some screen shots

[Alwyn]

audio bitrate in one of them is 161 (although I did change the Handbrake default from 160 to 256) whereas the other one shows 235?

Yes, a nightmare for young players.

The secret (I think!), on the Audio tab, is to click on Selection behaviour then set up the tab like this:

[Attachment 87892 - Click to enlarge]
Then click Save. That gave me an exact 192kb/sec bitrate over a batch queue of files.

I steer clear of the presets and use: SD video (720x576 or 480) QF 18/5000kb/sec, audio 192kb/sec works out well. Deinterlace as desired.

[netmask56]

Have you tried mkvtoolnix to wrap the avi in a mkv container- no processing - quality in = quality out, size remains the same. Quick

[jagabo]

Outside of a computer very few devices will play DV in MKV or AVI.

[Alwyn]

And the files will be 5x bigger than they need to be.