Author
HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. It is packaged with all the needed libraries, so you don't have to go through the pain of compiling ffmpeg or mencoder with x264 support. Go to the download page and install it !
Note:
Ubuntu Linux users once again have the edge here; instead of downloading the installation package from the website, you can also add Ubuntu's Handbrake repository to your software sources, so that it's automatically upgraded and what not. Read all about it in the official HOW-TO.
STEP 2: Use Handbrake to convert your first video
Start Handbrake.
The easiest way to convert your first video is to:
open the input video (CTRL-O)
select the "iPhone and iPod Touch" preset on the right
click "Queue" -> "Start Queue" to start converting.
Now you're done ! Go do something else because this takes a while (about 1 hour to convert a 90-minute movie on my Intel Core Duo @ 2.33Ghz). When the video has finished converting, copy it to your Nexus One and try it out.
STEP 3 (optional): Customizations
Handbrake allows you to tweak your output video in many ways - take a look at the Handbrake Guide.
When you change one of the settings, be sure to save it in a preset (call it "Nexus One") so you can easily load it next time.
One thing that's really recommended, is using a higher video resolution (thanks dvdcatalyst). The "iPhone and iPod Touch" preset sets the video width to 480px, which is the maximum for those devices. That's pretty nice, but since the N1 can handle 800x480, you can take advantage of that like so:
Go to View -> "Picture Settings"
If your source video width is <= 800px, then check "Optimal for source" under "Storage".
If your source video width is > 800px, then "Optimal width for source" will be bigger then your screen can display, so you'll be wasting storage space and CPU time. Manually setting the "Storage" width to 800px will alleviate this problem.
Here are a few things that you might want to experiment with:
Increase the video quality (on the "Video" tab) to 65%, although you proably won't notice this on your phone.
Under View -> "Picture Settings" you can customize the dimensions of the video, or...
...enable the Deblocking filter (level 5-10) if your source video exhibits "blockiness".
Increase the audio quality (on the "Audio" tab) by increasing the AAC bitrate. Don't go over 160 (cfr. the phone specs) !
Burn in subtitles (on the "Subtitles" tab). I don't think the native "Gallery" video player supports .srt files (yet?). NOTE: I haven't done this, feel free to share your experience.
Toy around with the Anamorphic Modes - using them can make your files smaller without losing quality. Try "Loose Anamorphic" with an alignment of 16.
If you want to do this from command line, the following command should get your started:
Code:
STEP 1: Install Handbrake
HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. It is packaged with all the needed libraries, so you don't have to go through the pain of compiling ffmpeg or mencoder with x264 support. Go to the download page and install it !
Note:
Ubuntu Linux users once again have the edge here; instead of downloading the installation package from the website, you can also add Ubuntu's Handbrake repository to your software sources, so that it's automatically upgraded and what not. Read all about it in the official HOW-TO.
STEP 2: Use Handbrake to convert your first video
Start Handbrake.
The easiest way to convert your first video is to:
open the input video (CTRL-O)
select the "iPhone and iPod Touch" preset on the right
click "Queue" -> "Start Queue" to start converting.
Now you're done ! Go do something else because this takes a while (about 1 hour to convert a 90-minute movie on my Intel Core Duo @ 2.33Ghz). When the video has finished converting, copy it to your Nexus One and try it out.
STEP 3 (optional): Customizations
Handbrake allows you to tweak your output video in many ways - take a look at the Handbrake Guide.
When you change one of the settings, be sure to save it in a preset (call it "Nexus One") so you can easily load it next time.
One thing that's really recommended, is using a higher video resolution (thanks dvdcatalyst). The "iPhone and iPod Touch" preset sets the video width to 480px, which is the maximum for those devices. That's pretty nice, but since the N1 can handle 800x480, you can take advantage of that like so:
Go to View -> "Picture Settings"
If your source video width is <= 800px, then check "Optimal for source" under "Storage".
If your source video width is > 800px, then "Optimal width for source" will be bigger then your screen can display, so you'll be wasting storage space and CPU time. Manually setting the "Storage" width to 800px will alleviate this problem.
Here are a few things that you might want to experiment with:
Increase the video quality (on the "Video" tab) to 65%, although you proably won't notice this on your phone.
Under View -> "Picture Settings" you can customize the dimensions of the video, or...
...enable the Deblocking filter (level 5-10) if your source video exhibits "blockiness".
Increase the audio quality (on the "Audio" tab) by increasing the AAC bitrate. Don't go over 160 (cfr. the phone specs) !
Burn in subtitles (on the "Subtitles" tab). I don't think the native "Gallery" video player supports .srt files (yet?). NOTE: I haven't done this, feel free to share your experience.
Toy around with the Anamorphic Modes - using them can make your files smaller without losing quality. Try "Loose Anamorphic" with an alignment of 16.
If you want to do this from command line, the following command should get your started:
HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. It is packaged with all the needed libraries, so you don't have to go through the pain of compiling ffmpeg or mencoder with x264 support. Go to the download page and install it !
Note:
Ubuntu Linux users once again have the edge here; instead of downloading the installation package from the website, you can also add Ubuntu's Handbrake repository to your software sources, so that it's automatically upgraded and what not. Read all about it in the official HOW-TO.
STEP 2: Use Handbrake to convert your first video
Start Handbrake.
The easiest way to convert your first video is to:
open the input video (CTRL-O)
select the "iPhone and iPod Touch" preset on the right
click "Queue" -> "Start Queue" to start converting.
Now you're done ! Go do something else because this takes a while (about 1 hour to convert a 90-minute movie on my Intel Core Duo @ 2.33Ghz). When the video has finished converting, copy it to your Nexus One and try it out.
STEP 3 (optional): Customizations
Handbrake allows you to tweak your output video in many ways - take a look at the Handbrake Guide.
When you change one of the settings, be sure to save it in a preset (call it "Nexus One") so you can easily load it next time.
One thing that's really recommended, is using a higher video resolution (thanks dvdcatalyst). The "iPhone and iPod Touch" preset sets the video width to 480px, which is the maximum for those devices. That's pretty nice, but since the N1 can handle 800x480, you can take advantage of that like so:
Go to View -> "Picture Settings"
If your source video width is <= 800px, then check "Optimal for source" under "Storage".
If your source video width is > 800px, then "Optimal width for source" will be bigger then your screen can display, so you'll be wasting storage space and CPU time. Manually setting the "Storage" width to 800px will alleviate this problem.
Here are a few things that you might want to experiment with:
Increase the video quality (on the "Video" tab) to 65%, although you proably won't notice this on your phone.
Under View -> "Picture Settings" you can customize the dimensions of the video, or...
...enable the Deblocking filter (level 5-10) if your source video exhibits "blockiness".
Increase the audio quality (on the "Audio" tab) by increasing the AAC bitrate. Don't go over 160 (cfr. the phone specs) !
Burn in subtitles (on the "Subtitles" tab). I don't think the native "Gallery" video player supports .srt files (yet?). NOTE: I haven't done this, feel free to share your experience.
Toy around with the Anamorphic Modes - using them can make your files smaller without losing quality. Try "Loose Anamorphic" with an alignment of 16.
If you want to do this from command line, the following command should get your started:
It does autocropping, a little deblocking, and loose anamorphic encoding at 60% quality.
FAQ
Why can't we just download a media player app that plays downloaded movies (for example, Xvid in AVI) ?
There are to my knowledge no free apps that do this.
If your video is encoded with H.264 AVC, you can benefit from the hardware acceleration, and you can stick with the built-in "Gallery" movie player.
It doesn't hurt to convert your video's to H.264. In fact, they'll take less space for the same quality.
Known Issues
When rotating the video (by tilting the phone), it goes white. This has been seen when opening the video with ES File Explorer, but I have a feeling this always happens when you try to rotate a video on the Nexus One (thanks m1bxf).
Some users report having a different GUI (different menu's and such) in Handbrake 0.9.4. We haven't gotten to the bottom of that, so anyone who can confirm or deny this if free to do so.
