Macgasm

Everyone’s favorite video transcoding tool is Handbrake, right? Right. Well, there are a TON of different configurations in Handbrake for your video. Luckily, they have done some house cleaning recently. Now there are two containers to choose from: MP4 and MKV. If you plan on using iTunes, an AppleTV, an iPod, or an iPhone, stick with MP4.

I consider myself an expert when it comes to digital video, but even I can’t keep track of every single nuance of each encoder. There is no need to bother with that anyway. Handbrake has presets. Presets are your friend. If you don’t see them, press the “Toggle Presets” button in the upper righthand corner of the main Handbrake window.

Now, we have to pick out which preset to use. Since this is an Apple-based website, I say we stick with the “Apple” section of the presets. Unless you’re REALLY, REALLY pressed for hard drive space, don’t bother with the “iPod Preset.” It squeezes the file until there is almost nothing left. Instead, try encoding video files intended for mobile devices with the “iPhone & iPod Touch Preset.” The “AppleTV Preset” will give you a nice looking file, but won’t play on all mobile devices. As long as hard drive space is not an issue, I recommend that you use the “Universal Preset” whenever possible. It will give you a snazzy finished product that works on pretty much any Apple device that plays video.

Provided that you started with a source that isn’t jacked up, you should now have superb copies. If not, take a quick look at the Handbrake Documentation. It will quite easily explain how to fix most any problem you come across.

Photo Credit: gemstone

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