Handbrake 0.9.0 - A True "Mac Gem"
Arriving in my e-mail inbox a day or so ago was an article from Macworld that described about Handbrake 0.9.0 as a Mac Gem. A Mac Gem is a piece of freeware, shareware, or donationware that almost all Mac owners need to have; and as someone who's been using the software for at least ten days, I have to agree! While it's not without its flaws, it's the best version, yet. If you're interested in ripping DVD movies off for your iPod or Apple TV, it's a “must-have” utility.
(Of course, I must insist on the usual legal warnings about only ripping off DVD's you own and even then warning you that this activity, when applied to commercial DVD's, might violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act if you live in the U.S.)
The appplication now sports a toolbar; but in doing so, now requires the user to select the source for the video files. The previous version seemed to find a DVD on its own, requiring the user only to tell it to “Open”. Once the source is selected, Handbrake reads the files and pulls them into the application. The user only needs to click on the correct preset, which for the iPod consists of “HB-iPod High-Rez” and “HB-iPod Low-Rez”. The difference between the two is that the “High-Rez” optimizes for your iPod and presentation on a TV using your iPod while “Low Rez” optimizes for playback on your iPod only. I always encode using the “High Rez” setting even though it takes a little longer. (How much? On a movie running 2 hours, an "iPod Low-Rez" setting showed an encoding time of 35 minutes while an "iPod High-Rez" setting would take a bit over 50.)
The only other thing you need to do is check the filename and path for the end file and then click on the Start button. You'll find a progress bar forms below it along with the estimated time it will take to complete the encoding.
That's where the real beauty of this version is seen. Using my 2.66 Ghz dual processor, dual-core Mac Pro, it would typically take between an hour and 45 minutes to two hours to encode the average two hour movie. With this version, the process is taking between 30 – 45 minutes. This version uses multithreading to speed things up, i.e., it takes advantage of the Mac Pro's multiple cores.
I've encoded about five or six movies using this version. All the files have looked great and sounded great both on the Mac Pro (played through iTunes) and on my iPod. But I have not inserted chapter markers into any of these movies, and a note at the Handbrake website says doing so may cause the encode to hang. The site claims the fix will appear in the next version, 0.9.1.
Still, this version is a definite improvement over the last, and significantly so. Especially if you own any kind of a dual processor or dual core powered Mac, download it. You'll be glad you did.
(Of course, I must insist on the usual legal warnings about only ripping off DVD's you own and even then warning you that this activity, when applied to commercial DVD's, might violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act if you live in the U.S.)
The appplication now sports a toolbar; but in doing so, now requires the user to select the source for the video files. The previous version seemed to find a DVD on its own, requiring the user only to tell it to “Open”. Once the source is selected, Handbrake reads the files and pulls them into the application. The user only needs to click on the correct preset, which for the iPod consists of “HB-iPod High-Rez” and “HB-iPod Low-Rez”. The difference between the two is that the “High-Rez” optimizes for your iPod and presentation on a TV using your iPod while “Low Rez” optimizes for playback on your iPod only. I always encode using the “High Rez” setting even though it takes a little longer. (How much? On a movie running 2 hours, an "iPod Low-Rez" setting showed an encoding time of 35 minutes while an "iPod High-Rez" setting would take a bit over 50.)
The only other thing you need to do is check the filename and path for the end file and then click on the Start button. You'll find a progress bar forms below it along with the estimated time it will take to complete the encoding.
That's where the real beauty of this version is seen. Using my 2.66 Ghz dual processor, dual-core Mac Pro, it would typically take between an hour and 45 minutes to two hours to encode the average two hour movie. With this version, the process is taking between 30 – 45 minutes. This version uses multithreading to speed things up, i.e., it takes advantage of the Mac Pro's multiple cores.
I've encoded about five or six movies using this version. All the files have looked great and sounded great both on the Mac Pro (played through iTunes) and on my iPod. But I have not inserted chapter markers into any of these movies, and a note at the Handbrake website says doing so may cause the encode to hang. The site claims the fix will appear in the next version, 0.9.1.
Still, this version is a definite improvement over the last, and significantly so. Especially if you own any kind of a dual processor or dual core powered Mac, download it. You'll be glad you did.
posted by Andy Foster at
9:14 PM
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