Updated Handbrake Zune Transcoding (now in h.264 with iPhone support)

With the release of HandBrake 0.9.4 I've finally been able to get a good x264 based encoding process running that produces video that is supported on both the Zune 8/16/120/HD and the iPhone. The encoding process does run bit longer than my previous method, but the end result is much better quality (due to being h.264 now).

The new settings are as follows: (Start from the Apple/Universal profile)
General Settings


  1. Set the container to MP4 and use either a .m4v or .mp4 extension

  2. Set the maximum width to 720 and clear the height field

  3. Set the cropping to auto


Video Settings


  1. Set the video codec to x264

  2. Use the target size to set the quality (350MB for a 45 minute TV episode, 500MB per hour for movies)


Audio Settings


  1. Leave the audio settings at the default (128kbps AAC Stereo or Dolby Digital)

  2. Encode


My preference is to queue up as much as I can to run overnight, since even on relatively good hardware it's still going to take a long time to convert any significant amount of media.

On a related side note, here is the video codec support for the Zune HD:

VIDEO SUPPORT
from the Zune Hardware Specs

HD 16GB/32GB

Windows Media Video (WMV) (.wmv)
Windows Media Video (WMV) (.wmv)

  • Main and Simple Profile, CBR or VBR, up to 10.0 Mbps peak video bit rate;

  • 720 pixels x 480 pixels up to 30 frames per second (or 720 pixels x 576 pixels up to 25 frames per second)

  • Advanced profile up to L2

  • 1280 pixels x 720 pixels up to 30 frames per second, CBR or VBR, up to 14.0 Mbps peak video bitrate

  • Zune software will transcode HD WMV files above stated capabilities at device sync


MPEG-4 (MP4/M4V) (.mp4, .m4v) Part 2 video

  • Simple Profile up to 4.0 Mbps peak video bit rate

  • 720 pixels x 480 pixels up to 30 frames per second (or 720 pixels x 576 pixels up to 25 frames per second);

  • Zune software will transcode HD MPEG-4 files at device sync


H.264

  • Baseline Profile + bframes, up to 10 Mbps peak video bit rate

  • 720 pixels x 480 pixels up to 30 frames per second (or 720 pixels x 576 pixels up to 25 frames per second)

  • 1280 pixels x 720 pixels up to 30 frames per second, up to level 3.1 and 14.0 Mbps peak video bitrate

  • Zune software will transcode HD WMV files above the stated capabilities at device sync