Amazon downloads too large

Midnight-Man

Hi folks, I hope someone might be able to assist!

I am a new StreamFab user, and downloading files from Netflix works great - the file size for a 45 minute show is around 800Mb. This was done at 1080p.

But a similar length show from Amazon Prime is over 4000Mb, and it's also only downloaded at 1080p.

Would anyone know why, and also, where I need to go in the settings to rectify this? I have had a good look, and can't seem to find the settings for this :(

Thanks in advance!

Per K

Amazon Prime has a much higher bitrate on their videos than Netflix have on any of theirs.
In a few cases, i have seen Amazon Prime having a bitrate in the 14 Mbps area on 1080p, which makes them superior over Netflix.

Relative new to StreamFab my self and chose not to mess too much with its settings, but when it comes to Amazon Prime, i would stick to download them in that high quality.
Then you can always convert them offline with something like DVDFab's converter or some other video converter you are used to work with.

corey75

That high file size is the filesize amazon's content is on their servers. If you change the resolution to a lower bitrate like 720, it will download much smaller files.

Midnight-Man

Righto! Thank you for the information/clarification - now at least I know I haven't messed anything up :)

One further question if I may for the experts out there - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan should include subtitles, and whilst I selected to download them, they didn't make it into the video.

Could I please call on some expertise to let me know what I missed on that front please?

corey75

Mona is a good one to reach out to. I like downloading multiple subtitles and have had issues with it in the past. I haven't tried recently but they were just making new changes so that might have something to do with it, just a guess. Mona can get that information sent to the developers. She's usually pretty good about checking the forums and replying eventually to most posts with questions.

KidJoe

Righto! Thank you for the information/clarification - now at least I know I haven't messed anything up :)

One further question if I may for the experts out there - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan should include subtitles, and whilst I selected to download them, they didn't make it into the video.

Could I please call on some expertise to let me know what I missed on that front please?
Midnight-Man

Are you saying their are not included because you don't see them upon playback? when you try to turn them on there are no subtitles to select, or because you used a tool like to view the info about the file, and its not showing any subtitle track?

Depending on your StreamFab settings, the subtitles could be downloaded as an external .SRT file (separate from the MP4 movie/show download file), or integrated/internal (aka remuxed in streamfab settings) into the MP4 movie/show download.

If external SRT, your player must be able to handle external .SRT files properly, or you wont be able to enable/use them.

IF internal "remux into file", you MUST turn them on in your player. They won't default to being on.

KidJoe

I am a new StreamFab user, and downloading files from Netflix works great - the file size for a 45 minute show is around 800Mb. This was done at 1080p.

But a similar length show from Amazon Prime is over 4000Mb, and it's also only downloaded at 1080p.

Would anyone know why, and also, where I need to go in the settings to rectify this? I have had a good look, and can't seem to find the settings for this :(
Midnight-Man

Just to recap what has already been said, the video bit rate, resolution and even audio coding used by each service can/will vary and that will impact your "on disk" file sizes. Using a tool like you can see the details of the video or audio in the files you download.

To expand on it a little, I'll used an example I used the other day (in another thread) of Star Trek Undiscovered Country downloaded using StreamFab from Paramount+ and from Amazon to illustrate differences across services.

Amazon download has the following specs:
"on disk" File Size: 6.84 gig
Video: 8,262 kb/s AVC/H264 1920*816 (2.35:1) High@L4 - NOTE: black bars are NOT part of the video
Audio: English 640 kb/s 48.0 kHz, 6 Channels, E-AC-3 Dolby Digital Plus

The Paramount+ downloaded movie specs are:
"on disk" File Size: 3.73gig
Video: 4,467 kb/s, AVC/H264, 1920*1080(16:9) High@L4 - NOTE: Black Bars ARE part of the video, padding the top and bottom, to make it 16:9 aspect ratio
Audio: English 384 kb/s 48.0 kHz, 6 Channels, AC-3 Dolby Digital

While they are both "1080p" you can see the Amazon one is larger size because it has a higher video bit rate, which will look better. Also the audio is better on the Amazon one. 640 kb/s will sound better than 384 kb/s. And E-AC-3 will give you slightly better surround sound if you have a multi speaker setup for playback.

There is also the option in StreamFab to download from Amazon and HBO as H265 (also known as HEVC). H265 is more efficient than H264, so you can user a lower video bit rate on HEVC, get a smaller file size and achieve the same or better video qualtiy over H264.

With StreamFab set to download as H265, downloading that same movie from Amazon again, gets me:
File Size: 5.15gig
Video: 6,062 kb/s HEVC/H265 1920*816 (2.35:1) Main@L4@Main - NOTE: black bars are NOT part of the video
Audio: English 640 kb/s 48.0 kHz, 6 Channels, E-AC-3 Dolby Digital Plus

And while this gets a smaller over all file size, and a lower video bit rate, the movie looks the same, if not better as the H264 version.

Midnight-Man

Thanks you @KidJoe for the answers you've given.

To answer your questions on subtitles, when I played back the video file, I did not see the required subtitles. There was no separate .SRT file created at the time of download, nor were they "encoded" within the video. I don't mind if StreamFab creates a separate .SRT file - my player can handle them if needed, as I run this all through Plex.

I would probably prefer to remux them into the file, and whilst I did see the option to select subtitles, and did turn that on (I had this option as I was adding it to the queue if I recall correctly), I didn't see them in the end result.

KidJoe

Thanks you @KidJoe for the answers you've given.

To answer your questions on subtitles, when I played back the video file, I did not see the required subtitles. There was no separate .SRT file created at the time of download, nor were they "encoded" within the video. I don't mind if StreamFab creates a separate .SRT file - my player can handle them if needed, as I run this all through Plex.

I would probably prefer to remux them into the file, and whilst I did see the option to select subtitles, and did turn that on (I had this option as I was adding it to the queue if I recall correctly), I didn't see them in the end result.

Midnight-Man

In plex, do you have the option in Plex to turn subtitles on, and when you do, are you presented with a list of subtitles to select? If its not on the list to select in Plex, that is one thing, but if its there, and they are not displayed when you've selected them, its another.

I have streamfab set for "Download Subtitles = Remux into file"

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, S01E01 that I downloaded in August, does have descriptive subs (English, as well as descriptions of sounds happening... Example: at 3:31 "Car Horns Honk" and English dialog at 4:54). I just downloaded it again with 5.0.0.8 and it does have the same subs embedded in the movie.

Can you download Media Info install it, right click on the file and open it. It will tell you the details of the video, audio and any subs.