The Competition

[bricks]

For me, it is mainly the audio track of the video that is important, since my language is not English. the video itself can be easily downloaded from a torrent and then remuxed to the desired audio track. aac two channels - the quality is deplorable.

[Kattanders]

I do the same, except that I re-encode to H.265 using CRF to get smaller files. It would be nice to be able to control the encoding used by the screen recording instead, but that's unlikely. The extra step still gives quality that's good enough for me.

I use Vidcoder which is utilising handbrake. CRF I think corresponds to Vidcoders CQ (constant quality) (bigger file for more complex video), while the CQ (constant quantisation) corresponds to Vidcoders "Average Bitrate" option meaning that you know the resulting filesize in advance. NVEC is just the envidia hardware encoding. I mostly use the average bitrate which also gives higher bit rate to complex scenes. In regard to CRF I still have not found a "perfekt" RF (CQ) value. I only have a 31.5 Inch 1080p TV so I don't really notice much quality difference between CQ20 and 30, however, the filesize if significantly different. What settings have you made good results with?

[wyhtmgm]

I use Vidcoder which is utilising handbrake. CRF I think corresponds to Vidcoders CQ (constant quality) (bigger file for more complex video), while the CQ (constant quantisation) corresponds to Vidcoders "Average Bitrate" option meaning that you know the resulting filesize in advance. NVEC is just the envidia hardware encoding. I mostly use the average bitrate which also gives higher bit rate to complex scenes. In regard to CRF I still have not found a "perfekt" RF (CQ) value. I only have a 31.5 Inch 1080p TV so I don't really notice much quality difference between CQ20 and 30, however, the filesize if significantly different. What settings have you made good results with?

For most FHD files I use CRF 29 with DVDFab 12. DVDFab 13 uses Unifab for converting, and I've avoided Unifab because of problems I had when it first came out, but 29 with DVDFab 12 seems to correspond to 30 or 31 with Unifab. I've been doing mainly animated FHD files lately. 29 is fine for that, but is perhaps marginal for live action and especially SD. When experimenting I look for the largest number (smallest file) where surfaces like walls looks good to my eye, and add 2. "Blinking" walls seems to be the first sign of quality problems.

[NewMelle]

also note that the competition no longer has the Lifetime license any longer.

I'd have to be drugged, flogged, tortured, beaten, raped, stabbed and shot before I'd ever consider a lifetime license again. And even then it's iffy. SF has taught me a very expensive lesson indeed!

I don't re-encode myself as my system is starting to show it's gray muzzle and getting a little stiff in the joints. It was much easier to buy a pair of large external drives (Mirrored). A 16TB cost me $280. That's $0.0175 per Gig if my math is right (280 / 16000). I can recall a time when $280 wouldn't get you 10MB, the drive was the size of a Volkswagen, the controller card was extra and everything was command line in a 480K environment (even using loadhigh). Yes, I've been at it that damn long. If I were limited on storage space I probably would re-encode larger titles. Just set them up to bake overnight.

With regards to re-encoding. If I enjoyed watching sluggish progress bars and exponentially slower processing times I'd be in 7th heaven. That is not what I bought when I bought it. I will say I don't have Netflix so I can only imagine the pain there.

If a restaurant changes management and the food turns to shit I won't be eating there and I won't be back until I am absolutely certain they aren't still serving shit on a plate.

I look at it this way. You buy a diamond ring and some time later it shrinks and yellows. Would you just roll over and take it or be banging on the jeweler's door?

[Chameleon]

Can someone explain something to me, what is "Cover art" and what use is it?

[IronicMan]

i tired reducing a file size using handbrake on the Fast 1080p30 setting with the Constant Quality number at about 20...very easy to do...i thought it looked good except when looking at a scene where there were a lot of lines close together on a vent I noticed a bit of wavy movement among the lines, which wouldn't be something that I would normally notice anyway when watching a show, or at least wouldn't be enough to keep me from enjoying it...so for someone like me who wants a simple way to reduce file size without having to learn a bunch of complicated settings, that seems to be a good choice.

[marcelospera]

The competition though, still cannot solve Netflix 1080p downloads.

Downloads at 1080p in Flixgrab+ is working normally.

[bricks]

Downloads at 1080p in Flixgrab+ is working normally.

Downloads or re-encode?

[Brozilla]

Downloads or re-encode?

Screenrecord

[NewMelle]

Can someone explain something to me, what is "Cover art" and what use is it?

Basically the DVD cover. My media server handles that.

Downloads at 1080p in Flixgrab+ is working normally.

I little homework is in order there. Flixgrab+, MovPilot, FreeGrabApp and many others are just a rip of a rip of a rip of a rip. Check the reviews on Trustpilot. I did a head to head comparison of many of them. I quickly flushed them all down the binary toilet.

[Chameleon]

Posted by NewMelle
Basically the DVD cover. My media server handles that.

Are you talking about a thumbnail? Just use Icaros. You can use any screenshot in the movie.

[NewMelle]

He's talking about DVD cover art like this.

[JeffDavis]

Cover art is an image that is embedded in the video or audio file. There are many ways to embed an image of your choice (I use MP3Tag), but it is convenient to have the download software embed the cover art image that the streaming service has already provided. This is one area where StreamFab has the advantage over The Competition. I don't think The Competition is unable to embed the cover art, they simply choose not to. It's almost as if it's a matter of principle for them.

[k18w]

any one know anything about jaksta

[NewMelle]

Cover art is an image that is embedded in the video or audio file. There are many ways to embed an image of your choice (I use MP3Tag), but it is convenient to have the download software embed the cover art image that the streaming service has already provided. This is one area where StreamFab has the advantage over The Competition. I don't think The Competition is unable to embed the cover art, they simply choose not to. It's almost as if it's a matter of principle for them.

I guess that's a plus for some. I didn't even realize it was a thing until now.. My media server handles that but if other media servers don't I guess it matters. If I knew SF was embedding images in the video I would definitely want a way to strip that out.

any one know anything about jaksta

Google is your friend there. Never heard of it until now. They use GoDaddy for hosting. That tells me a LOT. Be sure to check Trustpilot. You get the real skinny there.