Best high quality transcode from VC-1

General Discussions
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I have read much about the problems play VC-1 files to a Roku Ultra. My playback is always stuttering or jerky or jumpy or whatever you want to call it. I have tried all suggested settings, etc. My other video rips look perfect and playback at full quality. Many trial and error tests show that it is only the VC-1 encoded files that playback poorly. After reading up, it appears the best way to solve the problem is to re-encode the VC-1 to something probably h.264 or h.265 and have plex play that file instead. I am willing to try this idea. I also want the audio left in its DTS original format.

Please advise on transcoding my VC-1 files to something else providing the highest quality possible (source files are on Blu-Ray). I am not concerned about files size or speed, just quality. I have had Handbrake suggested, and tried a few others. I am never sure of the quality settings, and most of the tests I have done the files come out much smaller making me suspect they are not of the highest quality.

Please advise!

Thanks,

-david BTW

2

Transcoding, by its very nature, removes some information from the original. However, with correct settings, you will not be able to see the difference.

Using file size as a comparison is not necessarily valid due to how H.264 and H.265 work. Also, H.265 is more efficient, so for a given perceived quality, a H.265 file will be smaller than a H.264 file.

Try these steps / settings. Convert one or two chapters as a test. Adjust as needed until you like the results, then convert the entire movie.

Rip the disc with MakeMKV and load the file into Handbrake.

In Handbrake, start with the H.264 MKV 1080p30 preset.

Analyze the original video with MediaInfo. If it shows Scan type: Progressive then, on the Filters tab, set Interlace Detection = Off and Deinterlace = Off. Leave them enabled if Scan type = Interlaced.

On the video panel, set the Framerate to match that of the original (available via MediaInfo). Set the Encoder Preset to VerySlow. Set the Constant Quality slider to 20 or 22 (Personally, I cannot tell a difference, and 20 22 produces a smaller file).

Set your audio & subtitle settings as desired and process the movie.

Note 1: You can try the H.265 MKV 1080p30 preset as well. The resulting file will be smaller. It will also take much longer to process the movie.

Note 2: Do not use the Intel QSV or Nvidia NVEnc codecs. While potentially much faster at processing the video, the quality will be noticeably lower.

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3

You can try Constant Quality =18 or even 16 if you are not concerned with the file size.
(The lower the number, the higher the quality)

4

Thanks for the comments. In the past I used Pavtube Bytecopy, but it wouldn’t rip recently issues blu-ray disk as it lacked new encryption keys. Yesterday I found that Pavtube had issued an update on May 5th. I obtained the new version, and tried to convert some VC-1 tv show content.

For example, have one series with 4 episodes on one Blu-ray disc. Three of the four will rip to h.264 and one won’t. On a second disc, two out of 5 episodes worked the others didn’t. Is this inconsistency common with Blu-Ray Ripping?

The files that ripped now playback on my computer, and TV without jerky motion, but I do not have a repeatable consistent method of getting this stuff working.

I will try the settings posted above on handbrake to see if that improves anything.

-david BTW

5

as already posted above;

you should try makemkv to rip. its free to use the beta version.

then handbrake to convert them to your desired codec.

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