[quote=“JuiceWSA, post:5, topic:613657”]
For instance - I’ve got this thing I’ve been trying to get for years and here it is… now what?:
It’s both double-length episodes (I didn’t rip it - or it wouldn’t be) and checks in at 20+ Gigs / 3 hours and change. [/quote]
Once you finish your conversion, you could always use MKVToolNix to split the file back into the two separate episodes you want.
That’s … that’s a horrible rating. F-.
It’s probably awesome.
I’ve found no free tools to analyse x265… They all appear to be hundreds of £’s, but Bitrate Viewer 2.3 is good enough for x264.
It at least allows you to isolate the peak areas so you can then experiment.
Thanks, I wrote that off as being 1) from the dawn of time 2) for MPEG2 creators.
You’re making my case for me - Perry Mason just sat down 'cause this thing is on Otto Pilot.
That probably means that you could encode with my bit rates - and still get great stuff that falls into your window and eats a lot less storage. You’ve obviously got a lot of video using a lot more bit rate than is necessary to maintain ‘your quality’.
A Young, Not So Fat, Oliver Platt doesn’t need 8Mbps to stand there next to a good looking actor and deliver his lines.
I’m not aware of anywhere in Handbrake to control the default peak, other than using the above.
OK now it’s your sarcasm detector that’s broken. Or maybe my sarcasm-provider? Or maybe just me in general.
I was observing, maybe rudely, how we’re all somewhat talking into space. Kinda to each other. Kinda at each other. Kinda to ourselves, and just … past … each other.
Extra bits. Being dropped. Right? Funny, topical? Right?
Now that I say it out loud it doesn’t even seem like it was funny then.
Exactly!!!
I really don’t wanna be rude or disrespectful, but perhaps my 50 year old eyes can still see things you cant 
It actually took me a second read to realise… Lol
One last comment for tonight.
Just so everyone is clear here… I haven’t simply picked arbitrary Bitrates out of my a**…
I have spent hours and hours, encoding a BluRay rip at 10Mbps, then 8 Mbps, then 6 Mbps, all the way down to 2 Mbps.
Hours and hours and hours!!
And for me… 6.5 is my happy medium. Below that, I start to see small artifacts and occasional banding.
So like I said… Hours and hours, and the results speak for themselves 
Nite all…
O
M
G
Well folks - the next time I’m hauled kicking and screaming up Spike Hill to be nailed to a cross - looks like I’ll have some company.
Somebody else discovered there is life after MakeMKV - and used their own eyeballs to make a decision that works for them.
Welcome to the Plex forums. As you now can see It takes 89 replies to not (or even attempt to) answer your OP.
I believe it was sorted very early in the discussion Dave, but the discussion is now very off topic. Sad but that how it goes when it heated.
Some members are making it a witch hunt, which i don’t understand moderators have left play
On the contrary - I think everything there is to know about encoding is contained in these 90+ posts.
If you buy enough hardware you can just let Plex transcode everything for you - or you can make it a personal mission - and do whatever the hell you want…lol
Mornin guys,
I sure missed a lot while I was sleeping. Hoping those were toy pitchforks and axes.
I’m just trying to soak in what I can understand in all the info shared here, while waiting for my endless supply of forced air to arrive. I remembered that I have a few more analog DVDs to zoom into with HB so I will get those ready for a post blowout encode and see if I still reach nuclear meltdown temps.
It is quite fascinating to see how everyone tries to bend their media to fit within their upload capabilities. Life would be far simpler if we all had on average at least a 100mbit uplink. But we don’t and that’s why we’re here in this spirited discussion. 
Might ya wanna take a break for cake now, ya done made me hungry for it!
The other reason you do that…:
So Plex will call them 480p and not SD. <—I have severe allergic reactions to “SD”. <—“SD” suggests laziness and needing a bath or a ‘bumwash’ in the sink at the Exxon station…lol
Find your calm place. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but labels like SD and 480 will never hurt me.”
That’s rather obvious.
Go help this guy - he needs 4K help:
If encoding Amamorphic Settings into HD/4K material is your thing…
it’s not my thing.
You may also need a VooDoo Medicine Man/Woman - his aspect ratio changes when he changes audio.
that’s not my thing either…
That goes for @axemanuk666 as well - if either of you have any 4K stuff.
I would download 100g of something I’ll never be able to see if I felt better…
that’s absolutely not my thing.
not today.
I think this whole mess of limiting the upper bitrate in order to fit into your available bandwidth is not being looked at correctly. If you are using an average bitrate encoding method, you only need to choose the correct average bitrate to fit your pipes.
You do understand that when streaming a video file (locally or over the internet) that you are not literally doing a direct stream right? Videos are always cached (buffered) on the receiving end to a certain amount of time or file size ahead of where the video is currently playing in order to compensate for fluctuations in network (internet) bandwidth that are always going to be present. Even if you have an extended peak that is much above your available bandwidth, there should not be any problem with playback. During the time when the bitrate is below your available bandwidth, the receiving end would have already received and cached that extra that is above your available bandwidth.
You guys are WAY over thinking this whole thing…
