Video Software Conversion HandBrake for Windows

HandBrake for Windows HandBrake for Windows 1.3.3 for Windows

by HandBrake

Avg. Rating 3.9 (223 votes)

File Details

File Size 12.6 MB
License Open Source
Operating System Windows 7/8/10/Vista/XP
Date Added
Total Downloads 34,277
Publisher HandBrake
Homepage HandBrake
Other Versions

Publisher's Description

Handbrake is a utility that can convert standard DVD's into a compressed format of your choice. mp4 with AAC audio or AVC with h264 video and AAC audio. It also lets you crop the image to get rid of the black bars to bring down the size even more and lets you choose options as to how you want it encoded.

Latest Reviews

uberfly

uberfly reviewed v1.0.1 on Dec 31, 2016

Strange screenshot.... Anyway, it is the best option 99% of the time. Easiest to use with great results. Thanks to the devs. It is in invaluable.

Uriel

Uriel reviewed v1.0.1 on Dec 30, 2016

It is very simple to use for a beginner but has advanced features to tweak the video.Works great.

deda

deda reviewed v0.10.3 on Jan 25, 2016

Nothing compares to it!

Antichrist

Antichrist reviewed v0.9.9 on Aug 12, 2013

For people new to the program and have tried to find the right settings, here's what I do for converting a DVD (or Bluray when I'm converting down to 720p - what you'll actually do is change the width to 1280) to a compressed file I want to play or stream from Windows:

Start with the High Profile preset. Use x264 as video codec, with the mkv file extension (I think mkv is best because you can add chapters etc as long as it's compatible for you). I Use constant quality at RF 16 for HD rips (may be overkill, lower is better, many people recommend 22 or 20 for HD. I use RF20 for DVD rips). Use high profile, Film preset (unless it's animation, use the animation setting), I use the 'slower' setting for speed.
Filters tab, change Detelecine and Decomb to default.
On the picture tab, Anamorphic=Loose, Modulus=16, Cropping=automatic. For audio use passthru if it's an AC3 file, otherwise you're compressing a compressed file. If it's DTS (which can be lossless or compressed) or another less efficient audio codec I like to compress with Nero AAC in Foobar2000 after choosing passthru and letting Handbrake encode the video (VBR q-5 for stereo and q-4 for multichannel should be transparent to the original audio for most people) and remux the audio afterwards with MKVMerge, because the AAC options in Handbrake for Windows aren't very good quality but they don't allow Nero's AAC encoder because of licensing issues.
People on the internet can and do argue all day about the settings I've just given, but it should be a good starting place since all the options can be bewildering for novices. Also you should definitely try MakeMKV for ripping blurays to the drive.

roj

roj reviewed v0.9.5 on Apr 27, 2011

Converting MKVs for the several iPad2s in the house as well as the iPhones.

Godz Gift.

Love this.

FIVE stars.

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v0.9.5 on Mar 27, 2011

I am running 0.9.5 on Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Service Pack 1 with 12 gig of RAM and a GTX 460 1gig and 266.58 drivers and am having good luck so far with the application.

I am using it to convert DVD rips of TV shows and movies that I own and create versions that will play on our 64 gig 3G iPad 2 and it is working very well overall. I have to manually enable De-Interlacing (set to Slower) but other than that I am using the default settings provided by the iPad preset.

The De-Interlacing does soften the video somewhat, but other than that, the videos come out great. The Animorphic properties are retained and I'm getting a full 480 pixels of vertical resolution in M4V files that play fine with VLC on the PC and read directly into iTunes and sync to the iPad 2 without problems. They look good on the iPad 2 and sound fine as well, each 44 min episode coming in at 450-650 meg depending on the variable compression involved with each.

I'm very glad that this Open Source app is available, because while DVDFab HD Decrypter (the free function portion of the program) works for actually ripping the DVD's to the hard drive, the conversion options of the full program (8.0.8.5 trial) generated out-of-sync audio, playback artifacts, aspect ratio problems and large file sizes.

With HandBrake you can avoid paying through the nose for crap such as the conversion code included in the DVDFab retail and just use the free ripping feature and then put that app away.

Thanks to the programmers for their hard work on what seems a solid new release. There is work yet to be done, and the Queue setup for batch conversions really needs to be refined for ease of use, but on balance, this is one really good app and one that is easy to recommend.

uberfly

uberfly reviewed v0.9.5 on Jan 4, 2011

Works great for me. Stable and easy to use. Often the default settings are all you need to get a fast conversion to mp4 and go. One nice improvement of the latest:

0.9.5 - BluRay disc structure support.

zholy = more bs spam

zholy

zholy reviewed v0.9.5 on Jan 3, 2011

But still no support for Blu-Rays which is why I picked up, it is difficult to use for me.afterward I found a easy to use dvd ripper to ipad for Aneesoft,http://www.aneesoft.com/very suit for me,lol…..

jetz

jetz reviewed v0.9.5 on Jan 3, 2011

This is thee converter to use.
All you chinese conver spammpers can fockof! Keep your crappy converter apps in china!

Hallway

Hallway reviewed v0.9.4 on Nov 30, 2009

Crashes constantly here.

Avg. Rating 3.9 (223 votes)
Your Rating

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Pros: 555

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uberfly

uberfly reviewed v1.0.1 on Dec 31, 2016

Strange screenshot.... Anyway, it is the best option 99% of the time. Easiest to use with great results. Thanks to the devs. It is in invaluable.

Uriel

Uriel reviewed v1.0.1 on Dec 30, 2016

It is very simple to use for a beginner but has advanced features to tweak the video.Works great.

deda

deda reviewed v0.10.3 on Jan 25, 2016

Nothing compares to it!

Antichrist

Antichrist reviewed v0.9.9 on Aug 12, 2013

For people new to the program and have tried to find the right settings, here's what I do for converting a DVD (or Bluray when I'm converting down to 720p - what you'll actually do is change the width to 1280) to a compressed file I want to play or stream from Windows:

Start with the High Profile preset. Use x264 as video codec, with the mkv file extension (I think mkv is best because you can add chapters etc as long as it's compatible for you). I Use constant quality at RF 16 for HD rips (may be overkill, lower is better, many people recommend 22 or 20 for HD. I use RF20 for DVD rips). Use high profile, Film preset (unless it's animation, use the animation setting), I use the 'slower' setting for speed.
Filters tab, change Detelecine and Decomb to default.
On the picture tab, Anamorphic=Loose, Modulus=16, Cropping=automatic. For audio use passthru if it's an AC3 file, otherwise you're compressing a compressed file. If it's DTS (which can be lossless or compressed) or another less efficient audio codec I like to compress with Nero AAC in Foobar2000 after choosing passthru and letting Handbrake encode the video (VBR q-5 for stereo and q-4 for multichannel should be transparent to the original audio for most people) and remux the audio afterwards with MKVMerge, because the AAC options in Handbrake for Windows aren't very good quality but they don't allow Nero's AAC encoder because of licensing issues.
People on the internet can and do argue all day about the settings I've just given, but it should be a good starting place since all the options can be bewildering for novices. Also you should definitely try MakeMKV for ripping blurays to the drive.

roj

roj reviewed v0.9.5 on Apr 27, 2011

Converting MKVs for the several iPad2s in the house as well as the iPhones.

Godz Gift.

Love this.

FIVE stars.

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v0.9.5 on Mar 27, 2011

I am running 0.9.5 on Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Service Pack 1 with 12 gig of RAM and a GTX 460 1gig and 266.58 drivers and am having good luck so far with the application.

I am using it to convert DVD rips of TV shows and movies that I own and create versions that will play on our 64 gig 3G iPad 2 and it is working very well overall. I have to manually enable De-Interlacing (set to Slower) but other than that I am using the default settings provided by the iPad preset.

The De-Interlacing does soften the video somewhat, but other than that, the videos come out great. The Animorphic properties are retained and I'm getting a full 480 pixels of vertical resolution in M4V files that play fine with VLC on the PC and read directly into iTunes and sync to the iPad 2 without problems. They look good on the iPad 2 and sound fine as well, each 44 min episode coming in at 450-650 meg depending on the variable compression involved with each.

I'm very glad that this Open Source app is available, because while DVDFab HD Decrypter (the free function portion of the program) works for actually ripping the DVD's to the hard drive, the conversion options of the full program (8.0.8.5 trial) generated out-of-sync audio, playback artifacts, aspect ratio problems and large file sizes.

With HandBrake you can avoid paying through the nose for crap such as the conversion code included in the DVDFab retail and just use the free ripping feature and then put that app away.

Thanks to the programmers for their hard work on what seems a solid new release. There is work yet to be done, and the Queue setup for batch conversions really needs to be refined for ease of use, but on balance, this is one really good app and one that is easy to recommend.

uberfly

uberfly reviewed v0.9.5 on Jan 4, 2011

Works great for me. Stable and easy to use. Often the default settings are all you need to get a fast conversion to mp4 and go. One nice improvement of the latest:

0.9.5 - BluRay disc structure support.

zholy = more bs spam

zholy

zholy reviewed v0.9.5 on Jan 3, 2011

But still no support for Blu-Rays which is why I picked up, it is difficult to use for me.afterward I found a easy to use dvd ripper to ipad for Aneesoft,http://www.aneesoft.com/very suit for me,lol…..

jetz

jetz reviewed v0.9.5 on Jan 3, 2011

This is thee converter to use.
All you chinese conver spammpers can fockof! Keep your crappy converter apps in china!

Hallway

Hallway reviewed v0.9.4 on Nov 30, 2009

Crashes constantly here.

iphonefans2009

iphonefans2009 reviewed v0.9.3 on Jul 27, 2009

HandBrake is very popular, I can see it on many website, this is benefit from free. On the other hand, it is difficult to use for beginner, lack support and weak stability. HandBrake attend technology and ignore user experience.
I consider iFunia is better than it, please visit http://www.ifunia.com

PatrickDeSutter

PatrickDeSutter reviewed v0.9.3 on Nov 24, 2008

I prefer the much more cleverly programmed and also free StaxRip which can predict image quality for a specified output size.

fredlkrue

fredlkrue reviewed v0.9.3 on Nov 24, 2008

Changelog:
http://trac.handbrake.fr/browser/tags/0.9.3/NEWS

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