What Is HandBrake?
This program's bundle is identified as org.m0k.handbrake. The latest version of the application can be downloaded for Mac OS X 10.6 or later. This free Mac app is a product of HandBrake Project. The latest setup package takes up 12.6 MB on disk.
HandBrake can be defined as a free and open source video converter for Windows, Mac and Linux. Its supported media forms range from physical DVDs to Matroska (MKV), Audio Video Interleave (AVI), MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4), VIDEO_TS and several others. After nearly 17 years since its development (in 2003), Handbrake video converter is still popular. Before we go in deeper, let's recap the basic information first:
- Current Version: 1.3.1
- Developer: HandBrake Team (initially Eric 'titer' Petit, and later Rodney Hester and Chris Long for MediaFork project)
- Operating Systems: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 (64 bit); Mac OS X 10.11 and later, Linux Ubuntu deb, Flatpak
If you are new to HandBrake, you may want to know whether HandBrake is the best video converter for your computer, what other people say about it, what the greatest strengths and weaknesses are. All you need to know about this video transcoder will be buttoned down in the following text.
Is HandBrake the Best Video Converter?
You might have read through a wealth of professional reviews before downloading the program. Actually, these points of views are similar and can be concluded into two aspects:
1. HandBrake is more suitable for advanced users than beginners.
2. HandBrake is easier to be used on a Mac computer than Windows.
Natively, HandBrake was not the best video converter for universal users. The reason is obvious. At the very beginning, HandBrake was developed for ripping a movie DVD (for storing on a device) on Mac only. More people used this software for DVD ripping than video conversion in early stage. Anyhow, after various revisions and changes, from beta version to the percent, HandBrake has become mature and has been recommended as a solid choice for free transcoding.
Pros:
- - It is totally free and comparatively stable.
- - It can convert both DVDs and videos to popular formats.
- - It has vivid options and customizing freedom for professionals.
Cons:
- - The supported video formats are limited – only the common ones. For example, it only has three output container formats.
- - HandBrake does not rip copy-protected DVDs. It does not circumvent copy protection natively. For removing DRM, users have to install the latest version of libdvdcss, in combination with VLC Media Player.
- - Problems occur from time to time, according to users, such as HandBrake not copies part of movie, does not complete encoding, for example:
'HandBrake took a couple tries to correctly convert a 15-minute video file the first time. It seemed to shut down without finishing, but eventually it worked. That took about 40 minutes to finish converting and encoding.' – quoted from CNET.
If you want a video converter that is faster, safer, easier to use and supports more formats, please download VideoProc and give it a try.
How Do I Convert a Video with HandBrake on Windows or on Mac
After downloading and installing the right version on your computer, you can encode your video through the following steps:
Step 1: Insert the source file.
There are three ways to import the source video file to HandBrake:
- 1. Drag your source file directly to HandBrake.
- 2. Click on the 'Open Source' option on the top left.
- 3. Click on 'File' on the topmost and choose 'Open', then you can either click 'file' / 'file folder' or drag the source file directly to the dark area on the right.
Step 2: Choose a container format for output.
On 'Summary', you can choose MP4, MKV or WebM as your output format. You can also choose an option in the Preset area on the right. There are vivid options like 'General', 'Web', 'Device', 'Matroska' and 'Production' that are classified based on encoding speed, quality and usage.
Step 3: Adjust dimension.
Click on the 'Dimensions tab, next to 'Summary' to crop your video or change the width and height.
Step 4: Apply filters if necessary.
The filters are different from that of video editing software. There are 'Detelecine' to improve telecined video, 'Decomb' for deinterlacing, 'Denoise' if your video is grainy, 'Deblock' to remove blockiness supposedly. But not all of them are useful for all situations. You should turn on some filter only when you need it.
Step 5: Adjust detailed video/audio parameters.
You can change video / audio codec, frame rate, and make as many presets as that are provided in HandBrake video converter for adjusting the output quality and file size.
Note: 'Subtitles' and 'Chapters' tabs are more useful when ripping a DVD.
Step 6: Choose a destination folder to save the output file.
After completing all presets, you should click 'Browse' next to 'Save As' to save the output file.
Step 7: Start encoding.
Click 'Start Encode' on the top.
Why Do People Like HandBrake?
You may notice that the domain of HandBrake ends with .fr. But the product has virtually nothing to do with France. HandBrake has users around the world, including India, Iran, Canada, Australia, but 18% come from the United States. Until now, it still has around xxx traffic from the United States. Why does HandBrake have so many users, especially American users? From my personal view, there are 4 possible reasons apart from the product features:
1. People like Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and HandBrake was created not for money making. Yes, it is totally free.
2. The GUI of HandBrake is in line with the operating habits of people in Europe and the United States. Especially, HandBrake is friendly to Apple Mac; Americans use Mac.
3. Most American people are highly educated and geeky. The technical terms, although not well explained on the GUI of HandBrake, poses no barrier to them. Customizing bit rate, file size, sample rate and so on is also a piece of cake.
4. HandBrake was developed in 2003 when DVDs are still prevailing and there was no other way to get them digitalized (meaning there was bare of competitor). After using for years, users get used to it for both DVD ripping and video conversion.
However, with the decrease of DVD users and the impact of other commercial software, the user base of HandBrake has gradually declined.
What People Don't Like HandBrake:
1. Some features in HandBrake are hidden and are hard to find.
2. The latest version (1.3.1) of HandBrake video converter has no AVI and WMV options or the like as output formats. So if you need to convert MP4 to AVI or WMV, you have to find the other way, such as download or downgrade to the early version or turn to other video converter.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is HandBrake Video Converter Safe?
HandBrake software itself is safe and is not a virus. But back to May 2017, HandBrake Mac users had undergone a bad experience of Trojan attack, with whopping 50% risk rate. The issue was found and the malicious app was removed soon. But on one dare to say there will be no more such risk in future since open OSS is easy to get hacked since its source code is open to anyone.
Even now when you are trying to download HandBrake video converter to your computer that is installed with a sensitive antivirus program, it would prompt you to clean up the downloaded file.
What Are Alternatives to HandBrake?
As said above, HandBrake may not be the No.1 choice for parts of users. For example, beginners may not know how to operate from the get-go, or how to control the hard-to-understand parameters to achieve ideal effect; Windows users have many better options for video format converting. Is there any software similar to HandBrake for Video Conversion?
Yes, indeed. For example,
- Free alternatives to HandBrake, including FFmpeg, MakeMKV and Avidemux.
- Professional alternatives to HandBrake for Windows: VideoProc, WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe,
- Powerful Alternatives to HandBrake for Mac: VideoProc, MacX DVD Ripper Pro, Any Video Converter, Xilisoft Video Converter.
- HandBrake Replacement for Linux: Avidemux, FFmpeg, MEncoder
Among them, the underlying technology of FFmpeg is used for the development of HandBrake; Avidemux is the representative of free HandBrake alternative, and VideoProc is the representative of commercial video file converter for Mac and Windows.
VideoProc has virtually all that HandBrake has. It can help everyone transcode or remux DVDs, videos, audios like a pro, supporting the latest codecs and container formats. It has hundreds of ready-made profiles, delivers 47x real-time conversion speed with Full GPU Acceleration, offers up to 99% compression ratio. What's more, it can edit (cut, merge, crop, rotate, stabilize, remove noise, add effects, etc.), download and record media files as a rich toolbox. Download it to have a try!
If you’ve been looking for an application to transcode or convert videos to different formats, HandBrake is a trustworthy choice. An efficient open-source platform, it’s a free software to convert videos to multiple formats easily and quickly. With a wide range of features, such as presets, capability to add subtitles, and support for numerous formats, HandBrake won’t disappoint.
An open-source and free-to-use tool
The perfect tool to convert your videos without spending a dime.
With HandBrake for Mac, rip your DVDs without paying a penny ever again. Whether you want to convert a few videos or need to manage bulk conversions, the software doesn’t cost a dime. The best part is that HandBrake delivers excellent results without much downtime.
HandBrake (Mac) allows you to codify a double soundtrack while performing two-pass conversions. The bitrate calculator is another excellent feature. It automatically changes the video quality as per the file size.
If the video you’re trying to convert has black edges, they can be easily removed. It helps with the overall display of the final output. Other useful features include subtitles support, chapter selection, and grayscale encoding.
Easy-to-use with loads of features
Handbrake Software For Windows 10
Unlike its competitors, HandBrake has a simple graphical user interface (GUI). Once you’ve added a video to the list, the software produces an MPEG-4 or any other file format within seconds. However, your computer will need to have appropriate codecs installed for specific file types, such as OGM, Xvid, DivX, 3ivx, and more.
HandBrake supports a wide range of file formats. You can use several DVD-like sources, such as .VOB, VIDEO_TS, .TS files, real DVD, and DVD images. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support unencrypted protection methods internally. As such, something like a CSS library needs to be managed externally with third-party programs.
For large file sizes, you may experience a few crashes on Mac. Nevertheless, it’s not that annoying and lets you get back to work quickly. If you want to rip DVDs, HandBrake is the perfect open-source solution for Mac.
Queue, subtitles, chapters, and more
Handbrake Free Download Windows 10
HandBrake lets you queue files with ease. It’s an excellent feature for anyone looking to transcode several video files in multiple formats. Once you’ve added the files to a queue, just click ‘start’ to initiate the process. As per the presets and settings for each file, all videos in the queue will be instantly transcoded.
If you often use subtitles with video files, HandBrake makes the task easier. Advanced users in multimedia can easily add their own subtitles. If you already have an SRT file, just import it to the program and your job is done.
One of the most interesting features of HandBrake is that it lets you add audio tracks to video files. Since you can add multiple tracks to a file, the viewer can choose a specific audio stream from the video player. Audio tracks can also be named as per your preferences. HandBrake gives you several advanced options, such as the ability to set the bitrate, select the audio codec, fix sample rate, and more.
In comparison to competitors like MakeMKV or Total Video Converter, HandBrake comes with many interesting features. One of the most useful features is the ability to add chapters to videos. It allows you to create sections that can be played from a specific position in the video, making it easier to skip certain parts.
Advanced video options for perfect conversions
In the video tab, you can find advanced settings for a converted video. While the interface for this section is confusing, you’ll get a pretty good hang of it after a few tries. Some of the frequently used advanced settings are focused on video quality, framerate, optimization, bitrate, and video code (MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and H.264). If you want, HandBrake lets you choose a constant frame rate.
It’s easy to set the video quality of a converted file. Since the size of the file is directly proportional to video quality, you can manage the overall video size too. Moreover, HandBrake allows you to set the bitrate, which also affects the size of the final file.
If you want to change the height and width of the video, just explore the ‘Picture’ tab. It gives you the option to crop the video by selecting a specific area on the screen.
Without a doubt, HandBrake is one of the most promising open-source tools for video conversion and transcoding. It can easily and quickly convert videos into multiple formats. What’s the best part? Such an amazing software is completely free!
Where can you run this program?
HandBrake is available for multiple operating systems, thereby allowing seamless cross-platform usage. For Mac, it is recommended to have Mac OS 10.11 and above.
Is there a better alternative?
While HandBrake is a great choice, you might be looking for a few alternatives. If you use too many files in MKV format, MakeMKV could be a sound choice. It’s free and easy-to-use. However, since it’s not officially signed by Apple, you need to explore gatekeeper options to download this software on your Mac OS device.
Another good choice is Total Video Converter. It’s a powerful DVD Burner and Video Converter. The platform can convert any video file to DVD, iPhone, iPad, 3gp, avi, mp4, and other formats. The only drawback is that it’s browser-based, and uploading videos is a slow process. For making engaging videos, training videos, promo videos, and video tutorials, Moovly is a good choice. Though it’s free, it’s also browser-based, thereby affecting upload speeds.
Our take
Overall, HandBrake is an excellent choice for Mac. With this platform, you get complete control over video file conversions. It allows you to set several parameters for the output file, and the simple-to-use interface makes your job easier. If you’ve been using paid software for video file conversions, it’s time to try this one for free.
Should you download it?
Handbrake Mac Download 10.6
Yes, HandBrake for Mac is an impressive, efficient, and hassle-free video encoder. Since it’s free, you don’t have to worry about spending huge sums of money on bulk conversions. It’s the valid choice for all your ripping needs.
Handbrake Download For Mac 10.12.3
2.1.0.725