The HANDJOB Guide to BluRay Encodes for Mac (Beginner Friendly)

https://i.ibb.co/NjFz24P/dapmh1.png


Preface:

This guide is designed for beginners looking to create their first few HD HANDJOB encodes for the group using a Mac computer system. When you’ve finished your encode please drop by the HANDJOB thread to get it approved for uploading. If you upload your encode using the HANDJOB name before getting it approved, your torrent will very likely be deleted by PTP.

This guide covers BluRay encodes only. If you want to encode from a DVD source, please follow Wiki > The HANDJOB Guide to DVDRips for Mac (Beginner Friendly).

Act 1: software and settings

Please note that a lot of this software relies on Wine, which is not compatible with MacOS 10.15+ (Catalina onwards). If you are using Catalina+ and would like to use software for Windows, you'll need to look into Boot Camp or another form of Virtualisation.

Here's what you're gonna need:
  • MakeMKVWhat, Why, Where?: Show
  • Handbrake
  • MediainfoInfo: Show
  • VLC 3.0.2+What's this?: Show
  • WinebottlerWhat's this?: Show
  • SupRip - What's this?: Show
  • BDSup2Sub - What's this?: Show
  • Wine - What's this?: Show
  • eac3to - What's this?: Show
  • MKVToolNix (Get the MacOS X version) – What, why?: Show


Setting up SupRip: Show
Setting up Wine and eac3to: Show
Ripping and Decrypting your Blu-Ray Disc: Show

Setting up Handbrake:
  • Take off the training wheels: Show
  • Switching to MKV mode: Show
  • Tab 1: Dimensions: Show
  • Tab 2: Filters: Show
  • Tab 3: Video: Show
  • Tab 4: Audio: Show
  • Tab 5: Subtitles: Show
  • Tab 6: Chapters: Show
  • Saving your Preset: Show
    https://i.ibb.co/sVVvxdB/c3qzae.png
  • Cropping: Show
  • Choosing Your Resolution: Show


Act 2: testing and encoding

  • Test encode: Show
  • Calculating B-Frames: Show
  • Checking your bitrate: Show
  • Using the correct frame-rate: Show
  • Running your encode: Show


Act 3: audio, subtitles and muxing

  • Encoding audio and extracting subtitles with eac3to: Show
  • SRT subtitles... why?: Show
  • Subtitles Episode I: Optical Character Recognition: Show
  • Subtitles Episode II: Resizing the SUPs: Show
    .
  • Putting it all together: Show
  • Giving it a name: Show
  • Gathering intel / Posting for approval: Show


The post-credits stinger

  • What are forced subtitles?: Show
  • How do I encode Closed Captions?: Show
  • Have I got my audio and subtitles set up correctly?: Show


Final Checklist
  • Does your encode meet PTP's minimum settings?
  • Is it DXVA compatible?
  • If it has a framerate of 29.970 fps, have you checked for duplicate frames?
  • Have you cropped it correctly?
  • Is it the correct resolution (480p, 576p and 720p encodes)?
  • Is your bitrate within the target range for its resolution (exceptions may apply)?
  • If you're encoding from HD audio (True-HD, DTS-HD), have you used eac3to to create the audio track?
  • Are your audio and/or subtitle tracks in sync with the video?
  • Have you removed all non-English dubs from the encode?
  • Have you labelled all of the tracks and set the defaults correctly?
  • Have you named your chapters if available?
  • If you chose to OCR your subs, have you run post-OCR correction and/or a spell-check?
  • Is your filename in accordance with HANDJOB guidelines?
  • Have you given your encode the correct metatitle (see Act 3 -> Giving it a name)

* Advice on how to rectify any of these problems can be found in the FAQ, the Quick Reference section, or by asking in this thread.

You should now have an approved HD HANDJOB encode by this point. Congratulations.