Prelude

HandBrake is a very popular free & open source video conversion software. I have tested the software extensively for the best settings to produce lowest file size while keeping reasonable video quality. Here are the results.

I have got up to 97% file size reduction using the preset I have provided here.

Reminders

• Always use the latest version of HandBrake.
• Get yourself familiarized with HandBrake before using the following settings.
• You can download these settings as a preset file from this repository. Just download 'High Compression Preset.json' from here and in HandBrake, click 'Presets > Import from file' and then select the file.
• This preset is specifically geared towards video tutorials. For other categories of videos, you must adapt this preset. You can just take this preset as a guideline and make your own preset.
• Some settings are not specified because of one of the following reasons,
  • the default setting is suffice
  • they don't affect the result
  • you have to use common sense
• You should test your settings before final conversion on a part of the video and see if you are satisfied with the quality.
• You can easily experiment on a video by selecting Range to Seconds and then selecting endpoint to 1 minute or so and by selecting Video > Optimise Video > Encoder Preset > Ultrafast. Don't forget to change them back before the final conversion.
• You can check the codec and other information of a video using MediaInfo.
• Due to high compression, conversion might take a long time. But the result is well worth it.
• In case, the converted video can't be played, install K-Lite Codec Pack.
• HandBrake is just the GUI for FFmpeg. So, if you need more options, you can try that.
• Please star this repository and share this with your friends.
• Any type of contribution is welcome.

Summary

• Format: MKV

Filters

• Turn off everything.

Video

• Resulation: Lower is better.
• Video Codec: H.265 (x265)
• Framerate (FPS): 'Same as source' or lower
  • Peak Framerate
• Quality
  • Constant Quality: 30 to 40 ( Higher value produces better compression but inferior video quality )
• Optimise Video
  • Encoder Preset: Placebo
  • Encoder Tune: PSNR

Audio

• Codec: Opus
• Mixdown: Mono
• Samplerate: 16 ( Click the down arrow beside mixdown to see this option )
• Bitrate: 24 ( Available only after selecting Mixdown and Samplerate )