Easily Convert and Encode videos with Handbrake

Handbrake has been one of the more user friendly tools available on Windows and Linux for ripping DVD's and converting them to mp4 format. However , handbrake has been available on Linux as a command line application and did not support converting videos to lets say a format that could be easily played on Portable Meda Players. Handbrake with version 0.9.3 on Linux is available with a GTK+ based graphical frontend and supports a number of different video formats as source, allowing one to convert these video formats into format suitable to be played on your PMP's like Apple iPod.

Installing HandBrake

It is extremely easy to install HandBrake on Ubuntu 8.10 , HandBrake provides easily installable .deb file for Ubuntu 8.10. To install HandBrake issue the following command in the terminal window (Application -> Accessories -> Terminal)

wget http://www.asshatandi.com/HandBrake-0.9.3-Ubuntu_GUI_i386.deb

and

sudo dpkg -i HandBrake-0.9.3-Ubuntu_GUI_i386.deb

This should install HandBrake onto your system , you can launch HandBrake from (Applications -> Sound & Video -> HandBrake ).

Using Handbrake

The first time you launch Handbrake you should see a number of predefined presets on right hand side of the Window , allowing you to easily configure Handbrake to convert videos to format capable of being played on number of devices.


Once you have selected the device you want to convert video for, configure/tweak the settings further and select source to select the source video which you would like to convert to suitable format, Also select the destination where you would like to save the video. Now , press Start button to start encoding the video.

Encoding in Progress

Handbrake also supports queues allowing you to put number of files for conversion into the queue and automating the conversion proces. Handbrake offers a number of options and features which cannot be fully described in a short article like this. So , What are you waiting for ? Download and Test Handbrake today.

Article Written by : Ambuj Varshney (blogambuj@gmail.com)
For Linux on Desktop Blog , http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com
(C) 2009 , Ambuj Varshney