For those people who often handle Blu-ray/DVD/video conversions, HandBrake must be a familiar thing. As a free media converter tool, HandBrake has been widely and highly praised among the world. However, sometimes people might meet various kinds of problems during using HandBrake such as HandBrake crash, HandBrake failing to rip DVD, etc. Well, in this guide, we would like to show you the below things to let you get better understanding about HandBrake。

Part 1: A Brief Introduction on HandBrake and How to Convert Blu-ray with Handbrake?

As a free powerful converting program for Windows and Mac, Handbrake has won its praise in the past years. The basic function of Handbrake is to help users to convert and rip DVD. Generally, its supported converting list contains “Any DVD or Blu-ray, such as VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image, real DVD or blu-ray”. Since the release of Handbrake on Jan 3, 2011, it added some support for Blu-ray ripping on conditions that the Blu-ray Disc must be removed from copy protection. Specifically, Handbrake could neither work with encrypted physical Blu-ray Disc nor decrypted commercial Blu-ray movies in BDMV file structure. Therefore, if you want to utilize Handbrake to help you convert Blu-ray Discs to other video formats like MP4 which is more compatible with digital devices, then you need to decrypt the Blu-ray Disc first. For the detailed tutorial about converting Blu-ray with Handbrake, please go ahead.

How to Convert Blu-ray with Handbrake?

Step 1. Download Handbrake and install it.
Step 2. Run Handbrake and make sure the Blu-ray Disc has circumvent the copy protection.
Step 3. Open the Blu-ray Disc. Make sure the High Profile (1) is selected and then select Source and Video File (2).

Step 4. Set the output video parameters. First confirm the output video folder by clicking Browse button (1). And set the Size (2), Cropping (3) and Video (4) parameters as well as Audio and Subtitles settings.

Step 5. Start the converting process. After setting the above parameters, then you only need to click Start button at the top and after several minutes you will obtain a converted Blu-ray video.

That’s all. It is not so complicated to use Handbrake to convert Blu-ray, isn’t it? 

Part 2: HandBrake Common Problem and How to Fix

During using HandBrake, we might come across various problems. Here, for your convenience, we have collected some common problems of HandBrake and solutions to fix these common errors. You could check the below content to get solution, or leave your own problem in the comment part for a solution.

  1. HandBrake corruption: Sometimes HandBrake might crash due to various reasons like computer performance, encoding error, etc. You could check how to fix HandBrake crash issue for detailed solutions.
  2. HandBrake doesn’t run: Try to run HandBrake as administrator.
  3. HandBrake doesn’t work on ripping DVD discs: We know that HandBrake doesn’t decrypt encrypted DVD discs. Therefore, you could try to install DVD decrypting tools like libdvdcss for HandBrake.
  4. HandBrake can’t scan titles in DVD content: Fix the internal error of HandBrake, or try to manually choose titles from DVD movie files.
  5. HandBrake works really slow: When you choose a higher-grade video encoding type, or add a large source file for encording, HandBrake might get slow. You could then check how to speed up HandBrake for detailed solutions.

The above cases are specified to certain conditions and solutions. Actually, you could try the below solutions for common problems of HandBrake

  1. Shut down and then restart your HandBrake program.
  2. Uninstall and rei-nstall the latest HandBrake program on your computer.
  3. Improve your computer hardware configuration since HandBrake eats great resource of your computer.
  4. Get an alternative to HandBrake, especially for ripping encrypted Blu-ray/DVD discs.

In the below, we would like to recommend you the best HandBrake alternative, which could complete all tasks your HandBrake could do in easier way.

Part 3: Best HandBrake Alternative- Leawo Blu-ray Ripper

Leawo Blu-ray Ripper could decrypt, rip and convert Blu-ray discs with AACS, BD+ and the latest MKB protection, and CSS-DVD discs with advanced disc protection removal technology. It is powerful in ripping Blu-ray disc to more than 180 video formats from any region with ease and speed. As the best Blu-ray decoder software, Leawo Blu-ray Ripper offers 6X-faster ripping and guarantees 100% original quality. Besides, Leawo Blu-ray Ripper allows you to edit the Blu-ray and set the output video effects according to your personal preferences. Now let’s take a look at the detailed instructions.

In the below, we would like to recommend you the best HandBrake alternative, which could complete all tasks your HandBrake could do in easier way.

   

Step 1: Download Leawo Blu-ray Ripper and then install it on your computer. It’s a module built in Leawo Prof. Media. Launch it after installation. Click “Blu-ray/DVD Ripper” option or the “Convert” menu to enter the Convert module interface.

Step 2: Import the Blu-ray disc on your computer to Leawo Blu-ray Ripper. After entering the main converting interface, you can click Add Blu-ray/DVD to import the Blu-ray movie. Or you can just drag the Blu-ray file to the converting panel directly. You could add Blu-ray disc, folder and/or ISO image file as you like, no matter it’s encrypted or not.

add-source-files-04

Once Blu-ray movie is selected, you will be provided three options to import Blu-ray file(s): Full Movie, Main Movie and Custom Mode. Choose a mode and select title(s) if necessary, and then click OK button to start importing Blu-ray movie. After that, you can preview the imported Blu-ray movie, select the subtitles and audio track, etc.

Step 3: Choose output format. There is a drop-down box named MP4 Video by default next to Add Photo button. And you can find Edit, Change and Apply three options. You can click Change to enter the Profile panel to select the output format from “Format” and “Device” groups according to your own need.

choose-output-profile-05

Also, if you want to set the parameters of the video, you can select Edit to enter the editing panel including Video Codec, Bite Rate, Resolution, Frame Rate and Aspect Ratio.

set-profile-settings-06

Step 4: You need to set a directory under Save to box. Finally, you can just click Convert button at the bottom to start the 4K Blu-ray movie to MP4 conversion process. Just wait in several minutes, and you will obtain a new video in MP4 format.

With the help of Leawo Blu-ray Ripper, you can easily convert the Blu-ray Disc (including encrypted BD) to other video formats with ease and accuracy.
Also interested to know more about the Blu-ray ripping tips, check how to convert and rip Blu ray to iTunes out.

Part 4: Comparison between HandBrake and Leawo Blu-ray Ripper

To let you learn more about Leawo Blu-ray Ripper and HandBrake, we have made a comparison table for you. Check the table below.

 

Leawo Blu-ray Ripper

HandBrake

Decrypt Blu-ray/DVD protection

Yes

No

Convert Blu-ray/DVD movies to MP4

Yes

Yes

Convert Blu-ray/DVD to other videos

Yes

No

Get rid of disc region restriction

Yes

No

Edit Blu-ray movies

Yes

No

2D Blu-ray/DVD to 3D video conversion

Yes

No

Select subtitles and audio tracks

Yes

Yes

Select chapters and titles

Yes

Yes

Merge files into one

Yes

No

Play back Blu-ray/DVD movies

Yes

No

Adjust output video parameters

Yes

Yes

GPU acceleration

Yes

No

Conversion speed

6X faster than HandBrake

Normal

Quality lossless output

Yes

No

Obviously, Leawo Blu-ray Ripper offers much more features for you to enrich your digital entertainment, especially the disc decrypting feature, which helps you easily decrypt and rip Blu-ray/DVD movies to videos in various formats without need of installing decrypting plugin. Since Handbrake is free for most Mac and Windows users, its function in converting Blu-ray is limited compared to Leawo Blu-ray Ripper. Therefore, Leawo Blu-ray Ripper is your best choice when you have the need to convert Blu-ray. Just try it!

Extension: HandBrake Tips

For your convenience, we have collected some HandBrake tips to make it more convenient for you to operate with HandBrake. You could make use of these tips to get better user experience.

  1. Firstly, as mentioned above, HandBrake doesn’t support decrypting encrypted DVD discs. Therefore, you need to install 3rd-party disc decrypting plugin like libdvdcss or VLC media player.
  2. HandBrake offers quite a few preset profiles for your convenience. You could directly make use of these preset profiles, and even adjust these preset profiles to save as custom.
  3. The common containers (AVI, MP4, MKV) typically support a variety of so called codecs (enCoder/Decoders) and the selection of the codec is what influences quality and file size. MP4 is recommended.
  4. A great codec is not a guarantee for quality but has a great influence on file size. Some codecs (enCoder/Decoder) are more efficient than others when it comes to compressing and storage. H.264 is recommended.
  5. High bitrates do not guarantee quality but seriously impact file size. When you are trying to convert a file with HandBrake or other media converters, never try to use a bitrate higher than the source file.
  6. As to the file size, do crop the black borders, but do not “upscale” video.
  7. Use filters or optimal settings for the type of video you’re working with.

There are more fun tips and tricks of HandBrake. If you have any, feel free to share with us in the comment part.