I'm using Handbrake CLI to convert a bunch of my media files to H.265 for the slightly better file sizes.
I use a .json configuration file I exported from the GUI Handbrake for my settings. Here is that file:
{
"PresetList": [
{
"AudioCopyMask": [
"copy:aac",
"copy:ac3",
"copy:dtshd",
"copy:dts",
"copy:mp3",
"copy:truehd",
"copy:flac",
"copy:eac3"
],
"AudioEncoderFallback": "av_aac",
"AudioLanguageList": [
"jpn",
"eng"
],
"AudioList": [
{
"AudioBitrate": 128,
"AudioCompressionLevel": 0.0,
"AudioDitherMethod": null,
"AudioEncoder": "av_aac",
"AudioMixdown": "dpl2",
"AudioNormalizeMixLevel": false,
"AudioSamplerate": "auto",
"AudioTrackQualityEnable": false,
"AudioTrackQuality": 7.0,
"AudioTrackGainSlider": 0.0,
"AudioTrackDRCSlider": 0.0
}
],
"AudioSecondaryEncoderMode": true,
"AudioTrackSelectionBehavior": "all",
"ChapterMarkers": true,
"ChildrenArray": [],
"Default": true,
"FileFormat": "av_mkv",
"Folder": false,
"FolderOpen": false,
"Mp4HttpOptimize": false,
"Mp4iPodCompatible": false,
"PictureAutoCrop": true,
"PictureBottomCrop": 0,
"PictureLeftCrop": 0,
"PictureRightCrop": 0,
"PictureTopCrop": 0,
"PictureDARWidth": 0,
"PictureDeblock": 4,
"PictureDeinterlaceFilter": "decomb",
"PictureCombDetectPreset": "default",
"PictureCombDetectCustom": null,
"PictureDeinterlacePreset": "default",
"PictureDeinterlaceCustom": "",
"PictureDenoiseCustom": "",
"PictureDenoiseFilter": "off",
"PictureDenoisePreset": "light",
"PictureDenoiseTune": "none",
"PictureDetelecine": "off",
"PictureDetelecineCustom": "",
"PictureItuPAR": false,
"PictureKeepRatio": true,
"PictureLooseCrop": false,
"PictureModulus": 2,
"PicturePAR": "auto",
"PicturePARWidth": 1,
"PicturePARHeight": 1,
"PictureRotate": "0:0",
"PictureWidth": 1280,
"PictureHeight": 720,
"PictureForceHeight": 0,
"PictureForceWidth": 0,
"PresetDescription": null,
"PresetName": "720p_HEVC",
"Type": 1,
"UsesPictureFilters": false,
"UsesPictureSettings": 2,
"SubtitleAddCC": false,
"SubtitleAddForeignAudioSearch": false,
"SubtitleAddForeignAudioSubtitle": false,
"SubtitleBurnBehavior": "none",
"SubtitleBurnBDSub": false,
"SubtitleBurnDVDSub": false,
"SubtitleLanguageList": [
"jpn",
"eng"
],
"SubtitleTrackSelectionBehavior": "all",
"VideoAvgBitrate": 2000,
"VideoColorMatrixCode": 0,
"VideoEncoder": "x265",
"VideoFramerate": "",
"VideoFramerateMode": "cfr",
"VideoGrayScale": false,
"VideoHWDecode": false,
"VideoScaler": "opencl",
"VideoPreset": "slow",
"VideoTune": "",
"VideoProfile": "auto",
"VideoLevel": "auto",
"VideoOptionExtra": "strong-intra-smoothing=0:rect=0",
"VideoQualityType": 1,
"VideoQualitySlider": 19.0,
"VideoQSVDecode": false,
"VideoQSVAsyncDepth": 4,
"VideoTwoPass": true,
"VideoTurboTwoPass": true,
"x264Option": "",
"x264UseAdvancedOptions": false
}
],
"VersionMajor": "11",
"VersionMicro": "0",
"VersionMinor": "0"
}
My question is this: What effect does using fast/turbo pass on H.265 have when H.265 doesn't support 2-pass like H.264 does?
From the output of HandbrakeCLI when converting a file:
I believe fast first pass is enabled due to the box being checked in the GUI for the profile I exported:
They were checked by default when I switched to HEVC so I just left them. It's a bit of a hassle to encode a video file and compare, and I couldn't be sure I could tell the difference, so I thought I'd ask here.
The CLI output states that there will only be 1 pass, but also that the first pass will be fast. This implies to me that the only pass it will do will be low quality.