What's the source?

This release looks good both size and quality wise, but it's missing "Adrika New Basic" font for subtitles. and 8th episode is huge for some reason. Source is probably BD, as stated in the title.

>What’s the source? BDMV, it's always BDMV from me if it isn't tagged as remake. >missing “Adrika New Basic” font Ah crap. EDIT: Missing font added in description. Install to system or use jmkvpropedit to batch edit attachment. >8th episode is huge for some reason I didn't filter mine so that's normal. It's the dragon plague episode.

Indeed the noise is strong in 8th episode. Also looking at it frame-by-frame vs mottoj's release and I'm just shocked here. With almost 1/3 of their size, visual difference is unnoticable during playback and only slight blur can be seen if you're picky enough (for some reason it looks sharper instead in 8th episode). Great fucking job, man!! Gonna check all your previous releases. Would be happy to see more of new ones.

>visual difference is unnoticable during playback That's the main goal for my encodes, though Shield Hero isn't the best BD master out there so `crf=20` with some tweaks is enough to make it look decent. >only slight blur can be seen SAO is left on since this release is done in `crf=20`, it's usually better at this crf level rather than going for sharpness with artifacts. >(for some reason it looks sharper instead in 8th episode) Probably due to the grain and `qcomp=0.8` causing bitrate to boost higher than usual.

The only thing I understood here is that you know damn well what you're doing. Wish there were more encoders like you. But I see you go only for complete BD releases, and probably only shows you personally like. Do you take requests? Or maybe want some Win10-based CPU/GPU encoding power with 24/7 working torrent client at 5-10Mb/s bandwidth? (not talking about a VPS here, but my PC, I would use for encoding and sharing if clear instructions and sources are provided). I for quite long time wanted to be somehow involved with anime encoding, but my only skill in this area is nagging about quality.

>you know damn well what you’re doing Thanks. Well at least on the encoding side. Don't have time to get into filtering and advanced subtitle stuff. >But I see you go only for complete BD releases, and probably only shows you personally like. Spot on. Time isn't on my side this year and a laptop can only do so much for over-night encodes. I do series I'd like to have an archive of, and also don't have a small but decent encode. >Or maybe want some Win10-based CPU/GPU encoding power with 24/7 working torrent client at 5-10Mb/s bandwidth? I'm saving for an upgrade myself, but thanks for the offer (*drools at 3950X I totally can't afford*). Despite my atrocious internet speeds I do have a seedbox so no worries.

>I for quite long time wanted to be somehow involved with anime encoding, but my only skill in this area is nagging about quality. It's not hard, just time consuming and mostly a pain. Encoding is actually the easiest part. In all my torrents you'll find my encode settings. In the **random stuff** section you can find my encoding guide. The easiest way to encode from BDMVs is to use an FDK-AAC enabled HandBrake build since Handbrake can mostly handle BDMVs (If you search hard enough, someone posted a compiled dll on Reddit). If there are audio commentaries or you'd like to encode the BD MENUs you can manually find the streams in the BDMV *STREAM* folder. After you encode all the raw episodes it's just the matter of finding existing subs and hope that all you have to do is set a subtitle offset (stares at Kaguya-sama). I recommend downloading BDMV of a series you like, get used to how BDMVs work (multiple episodes combined to single stream) and test out different encode settings. Some useful tools: Handbrake (custom compiled w/ FDK), MKVToolNix (MKVMerge, MKV Extract), jmkvpropedit (batch mkv edit/attachment), Aegisub (to edit or fix broken subs), Notepad++/VS Code (quickly edit ass sub files when needed), FFMPEG (compiled w/ FDK) (advanced), Foobar2K (convenient decode/encode interface for .mka and qaac), StaxRip (advanced, I don't use it), Sushi (automated sub resync, not recommended since you'll probably piss off lots of people like I did with 1-3 frame off subs), BRU (bulkd rename utility). Having a large SSD to deal with BDMVs might also help (quality of life). Also, get comfortable with batch scripting (.bat) or powershell if you want your life to be easier by automating some stuff (most remuxing).

@ApachePrime Don't take Shionsan's words to heart for the video quality because you still using FDK AAC and mockingly using qAAC for the commentary track! I'm disgusted. How could you do this? I'm ashamed for you!

The "testing" part is what made me give up many times. As I've had no idea what all those parameters mean. I hope your guide will help me with those. But most of the other stuff you've mentioned I understand and able to work with. So the offer still stands. My i7-8700K is idle most of the time anyway. Wont beat 3950X though =_= I sense "best AAC encoder" shitstorm ahead. Wont take part in it, as not competent enough. But interested in the outcome.

@Shionsan shhh! Seriously tho I'm just messing with Apache. If you look at his/jher stuff you can see me making light of his/her usage of using the cult of FDK AAC and trying to convert em to the religion of qAAC. https://nyaa.si/view/1149507 https://nyaa.si/view/1171093 https://nyaa.si/view/1197995

@noZA_ >Don’t take Shionsan’s words to heart for the video quality because you still using FDK AAC and mockingly using qAAC for the commentary track! =3= So you prefer FDK commentaries I assume? Or perhaps... Vorbis? *insert OPUS noises.* --- @Shionsan >The “testing” part is what made me give up many times. As I’ve had no idea what all those parameters mean. x265 is mainly testing and experience. Just Tensei Slime ep1 alone I've encoded it over 50 times to test out settings. No Game No Life Zero is also amazing for testing due to its really good mastering and nature. > I hope your guide will help me with those It definitely will. The willpower to read the whole guide and testing yourself is the bigger obstacle, just the time to test these settings yourself will set you back weeks. >I sense “best AAC encoder” shitstorm ahead. Wont take part in it, as not competent enough. But interested in the outcome. It's more of a meme at this point (just dig up our past comments). I actually also have an audio codecs section in my guide. qaac IS superior to FDK, it's just for my workflow and the bitrate we're working with, it simply doesn't matter to 99.9% of the people out there. If you're really serious about learning give me a way to contact you (Discord/Reddit/whatever), the nyaa comment section really isn't the best place for this. Can't even receive notifications here.

Discord: Shion#9769 Not sure if I'm serious enough about learning - there is still a lot of free space on my HDD. But nyaa is full of unbalanced releases where size-per-ep is either too big or too small and many people are starting to use those damn sharpening to the point where my eyes start bleeding. If I had some kind of a goal, first step to it would be to re-encode HS releases to a much smaller size while preserving visuals (some roger dude from anirena was doing just that, but he doesn't anymore). And looking at 8th episode, I see it isn't as simple as I thought it would be. I suppose I'll see if my will & brain power are strong enough to go through your guide first.

Thanks!!!

@Shionsan Can't add you (request blocked), add me instead: ApachePrime#5718

I was just starting to encode it myself since there didn't seem to be a good size/quality compromise, so thank you!

i'm gonna compare this to [-KS-] BD release it was 42.86gb

@ApachePrime please continue uploading more BDs, I love your releases

Best encoding in this size range and without any useless english dub to take extra space. / Many thanks! :)