best way to remove (crop) IMAX scenes?

[MalickT]

Hi.

I have 4K bluray with 2:35 ratio but it has multiple IMAX scenes with 16:9 ratio. I would like to remove them (crop them).

Currently I am using handbrake to crop the IMAX scenes, I am using Matroska H.265 2160p preset. Currently it is running on my i7 processor at 100% and 32 days remaining!

I do not know what should I tweak on the "video" tab to make it faster without losing quality. I would like the file size to be around 30GB

Usually when I do this sort of thing with x264, it takes about 9 hours...

[sneaker_ger]

Move the "Encoder Preset" slider more to the left until you are happy with the speed.


P.S.: 32 days? What CPU?

[MalickT]

CPU is Intel Core i7. I don´t know what generation but I bought it in 2017.

So encoder preset to the left is faster but results in larger file size? It will not effect the quality?

[sneaker_ger]

If you use constant quality encoding (CRF, in HandBrake called "RF") this will be roughly true. (In truth both file size and quality may go up, down or stay about the same. It's a complex dependency.)

In the 30 GB range all should be transparent. At such bitrates the compression differences don't matter. Encoding using x264 should also look equally good.

[Asmodian]

Speeding up x265 to get its speed comparable to x264, while targeting high bitrates, seems misguided. Simply use x264 if you want it fast. The benefits of x265 are much more significant at low bitrates and in general it is for those with more time and/or CPU to throw at it, improving compression past x264 takes a lot more work.