Eddie: Rosy, what does a VMAF score of 96 even mean? Is that good?
Rosy: Oh, it’s great! VMAF 96 means the video looks almost as good as the original—like 96 out of 100 good.
Eddie: Hmm, so it’s like... a grade?
Rosy: Kind of! Imagine you draw a really nice picture, and someone makes a copy. If the copy looks almost exactly like your original, that’s what VMAF 96 is—showing how close the copy is to the original.
Eddie: So, 95 and up means the human eye can’t tell the difference?
Rosy: Exactly! At that level, most people wouldn’t notice any quality loss unless they really zoom in or analyze it frame by frame.
Eddie: Got it. Sounds like VMAF’s the teacher giving the video an A!
Rosy: Pretty much! An A+ if it’s 96 or higher!




____________________________________________________________

Encoding

FFmetrics 10 mim
VMAF 96.55 PSNR 52.27

Handbrake 1.8.2 (2024081000)
Video.svt-av1 10 bit fast decode Preset 5 2-pass vbr 4125 kbps
Audio.512 kbps opus 7.1
____________________________________________________________

File

Video: AV01 3840x2160 23.976fps [V: av1 main, yuv420p10le, 3840x2160 [default]]
Audio: Opus 48000Hz 8ch 12288kbps [A: 7.1 opus 512 kbps [eng] (opus, 48000 Hz, 7.1) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Arabic [ara] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: English [eng] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Portuguese [por] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Spanish [spa] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: French [fre] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Dutch [dut] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: German [ger] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Chinese [chi] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Hungarian [hun] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Turkish [tur] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Greek [gre] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Indonesian [ind] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Hebrew [heb] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Croatian [hrv] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Serbian [srp] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Swedish [swe] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Malay [may] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Russian [rus] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Korean [kor] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: Italian [ita] (subrip) [default]]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: No subtitles]

General
Unique ID                      : 218186741478633411461291093479730840377 (0xA4253CE63DAD1398617B9366A2BE0339)
Complete name                  : Shang-Chi.And.The.Legend.Of.The.Ten.Rings.2021.bluray.hdr.2160p.av1.7.1.opus.vmaf96-Rosy.mkv
Format                         : Matroska
Format version                 : Version 4
File size                      : 4.14 GiB
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Overall bit rate               : 4 481 kb/s
Frame rate                     : 23.976 FPS
Movie name                     : Shang-Chi.And.The.Legend.Of.The.Ten.Rings.2021.bluray.hdr.2160p.av1.7.1.opus.vmaf97-Rosy
Encoded date                   : 2024-11-22 07:21:37 UTC
Writing application            : mkvmerge v88.0 ('All I Know') 64-bit
Writing library                : libebml v1.4.5 + libmatroska v1.7.1
Cover                          : Yes
Attachments                    : cover.jpg

Video
ID                             : 1
Format                         : AV1
Format/Info                    : AOMedia Video 1
Format profile                 : Main@L5.0
HDR format                     : SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Codec ID                       : V_AV1
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Bit rate                       : 4 071 kb/s
Width                          : 3 840 pixels
Height                         : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 16:9
Frame rate mode                : Constant
Frame rate                     : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                      : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)             : 0.020
Stream size                    : 3.76 GiB (91%)
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No
Color range                    : Limited
Color primaries                : BT.2020
Transfer characteristics       : PQ
Matrix coefficients            : BT.2020 non-constant
Mastering display color primar : Display P3
Mastering display luminance    : min: 0.0001 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2

Audio
ID                             : 2
Format                         : Opus
Codec ID                       : A_OPUS
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Bit rate                       : 406 kb/s
Channel(s)                     : 8 channels
Channel layout                 : L R C Ls Rs Lb Rb LFE
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 50.000 FPS (960 SPF)
Compression mode               : Lossy
Stream size                    : 384 MiB (9%)
Title                          : 7.1 opus 512 kbps
Language                       : English
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No
____________________________________________________________

Source

Shang-Chi.and.the.Legend.of.the.Ten.Rings.2021.UHD.BluRay.2160p.TrueHD.Atmos.7.1.HEVC.REMUX-EVO

Video: HVC1 3840x2160 23.976fps [V: hevc main 10 L5.1, yuv420p10le, 3840x2160 [default]]
Audio: TrueHD 48000Hz 8ch 9216kbps [A: TrueHD Atmos 7.1 [eng] (truehd atmos, 48000 Hz, 7.1, s24) [default]]
Subtitle [S: Danish [dan] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Finnish [fin] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: French [fre] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: German [ger] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Italian [ita] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Japanese [jpn] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Norwegian [nor] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Spanish (Latin American) [spa] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Swedish [swe] (pgs)]
Subtitle [S: Forced Subtitles (auto)]
Subtitle: UTF-8 [S: No subtitles]

General
Unique ID                      : 104746926079733126509486906198907967268 (0x4ECD862ED2705B7C1D69775C2A6C5724)
Complete name                  : Shang-Chi.and.the.Legend.of.the.Ten.Rings.2021.UHD.BluRay.2160p.TrueHD.Atmos.7.1.HEVC.REMUX-EVO.mkv
Format                         : Matroska
Format version                 : Version 4
File size                      : 46.8 GiB
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Overall bit rate mode          : Variable
Overall bit rate               : 50.6 Mb/s
Frame rate                     : 23.976 FPS
Movie name                     : EVO
Encoded date                   : 2021-11-10 11:45:30 UTC
Writing application            : mkvmerge v49.0.0 ('Sick Of Losing Soulmates') 64-bit
Writing library                : libebml v1.4.0 + libmatroska v1.6.1

Video
ID                             : 1
Format                         : HEVC
Format/Info                    : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                 : Main 10@L5.1@High
HDR format                     : SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible
Codec ID                       : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Bit rate                       : 46.3 Mb/s
Width                          : 3 840 pixels
Height                         : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 16:9
Frame rate mode                : Constant
Frame rate                     : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                      : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)             : 0.233
Stream size                    : 42.8 GiB (91%)
Writing library                : ATEME Titan File 3.9.6 (4.9.6.2)        
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No
Color range                    : Limited
Color primaries                : BT.2020
Transfer characteristics       : PQ
Matrix coefficients            : BT.2020 non-constant
Mastering display color primar : Display P3
Mastering display luminance    : min: 0.0001 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2

Audio
ID                             : 2
Format                         : MLP FBA 16-ch
Format/Info                    : Meridian Lossless Packing FBA with 16-channel presentation
Commercial name                : Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos
Codec ID                       : A_TRUEHD
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Bit rate mode                  : Variable
Bit rate                       : 4 214 kb/s
Maximum bit rate               : 7 200 kb/s
Channel(s)                     : 8 channels
Channel layout                 : L R C LFE Ls Rs Lb Rb
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 1 200.000 FPS (40 SPF)
Compression mode               : Lossless
Stream size                    : 3.90 GiB (8%)
Title                          : TrueHD Atmos 7.1
Language                       : English
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No
Number of dynamic objects      : 13
Bed channel count              : 1 channel
Bed channel configuration      : LFE
____________________________________________________________

Tools

Ab-av1
FFBitrateViewer
FFmpeg
FFmetrics
Freefilesync
Handbrake
Jackett
Mediainfo
Mkvtoolknix
Qbittorent
Scenerulez
Shutterencoder
VVV-virtualvolumeview
Xnconvert
Xnview mp

===================== AV1 guide v15 ========================

Step 1 - Check VMAF with Ab-av1

 1. AV1
   Source resolution → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --min-vmaf 98
   1080p Downscale   → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --min-vmaf 96 --vfilter "scale=-1:1080"
   720p Downscale    → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --min-vmaf 96 --vfilter "scale=-1:720"  
   Sample encode     → sample-encode -i "c:\file.mkv" --pix-format yuv420p10le --svt fast-decode=1 --svt tune=0 --preset 5 --min-samples 20 --crf 20  

 2. x265
   Source resolution → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --encoder libx265 --pix-format yuv420p10le --preset medium --min-samples 20 --enc x265-params=fastdecode=1 --min-vmaf 98
   1080p Downscale   → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --encoder libx265 --pix-format yuv420p10le --preset medium --min-samples 20 --enc x265-params=fastdecode=1 --min-vmaf 96 --vfilter "scale=-1:1080"
   720p Downscale    → crf-search -i "c:\file.mkv" --encoder libx265 --pix-format yuv420p10le --preset medium --min-samples 20 --enc x265-params=fastdecode=1 --min-vmaf 96 --vfilter "scale=-1:720"
____________________________________________________________

Step 2 - HandBrake

Summary:
- Container: MKV

Dimensions:
- Cropping: None
- Anamorphic: None
- Borders: None

Video:
- Encoder: AV1 (10-bit SVT)
- Framerate: Same as source
- Preset: 5
- Fast Decode: ✓
- Encoder Profile: Main
- Encoder Level: Auto
- Quality: CRF determined from "ab-av1"(1), or crf 20-25

Audio:
- DTS to Opus Conversion:
 - DTS 7.1 → Opus @ 512 kbps
 - DTS 5.1 → Opus @ 384 kbps
 - DTS 2.0 → Opus @ 128 kbps
*When passtrough? lossy codec(opus,aac, ac3, eac3,wma) 768-128 kbps
____________________________________________________________

Step 3 - Subtitles

- Original → passtrough
- Subtitle Translator
- Whisper OpenAI
- Opensubtitles
- Subtitlecat
*If size is an issue don`t use pgs, prefer ass/srt.

Whisperai large-v3 2024 (prompts)

!pip install git+https://github.com/openai/whisper.git
!sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg

!whisper "audio.aac" --model large-v3 --language Japanese --task translate

____________________________________________________________

References

1. Dolby, 2023. What are Dolby Vision profiles and levels? [Online]
2. Ozer, J., 2017. Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video. Doceo Publishing.
3. Sayood, K., 2017. Introduction to Data Compression. 5th Edition.
4. Ozer, J., 2021. What is CBR, VBR, CRF, Capped-CRF? Rate Control Modes Explained.
5. Rassool, Reza. VMAF Reproducibility: Validating a Perceptual Practical Video Quality Metric.
6. Kah, A. e al. Fundamental relationships between subjective quality, user acceptance, and the VMAF metric for a quality-based bit rate ladder design for over-the-top video streaming services.
7. Boldrin, M. 2008. Against Intellectual Monopoly.