Setting up
First make sure you have HandBrake installed and that you have the path to the HandBrakeCLI binary.
Running the CLI
A typical HandBrake command looks like the following:
HandBrakeCLI -i "C:\Transcode\input.mkv" -o "C:\Transcode\output.mkv" -e x265
So you have the binary, the input file, the output file and then some transcode settings. At the end of the example, you can see we're using the x265 encoder.
The following provides further encoders available to use:
x264
x264_10bit
qsv_h264
nvenc_h264
x265
x265_10bit
x265_12bit
qsv_h265
nvenc_h265
mpeg4
mpeg2
VP8
VP9
theora
HandBrake also has presets available for different devices. Here's an example using a preset:
HandBrakeCLI -i "C:\Transcode\input.mkv" -o "C:\Transcode\output.mkv" -Z "Very Fast 1080p30"
The following provides further presets:
Very Fast 1080p30
Very Fast 720p30
Very Fast 576p25
Very Fast 480p30
Fast 1080p30
Fast 720p30
Fast 576p25
Fast 480p30
HQ 1080p30 Surround
HQ 720p30 Surround
HQ 576p25 Surround
HQ 480p30 Surround"
Super HQ 1080p30 Surround
Super HQ 720p30 Surround
Super HQ 576p25 Surround
Super HQ 480p30 Surround
Gmail Large 3 Minutes 720p30
Gmail Medium 5 Minutes 480p30
Gmail Small 10 Minutes 288p30
Vimeo YouTube HQ 2160p60 4K
Vimeo YouTube HQ 1440p60 2.5K
Vimeo YouTube HQ 1080p60
Vimeo YouTube HQ 720p60
Vimeo YouTube 720p30
Android 1080p30
Android 720p30
Android 576p25
Android 480p30
Apple 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround
Apple 1080p60 Surround
Apple 1080p30 Surround
Apple 720p30 Surround
Apple 540p30 Surround
Apple 240p30
Chromecast 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround
Chromecast 1080p60 Surround
Chromecast 1080p30 Surround
Amazon Fire 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround
Amazon Fire 1080p30 Surround
Amazon Fire 720p30
Playstation 1080p30 Surround
Playstation 720p30
Playstation 540p30
Roku 2160p60 4K HEVC Surround
Roku 1080p30 Surround
Roku 720p30 Surround
Roku 576p25
Roku 480p30
Windows Mobile 1080p30
Windows Mobile 720p30
Windows Mobile 540p30
Windows Mobile 480p30
Xbox 1080p30 Surround
Xbox Legacy 1080p30 Surround
H.265 MKV 2160p60
H.265 MKV 1080p30
H.265 MKV 720p30
H.265 MKV 576p25
H.265 MKV 480p30
H.264 MKV 2160p60
H.264 MKV 1080p30
H.264 MKV 720p30
H.264 MKV 576p25
H.264 MKV 480p30
VP9 MKV 2160p60
VP9 MKV 1080p30
VP9 MKV 720p30
VP9 MKV 576p25
VP9 MKV 480p30
VP8 MKV 1080p30
VP8 MKV 720p30
VP8 MKV 576p25
VP8 MKV 480p30
Production Max
Production Standard
Production Proxy 1080p
Production Proxy 540p
By default HandBrake may remove audio and subtitles so to keep them use the following command:
--all-audio --all-subtitles
Use HandBrakeCLI --help for a full list of arguments.
Get started using Tdarr transcode automation for free with this link: