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Custom FFmpeg and HandBrake CLI Parameters

Custom encoding settings for FFmpeg and Handbrake.

Understanding Custom Settings

The ConvertOptions:FfMpegOptions and ConvertOptions:HandBrakeOptions settings allow custom CLI parameters for media processing. This is useful for:

  • Hardware-accelerated encoding (GPU encoding via NVENC, QuickSync, etc.).
  • Custom quality/speed tradeoffs (CRF values, presets).
  • Alternative codecs (AV1, VP9, etc.).

ℹ️ Note: Hardware encoding options are operating system, hardware, and tool version specific.
Refer to the Jellyfin hardware acceleration docs for hints on usage. The example configurations are from documentation and minimal testing with Intel QuickSync on Windows only, please discuss and post working configurations in GitHub Discussions.

FFmpeg Options

See the FFmpeg documentation for complete commandline option details.

The typical FFmpeg commandline is:

ffmpeg [global_options] {[input_file_options] -i input_url} ... {[output_file_options] output_url}

E.g.:

ffmpeg -analyzeduration 2147483647 -probesize 2147483647 -i /media/foo.mkv -max_muxing_queue_size 1024 -abort_on empty_output -hide_banner -nostats -map 0 -c:v libx265 -crf 26 -preset medium -c:a ac3 -c:s copy -f matroska /media/bar.mkv

Settings allows for custom configuration of:

  • FfMpegOptions:Global: Custom hardware global options, e.g. -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda
  • FfMpegOptions:Video: Video encoder options following the -c:v parameter, e.g. libx264 -crf 22 -preset medium
  • FfMpegOptions:Audio: Audio encoder options following the -c:a parameter, e.g. ac3

Get encoder options:

  • List hardware acceleration methods: ffmpeg -hwaccels
  • List supported encoders: ffmpeg -encoders
  • List options supported by an encoder: ffmpeg -h encoder=libsvtav1

Example video encoder options:

  • H.264: libx264 -crf 22 -preset medium
  • H.265: libx265 -crf 26 -preset medium
  • AV1: libsvtav1 -crf 30 -preset 5

Example hardware assisted video encoding options:

  • NVidia NVENC:
    • See FFmpeg NVENC documentation.
    • View NVENC encoder options: ffmpeg -h encoder=h264_nvenc
    • FfMpegOptions:Global: -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda
    • FfMpegOptions:Video: h264_nvenc -preset medium
  • Intel QuickSync:
    • See FFmpeg QuickSync documentation.
    • View QuickSync encoder options: ffmpeg -h encoder=h264_qsv
    • FfMpegOptions:Global: -hwaccel qsv -hwaccel_output_format qsv
    • FfMpegOptions:Video: h264_qsv -preset medium

HandBrake Options

See the HandBrake documentation for complete commandline option details.

The typical HandBrake commandline is:

HandBrakeCLI [options] -i <source> -o <destination>

E.g.

HandBrakeCLI --input /media/foo.mkv --output /media/bar.mkv --format av_mkv --encoder x265 --quality 26 --encoder-preset medium --comb-detect --decomb --all-audio --aencoder copy --audio-fallback ac3

Settings allows for custom configuration of:

  • HandBrakeOptions:Video: Video encoder options following the --encode parameter, e.g. x264 --quality 22 --encoder-preset medium
  • HandBrakeOptions:Audio: Audio encoder options following the --aencode parameter, e.g. copy --audio-fallback ac3

Get encoder options:

  • List all supported encoders: HandBrakeCLI --help
  • List presets supported by an encoder: HandBrakeCLI --encoder-preset-list svt_av1

Example video encoder options:

  • H.264: x264 --quality 22 --encoder-preset medium
  • H.265: x265 --quality 26 --encoder-preset medium
  • AV1: svt_av1 --quality 30 --encoder-preset 5

Example hardware assisted video encoding options:

  • NVidia NVENC:
    • See HandBrake NVENC documentation.
    • HandBrakeOptions:Video: nvenc_h264 --encoder-preset medium
  • Intel QuickSync:
    • See HandBrake QuickSync documentation.
    • HandBrakeOptions:Video: qsv_h264 --encoder-preset balanced

ℹ️ Note: HandBrake is primarily used for video deinterlacing, and only as backup encoder when FFmpeg fails.
The default HandBrakeOptions:Audio configuration is set to copy --audio-fallback ac3 that will copy all supported audio tracks as is, and only encode to ac3 if the audio codec is not natively supported.