2025.01.19

Sunday, January 19, 2025

• Add nvenc-av1 video mode to transcode-video.rb.

2025.01.10

Friday, January 10, 2025

• Fix bug preventing encopts arguments being passed to the --extra option of transcode-video.rb.
• Clarify that the automatic behavior of transcode-video.rb described in the README.md file is for a single forced subtitle and does not apply to multiple subtitles.
• Add note to the README.md file regarding possible future video modes for transcode-video.rb.

2025.01.09

Thursday, January 9, 2025

• Deprecate and remove legacy RubyGems-based project files.
• Remove *.gem files from the list to ignore.
• Add redesigned and rewritten tools to the project, i.e. the transcode-video.rb, detect-crop.rb and convert-video.rb scripts.
• Completely update the README.md file.
• Begin using a date-based version numbering scheme for the project and all the scripts.

Note

Changes before version 2025.01.09 are no longer relevant and not included in this document.

0.25.4

Thursday, January 9, 2025

• Tag final version of legacy code no longer released as a Gem.

0.25.3

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

• Modify detect-crop to show preview commands compatible with newer versions of mpv.
• Update all copyright notices to the year 2020.

0.25.2

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

• Fix a crash in transcode-video with the --copy-audio-name option when the input audio track name does not exist. Via #279.

0.25.1

Saturday, March 30, 2019

• Fix a heinous multi-part bug in transcode-video which could prevent the proper detection of certain input audio formats, normally allowed for pass-through, from being copied unchanged to the output. This could also cause the --keep-ac3-stereo option from behaving correctly when used together with the --ac3-encoder eac3 option and argument. Thanks to @khaosx for finding the problem!

0.25.0

Saturday, March 9, 2019

• Change the default mixdown for stereo audio output tracks in transcode-video from Dolby Pro Logic II format to regular stereo. This matches the behavior of the presets in HandBrake since version 1.2.0. The old behavior is still available in transcode-video via the --mixdown dpl2 option and argument. Via #262.
• Remove previous addition to the "README" document explaining that stereo tracks can also include surround audio information in matrix-encoded Dolby Pro Logic II format since that's no longer the default behavior, nor is it recommended (which makes me sad).
• In order to avoid a crash on the Windows Subsystem for Linux platform, buffer characters that seem to be part of a multibyte UTF-8 sequence when copying output from HandBrakeCLI to the console or the .log file in transcode-video and from ffmpeg to the console in convert-video. Thanks to @joshstaiger for the persistent detective work and the patch! Via #189 and #264.
• As a convenience to those not using batch scripts, echo the output file name at the completion of transcoding. Thanks to @JayJay1974 for the idea! Via #260.
• Explain the --fallback-crop option and its new minimal argument in the "Cropping" section of the "README" document. Thanks to @JMoVS for the reminder! Via #266.
• Modify the --help output of transcode-video to clarify that the --ac3-bitrate and --pass-ac3-bitrate options only affect surround audio and surround pass-through bitrates.
• Lower the bitrate of stereo and mono Dolby Digital Plus output to sensible levels in transcode-video when applying the --ac3-encoder eac3 option and argument. Previously this was always 768 Kbps for stereo and 384 Kbps for mono, with stereo being higher than the default bitrate for surround audio output in the same format.
• Add a "CHANGELOG.md" document to the project and replace the content of the "History" section of the "README" document with pointers to the GitHub releases page and that new "CHANGELOG.md" document.

0.24.0

This version was originally tagged and released on the date below. These notes were added on GitHub much later so the creation date won't match.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

• Add --audio-format and --keep-ac3-stereo options to transcode-video. Thanks to @samhutchins for the idea and design! Via #254.
  • With the --audio-format option, you can now specify whether AC-3 or AAC is used when surround or stereo output tracks are created.
  • This allows multichannel 5.1 AAC audio output by adding --audio-format surround=aac to your command line. However, you may want to pair that with --audio-width main=surround to avoid two AAC tracks of the same input being created.
  • Think of the --keep-ac3-stereo option as a kinder, gentler form of the --prefer-ac3 option.
  • It copies rather than transcodes AC-3 stereo or mono audio tracks even when the current stereo format is AAC, but it doesn't affect surround tracks.
• Deprecate the --prefer-ac3 option in transcode-video and remove its description from the --help output. Also via #254.
  • The option still works for now, but using it issues a warning message.
  • You can get the exact same functionality by adding --audio-width all=surround --audio-format all=ac3 to your command line.
  • However, you might want to add --audio-width all=surround --keep-ac3-stereo instead since you'll get higher quality and slightly smaller output, albeit with some AAC tracks in your output when stereo audio in non-AC-3 format still needs to be transcoded.
• Add a minimal argument to the --fallback-crop option in transcode-video which determines the smallest possible crop values, when using the--crop detect option and argument, by combining results from both HandBrakeCLI and ffmpeg. Thanks to @dkoenig01 for the idea! Via #255.
• Relax validation criteria for HandBrake-generated .log files in query-handbrake-log as workaround for HandBrakeCLI spewing linkage failure warnings on certain Linux platforms. Via #257.

0.23.0

This version was originally tagged and released on the date below. These notes were added on GitHub much later so the creation date won't match.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

• Add a --avbr ratecontrol option to transcode-video (via #248) which:
  • Implements an average variable bitrate (AVBR) ratecontrol system focused on maintaining quality at the risk of final bitrates being as much as 10-15% higher or lower than the target.
  • May emit a few VBV underflow warnings at the beginning of a transcode, but nothing like the sustained deluge possible with my special, or default, ratecontrol system.
  • Works only with the x264 and x264_10bit encoders. Sorry, but the settings necessary to implement AVBR are not available with the x265 family of encoders.
• Add my new AVBR ratecontrol system to the "Explanation" section of the "README" document.
• Add an undocumented --raw ratecontrol testing option to transcode-video which implements, by default, an unconstrained ABR system, easily modified with --handbrake-option and/or --encoder-option.
• Add a --mixdown option to transcode-video which sets the mixdown format for all AAC audio tracks, either Dolby Pro Logic II (the default) or stereo. Thanks to @samhutchins for the idea and the patch! Via #245.
• Fix failure in detect-crop on Linux for certain inputs by forcing the text output from ffmpeg into UTF-8 binary format to ensure the correct parsing of that data during crop detection. Via #247.
• List all hardware-based video encoders within the related answer in the "FAQ" section of the "README" document. Thanks to @vr8hub for the idea! Via #251.
• Update all copyright notices to the year 2019.