

Another disadvantage comes from the software user interface. However, it does not support audio conversion. It can batch convert videos from nearly any format to MP4, MKV, WebM, and a set of devices with a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. From version 0.9.5 and on, HandBrake has updated to support batch conversion mode ( requires additional configuration in the settings). But what you might not know about HandBrake is that it also makes a good bulk video converter to batch convert video files completely for free.

It is ranked as one of the top nine free video converters in our previous article. Let that run for a while, and you can transcode an entire TV series in one go.HandBrake is a popular cross-platform open-source video transcoder. mkv to an MP4 using the General/HQ 1080p30 Surround preset: Here's a very tiny bash script I use to do just that, converting any file that ends in.

Then you can use it to loop over an entire directory-even recursively-and transcode all the video files within. with brew install -cask handbrake), download HandBrakeCLI, mount the downloaded disk image, and copy the executable into a system path: sudo cp /Volumes/HandBrakeCLI-1.5.1/HandBrakeCLI /usr/local/bin/ Assuming you're on a Mac and installed Handbrake already (e.g. You can queue videos up one at a time, which is nice, but more recently, as I've ripped more TV seasons onto my NAS, I've wanted to transcode 5, 10, or 20 files at a time.Įnter HandBrakeCLI. mkv files, which can have a hodgepodge of video formats inside, and are notoriously difficult to play back, especially on older or more locked down playback devices.īut Handbrake's achilles heel, as a GUI-first application, is in a lack of easy batch operation. I've used Handbrake for years, to transcode practically any video file-including ripped DVDs and Blu-Rays-so I can watch the videos on practically any device.
