HandBrake is not using inputted settings for Queued items

[SalFrank]

Hi,

I'm running Win 10 Pro \ 850 EVO SSD \ i7 4790 \ 32GB GSKill DDR 3 \ ASUS Z87 Plus mobo

I'm using HandBrake v 0.10.5.0 - 64bit Version

If I load a single file into Handbrake - either by drag and drop, or using the Source menu - Handbrake will hold the settings I input. So for a single file this would be an example of settings I'm using (selecting the English option on the Audio page) - No filters or Chapters selected:

Handbrake will then produce a file @ the correct 2800 kbps, Constant FPS, High 4.2 and English output.

But as soon as I load a Folder using the Source > Folder menu, and Add All to Queue, Handbrake stops using those settings. Handbrake will run two pass, with a Turbo first pass. It will produce a file ~ 1900 to 2200 kbps, in Russian, even though I've selected the same Video settings as the single file, including selecting English Audio. I've even tried adding these settings as a Preset, then selecting that Preset after adding items to Queue, and then checking to see that English is selected.

Is there something I'm missing here in order to get Handbrake to use my inputted settings for Queued items?

Thanks

[sneaker]

I asked the devs once and they said this is intended. I don't think it's a good decision but w/e.

You can try to click "Switch to Defaults" (top-right of the tab in your screenshot) to make HandBrake pre-select certain languages. It may or may not suit your needs.

[SalFrank]

I asked the devs once and they said this is intended.

Thanks for responding sneaker,

Do you mean "intended" just for the language setting, or also for the other behavior I described - that i doesn't hold the vid settings either? iow, would it just have an entire default program behavior for Queued items?

Thanks

[sneaker]

I believe back when I asked it did hold video settings, "only" audio and subtitles were reset for all files. Aren't video settings supposed to be done using the profiles? (right side) I mean they must have some purpose, right?

[SalFrank]

I believe back when I asked it did hold video settings, "only" audio and subtitles were reset for all files. Aren't video settings supposed to be done using the profiles? (right side) I mean they must have some purpose, right?

Yah you'd think that would be true, but I've just come to the conclusion that Handbrake's batch conversion doesn't work very well, and is glitched. At least in my case. I tried the presets, and tried making my own presets, with no luck.

I also tried an experiment. The original files are MKV's with dual audio - Russian and English with Russian being the # 1 default track. I remuxed them to mp4's. I batch demuxed with MKVcleaver, then did the muxing with MP4box - but this time with the English audio only.

Then I added them as a Queue to Handbrake in the usual way. I set the settings and clicked start. The first file went as normal, and kept the vid settings (and English only obv as it is now the only track), but on the second file it went into the glitch mode where it wanted to do a Two Pass, lower bitrate, etc. When I closed out Handbrake and re-opened and tried the whole process again, Handbrake treated all the files with the strange vid behavior - it wouldn't keep inputted settings ... not handbrake presets, my presets or manually inputted settings.

So I'm not gonna waste any more time on it. Plus to do it by re-muxing all the files first (I have several hundred) involves the extra step of demuxing (which I can do in batch via MKVcleaver) but then I'd still have to individually mux each file in MP4box - and all that only IF I could get Handbrake to cooperate.

So I'm looking for a Handbrake alternative that could batch convert MKV to mp4 and allow me to select audio track # 2. I don't need anything like placebo quality - I'm OK with a small hit on quality as my intent here is to reduce them from 1.4 GB to about 900 MB to 1GB mp4's. I'd also prefer to do it with a GUI as I'm clueless when it comes to writing batch files or doing the conversions in a command line.

Any suggestions on an alternative?

Thanks

[redwudz]

Try Vidcoder as it uses the Handbrake engine and, IMO, has a much easier to use interface. I have no problems with setting up a queue and setting up batch encodes.

[JVRaines]

+1 for VidCoder. The Preview function, with a selection of sample stills, is much faster to use than HandBrake's preview encode.

[SalFrank]

Try Vidcoder as it uses the Handbrake engine and, IMO, has a much easier to use interface. I have no problems with setting up a queue and setting up batch encodes.

VidCoder looks really promising. I just tried it out with one file and it worked great. The quality of Handbrake with a GUI that seems to work really well. I don't have time to play around with it more right now, but I'll check it out more in the next couple of days.

Thanks

[SalFrank]

Try Vidcoder as it uses the Handbrake engine and, IMO, has a much easier to use interface. I have no problems with setting up a queue and setting up batch encodes.

I've been messing around with VidCoder more today and it works perfect! Good call on that one. Easy interface, it's holding my vid setting and most importantly in this case it's encoding the entire queueu with the second language track selected - no jumping around.

One of the main differences with VidCoder is that under Tools > Options there is an Audio \ Subtitles tab that isn't there in Handbrake - at least not in Handbrake v 0.10.5.0 64 bit that I've been using. In Vidcoder under that Audio \ Subtitles Tab > Automatic Audio selection > there is an option to select Language and set it manually to English (Don't select all tracks) This sets it as a default and it works well, recognizing the English track. You can leave it set as the default setting and it works well for single audio track vid's also. In Handbrake this is supposed to happen in the main interface's Audio tab, but it just glitches for some reason. After the 1st encode it jumps back to whatever the first track is for the remaining items in the queue.

So thanks for the recommend. I can't see a way in this forum here to select best answer or vote up.

[redwudz]

Our reward is your success.

It took me a bit to realize I could set up subs automatically.
I don't run into many foreign language videos, but after I set the subs to English, no errors so far.
But I still check the output to see if it's all OK when I encounter a subtitled video.

I do run into the occasional episodic DVD where I have to select each of the episodes manually.
But most times it gets them all automatically. I suppose that's due to the particular DVD structure.
I check the output of those type of videos also and usually correct them before an encode.