Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

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StringTheory
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:17 pm

Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by StringTheory »

Please detail your question or problem in as much detail as possible:

Attempting batch mode scale down of resolution for 1920 MP4 videos:
Cue is set up by navigating to the relevant folder after clicking 'source.'
All mp4's verified to be in cue (and indeed all do get processed).

After setting "Picture" settings to 960 (1/2 width), and setting
'custom cropping' to 0 0 0 0, occasionally the very first file seems to
encode as expected (sometimes not!).

However, Handbrake seems to lose the designated settings for all
subsequent files. Oddly enough, I've seen the second file get cropped,
then the third onward get encoded at their original resolution. Odd
behavior.

I've tried setting the current settings as default under presets. No change.

Even when not trying to compress the files, I've seen HB assume its own
cropping settings, despite my having clicked 'custom.'

ffmpeg batch encode seems to work fine for the same set of files.

Tell us about your environment. What version of HandBrake? What version of Windows are you running. etc.

Running 10.2 on Win7-64.

If there was any exception or error displayed, please copy it and paste it here:

No errors reported. I'm sure I am overlooking some setting that will maintain
settings over the course of the batch process, but this seems counterintuitive.
rollin_eng
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by rollin_eng »

You need to save your settings as a preset.

I think you also have to make it the default.

Also try upgrading to 0.10.3 or a nightly build.
StringTheory
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by StringTheory »

Thanks, rollin_eng. That seems to have worked, but I have to wonder why Handbrake would be so obscure.
I did indeed need to create a new profile, then set it as default. Otherwise, Handbrake seems to ignore the
main screens' settings (???!)

If the controls for setting resolution are right there on the main screen, why would they not work directly?
That doesn't make the least bit of sense.

It also seems like Handbrake took the liberty of cropping files cause it noticed a few frames that had black
borders. Another head-scratcher. The majority of frames that did not have black borders got their sides clipped.

I had been using ffmpeg for transcoding, but I switched over to Handbrake cause having the UI seemed helpful.
Now it seems like ffmpeg (with all of its command line options) was so much simpler and easier to understand.

Now I've got to go back thru files that I had transcoded to see how many got cropped.
mduell
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by mduell »

The settings for a particular encode only apply to that encode. On scanning a new source, including the next video in your folder, everything reverts to the preset. This is the only way it can possibly make sense, since not all sources are the same (audio tracks, subtitle tracks, etc etc)

Autocrop is on by default. You're welcome to set cropping to 0 on all sides and save that in your preset.

You're welcome to use the HB CLI if you're more comfortable that way; I certainly am vs the HB angry spaghetti GUI. A trivial shell script can wrap it to iterate over many files.
rollin_eng
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by rollin_eng »

Was your cropping set to auto crop?

You should post a log so people can see what is going on.
rollin_eng
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by rollin_eng »

mduell wrote:The settings for a particular encode only apply to that encode. On scanning a new source, including the next video in your folder, everything reverts to the preset. This is the only way it can possibly make sense, since not all sources are the same (audio tracks, subtitle tracks, etc etc).
This doesn't make sense with the fact that one could just save their current settings then apply them to the folder, having the current settings apply to all would just remove the need to create a preset would it not?
StringTheory
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by StringTheory »

mduell wrote:The settings for a particular encode only apply to that encode. On scanning a new source, including the next video in your folder, everything reverts to the preset. This is the only way it can possibly make sense, since not all sources are the same (audio tracks, subtitle tracks, etc etc)

Autocrop is on by default. You're welcome to set cropping to 0 on all sides and save that in your preset.
Thanks for your reply, mduell. No, I didn't expect settings to carry over to the next 'scan,' at least if I understand how you're using the term. But I did expect settings to apply to all files in the current 'scan,' hence to all files in the batch process. (After selecting a source folder with a group of files, HB rolls thru a 'scan' of those files. I presume that's what you're referring to as a scan.)

HB also seems inconsistent, sometimes applying the correct settings to the first file, sometimes not. But in all cases, selected settings for subsequent files were ignored. Autocrop also seems to have a mind of its own. I did set cropping to 0 on all sides, but it always resets after the first file (and sometimes has not worked for the first file either).

At best, all of this is counter-intuitive.Perhaps the UI could be changed to reflect what HB is actually going to do. If this is normal behavior for HB to apply designated parameters to only the first file in a batch, there should be a warning.

My own preference would be that it applies those settings for all files in the batch process. If a 'preset' always remains active thru a batch process, then HB could regard the user overrides as a temporary preset thru the duration of the batch process. Resetting in the middle of an encode does not seem logical.

As mentioned, the problem persisted until I created a new preset, then designated that as the default. That seems error-prone. Forgetting to reset the default to 'normal' could inadvertantly encode subsequent sessions with those parameters.
StringTheory
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by StringTheory »

rollin_eng wrote:Was your cropping set to auto crop?

You should post a log so people can see what is going on.
No, I had set cropping to custom, and designated 0 for all four params.
Same deal there. It was reset after the first file, in the middle of the
batch process.

Re the log: I just took a look, and I'm mystified. There are entries like:
"/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed" which I would understand if I were
transcoding a DVD. But all files in the batch were plain .mp4 files on
a hard drive.

Also some entries like " failed ... bd: not a bd" Does it think it's
reading a bluray disc?

There are other odd things in the log as well. I'll review those before
posting anything. Not encouraging!
arcuser
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by arcuser »

StringTheory wrote:...I had set cropping to custom, and designated 0 for all four params.
Same deal there. It was reset after the first file, in the middle of the
batch process.
Just wondering if all your sources have the same original size? i.e. are all sources 1920x1080 or do some of them vary?

Handbrake autocrop is setup to handle this, but the Modulus setting (2, 4, 8 etc.) can also play a part in the final output size.

It would be helpful to know if all source videos are the same or not.
mduell
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by mduell »

StringTheory wrote:Thanks for your reply, mduell. No, I didn't expect settings to carry over to the next 'scan,' at least if I understand how you're using the term. But I did expect settings to apply to all files in the current 'scan,' hence to all files in the batch process. (After selecting a source folder with a group of files, HB rolls thru a 'scan' of those files. I presume that's what you're referring to as a scan.)
Only the preset applies to all files in the scan. You can edit individual encode settings if you'd like, for the first encode or any other encode.
StringTheory wrote:HB also seems inconsistent, sometimes applying the correct settings to the first file, sometimes not. But in all cases, selected settings for subsequent files were ignored. Autocrop also seems to have a mind of its own. I did set cropping to 0 on all sides, but it always resets after the first file (and sometimes has not worked for the first file either).
No logs = unsupportable noise
StringTheory wrote:At best, all of this is counter-intuitive.Perhaps the UI could be changed to reflect what HB is actually going to do. If this is normal behavior for HB to apply designated parameters to only the first file in a batch, there should be a warning.
No need for ridiculous warnings.
StringTheory wrote:My own preference would be that it applies those settings for all files in the batch process. If a 'preset' always remains active thru a batch process, then HB could regard the user overrides as a temporary preset thru the duration of the batch process. Resetting in the middle of an encode does not seem logical.
Your preference is how it used to work. Through years of experience and support it was found to be insufficiently expressive for the variety of situations encountered. For a trivial example, consider a situation where the user chooses passthrough of an AC3 track in one encode and the next file has only a DTS track: should it be passed through as DTS or converted to AC3? This is why the audio defaults, stored in the preset, are necessary to express the users desire.

There is no resetting in the middle of an encode. You may not understand what an encode is.
StringTheory wrote:As mentioned, the problem persisted until I created a new preset, then designated that as the default. That seems error-prone. Forgetting to reset the default to 'normal' could inadvertantly encode subsequent sessions with those parameters.
It's hard to consider it inadvertent when you set it as the default.
StringTheory wrote:Re the log: I just took a look, and I'm mystified. There are entries like:
"/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed" which I would understand if I were transcoding a DVD. But all files in the batch were plain .mp4 files on a hard drive.

Also some entries like " failed ... bd: not a bd" Does it think it's reading a bluray disc?
How was the program supposed to know if what you selected was a DVD/BD without looking for the files that would be indicative of being a DVD/BD file structure? No mystery that it's looking for files to see what it's dealing with and correctly reporting that it's not finding them so it's treating the selection as something else.
rollin_eng
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by rollin_eng »

StringTheory wrote: There are other odd things in the log as well.
This is why you should post your log so we can see what is happening.
StringTheory
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by StringTheory »

arcuser wrote:
StringTheory wrote:...I had set cropping to custom, and designated 0 for all four params.
Same deal there. It was reset after the first file, in the middle of the
batch process.
Just wondering if all your sources have the same original size? i.e. are all sources 1920x1080 or do some of them vary?

Handbrake autocrop is setup to handle this, but the Modulus setting (2, 4, 8 etc.) can also play a part in the final output size.

It would be helpful to know if all source videos are the same or not.
Hi arcuser,

Yes, all the files are the same size, with the same encoding and audio formats, etc.
In fact, they were the result of a previous batch transcode done with ffmpeg. So I
didn't see why the parameters that I had set on the main page wouldn't be applied to all.
I was just creating smaller versions of the files to run on systems with lower res screens.
I've used other transcoding programs and I don't remember any of them working like this.
Hence my surprise.
StringTheory
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by StringTheory »

mduell wrote:
StringTheory wrote:
StringTheory wrote:At best, all of this is counter-intuitive.Perhaps the UI could be changed to reflect what HB is actually going to do. If this is normal behavior for HB to apply designated parameters to only the first file in a batch, there should be a warning.
No need for ridiculous warnings.
Apparently this is the place where polite exchange runs off the rails. I'll stand by my comment: I find the current mode of operation totally non-intuitive. So do others, apparently. If our opinions are ridiculous, then perhaps we're done here.
mduell wrote:
StringTheory wrote:As mentioned, the problem persisted until I created a new preset, then designated that as the default. That seems error-prone. Forgetting to reset the default to 'normal' could inadvertantly encode subsequent sessions with those parameters.
It's hard to consider it inadvertent when you set it as the default.
Which is exactly why I didn't want to set it as default.
mduell wrote:
StringTheory wrote:Re the log: I just took a look, and I'm mystified. There are entries like:
"/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed" which I would understand if I were transcoding a DVD. But all files in the batch were plain .mp4 files on a hard drive.

Also some entries like " failed ... bd: not a bd" Does it think it's reading a bluray disc?
How was the program supposed to know if what you selected was a DVD/BD without looking for the files that would be indicative of being a DVD/BD file structure? No mystery that it's looking for files to see what it's dealing with and correctly reporting that it's not finding them so it's treating the selection as something else.
Personally, I would have thought that having only .mp4 files on a hard drive folder in the queue would have signaled the program as to the nature of the source.

Overall though, what may seem obvious for a veteran user is not necessarily going to be obvious to someone seeing the program for the first time. That would be me. If you dismiss my comments as ridiculous, then I believe you're writing off feedback that could help to craft a better UI, at least for new users. I write software for a living, including a lot of UI software, and I found HB's UI confusing and counter-intuitive. Statement of opinion, so there's no need to get defensive; I'm not going to belabor the point.
mduell
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by mduell »

StringTheory wrote:
mduell wrote:
StringTheory wrote:Re the log: I just took a look, and I'm mystified. There are entries like:
"/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed" which I would understand if I were transcoding a DVD. But all files in the batch were plain .mp4 files on a hard drive.

Also some entries like " failed ... bd: not a bd" Does it think it's reading a bluray disc?
How was the program supposed to know if what you selected was a DVD/BD without looking for the files that would be indicative of being a DVD/BD file structure? No mystery that it's looking for files to see what it's dealing with and correctly reporting that it's not finding them so it's treating the selection as something else.
Personally, I would have thought that having only .mp4 files on a hard drive folder in the queue would have signaled the program as to the nature of the source.
That's how programs determine what they're given, by inspection. File names are not nearly robust enough of a way to determine the contents of the source. If you don't want to see the details of how it's working, please don't read the logs, just post them here when you want help.
StringTheory wrote:Overall though, what may seem obvious for a veteran user is not necessarily going to be obvious to someone seeing the program for the first time. That would be me. If you dismiss my comments as ridiculous, then I believe you're writing off feedback that could help to craft a better UI, at least for new users. I write software for a living, including a lot of UI software, and I found HB's UI confusing and counter-intuitive. Statement of opinion, so there's no need to get defensive; I'm not going to belabor the point.
There's not much interest in crafting a better GUI, and certainly not for new users. I gave up on the angry spaghetti GUI years ago in favor of a simple script wrapper on the CLI.
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s55
HandBrake Team
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Re: Handbrake losing settings in batch mode

Post by s55 »

As mentioned, the problem persisted until I created a new preset, then designated that as the default. That seems error-prone. Forgetting to reset the default to 'normal' could inadvertently encode subsequent sessions with those parameters.
The preset just needs to be selected. It doesn't need to be default.

Personally, I would have thought that having only .mp4 files on a hard drive folder in the queue would have signaled the program as to the nature of the source.
Not that simple actually. We see all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations. HandBrake simply asks each library, can you handle this source, If yes, hand over to that library to deal with it. Any logging coming from those libraries is irrelevant. Safest way to deal with it.

I write software for a living, including a lot of UI software, and I found HB's UI confusing and counter-intuitive. Statement of opinion, so there's no need to get defensive; I'm not going to belabor the point.
We welcome suggestions, however you'll find it near impossible to make the UI fully intuitive. There are so many conceptually difficult problems you need to understand, to get why it's implemented the way it is, and no real practical way to convey that to the user without breaking the UI in a bad way or locking down the UI in such a way that it becomes less useful.

We've had a few "UI Developers" take a look at it overs the years, and the common theme is, they come up with nice ideas but fail to take into account some use-case that invalidates the idea.

With regards to bulk adding stuff. I was making a change a while ago to add a preset dropdown to the batch add screen. Unfortunately it's not obvious from "Add all" since it doesn't popup a window. I never got around to checking it in as it doesn't really solve the problem in a satisfactory way.


Just on a final note, presets are not a discrete set of settings. They are partially source / behavior driven as this is the only way it can work.
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