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[Request] Any Guides to FFMPEG, Transcoding, Codecs, and Metadata? (leminal.space)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have a collection of about ~110 4K Blu-Ray movies that I've ripped and I want to take the time to compress and store them for use on a future Jellyfin server.

I know some very basics about ffmpeg and general codec information, but I have a very specific set of goals in mind I'm hoping someone could point me in the right direction with:

Smaller file size (obviously)
Image quality good enough that I cannot spot the difference, even on a high-end TV or projector
Preserved audio
Preserved HDR metadata

In a perfect world, I would love to be able to convert the proprietary HDR into an open standard, and the Dolby Atmos audio into an open standard, but a good compromise is this.

Assuming that I have the hardware necessary to do the initial encoding, and my server will be powerful enough for transcoding in that format, any tips or pointers?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You're about to embark on a massive journey and I wish you the best of luck :D

Compressing 110 4K movies is going to be a long encode time, but it will be so nice to digitize that collection.

First question: if you already have them ripped and stored, do you even need to re-encode them? If you have a powerful enough Jellyfin server for transcoding, that may be enough.

That said, if you're looking to optimize for space and quality, there's some questions to ask:

proprietary (but ubiquitous) HEVC or the emerging open standard AV1? It's going to be a lot easier finding tips/guides for HEVC.
Constant Rate Factor (CRF), or Average Bit Rate (ABR). CRF tends to be more straightforward if you have a varied collection of content because it let's the encoder choose settings to deliver consistent quality. 2-pass average bit rate is good if you have a target size or compatibility in mind - great for squeezing out the absolute optimal quality if you're trying to fit on a Blu-Ray disc or meet certain streaming criteria, but 2x the encode time (hence "2-pass") can be a tough sell.

Stick with software encoding, steer clear of hardware solutions like NVENC. They're crazy fast, but inconsistent quality.

There's some guides out there on converting DV to HDR 10+ etc, but I don't have a lot of experience with that process.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The issue is storage costs. Currently they (and some Blu-ray shows I ripped) are taking up just over 12TB. I bought all of these movies when I had money to spend on stuff like that, but money is short and times are tough. "Storage is cheap" but my wallet is cheaper right now, aha.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Look, I definitely get it, but just a note, encoding 100+ 4k HEVC movies is going to take months of time at full PC loads. It's a subtle cost, but depending on your electricity rate, running a 200W PC 24/7 for 3 months straight may hurt your bottom line more than it helps.

If you already have the storage, the cheapest option may be just to keep it. If you're looking to increase the size of your collection it may be about even to save 6 TB via encode and to buy an extra 6TB disc, depending on your setup

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I am definitely keeping an eye on my electricity bill right now, since I have Unmanic running full speed and it's about 3 weeks into a 4-month job that might only save 1 TB.