Batch processing multiple videos
How easy is it to set up a run of videos for overnight processing?
Video processing can be an intensive task, taking several times the playing length of a video to convert it. So it would be useful to be able to set up several videos to process and leave the software to get on with it overnight or while you’re at work.
Handbrake’s approach to batch processing is to be applauded. You can set up multiple videos for processing and then start the process when you have finished, or even before then. The queue can be exported to a file for later running, or it can be passed to the HandbrakeCLI shell command to process the batch in a terminal, freeing up the resources used by the GUI, or enabling you to schedule the job for later.
Avidemux does things slightly differently. You can set up conversion jobs and add them to a queue. Then you quit Avidemux and run a separate program, avidemux_jobs, that lists all the jobs you have queued. From here you can managed the queued jobs, run individual ones or run them all. The involvement of a second program is a little cumbersome, but not a deal breaker.
Curlew makes it possible for you to set up more than one file for transcoding, although all files in the queue use the same settings and you start the conversion once all files have been added. VLC and Shutter Encoder work similarly in that multiple files can be encoded with the same settings. All of these are fine if you want to batch convert several files in the same way. Curlew even enables you to select a directory as the source to process all its files.
Handbrake clearly has the best approach to unattended transcoding of multiple files.