Converting video

The Video tab shows every file that has been scanned, as a folder tree. Tick what you want and press Convert. This page explains the tab, its filters and the options in the Convert dialog.

What the scan offers

Smart Transcode scans the root folders you added (.mkv .mp4 .avi .ts .m4v .mov) and reads each file's video codec, resolution and bitrate. A file is a candidate when it is in an older codec (H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1…) and its bitrate is above a guide for its resolution:

Files already in HEVC, AV1 or VP9, and files at or below the guide, are already efficient: they are listed but not offered, because re-encoding them rarely saves space. You can override that with Convert regardless of savings (below).

The page

Root folder

When you have several root folders, a drop-down chooses which one the tree shows. Each root folder is shown on its own.

Scan status

Above the tree: what is being scanned or waiting to be scanned. Scans start by themselves (a full scan when a folder is added, then new and changed files on the interval in General). Each folder has a ⋯ menu to rescan it at once.

Counts

Folders, Candidates, Selected (ticked), In Queue and Queue Size.

Size unit

A switch for how sizes are shown (KB … PB, or automatic). It applies to the whole page and is remembered in your browser.

Expand all / Collapse all

Open or close every folder in the tree.

Invert selection

Ticks the files that are not ticked and unticks the ones that are.

Filters

Three filters (and an order) narrow what the tree shows. Each filter is a button that opens a list of choices with how many files each has; tick any number of them. A file shows when it matches all the filters. The choices are not remembered when you reload the page. Files a filter hides are unticked.

Status

• Ready to convert: a candidate that is not in a queue.
• In batch: waiting or converting in the queue.
• Converted: already converted by Smart Transcode.
• Larger when re-encoded: an earlier conversion came out bigger than the original, so the original was kept.
• Already optimized: already in an efficient codec (HEVC, AV1, VP9).
• Efficient bitrate: in an older codec, but at or below the bitrate guide.

Codec

The video codec of the file (H264, HEVC, MPEG4…), with a count for each.

Resolution

The picture size (1920x1080, 1280x720…), largest first.

Monitored and Tag

Appear only when Sonarr or Radarr is connected: filter by whether the series or movie is monitored there, and by its tags.

Order

By name, Largest first or Smallest first, for the files and folders.

Ticking files and folders

• Tick a file to select it. A file that cannot be converted (already converted, already in a queue) cannot be ticked.
• Tick a folder to select everything under it. If no file in it is ticked, one click ticks them all; if some or all are ticked, one click unticks them (a half-ticked folder is cleared, not filled). Half-ticked folders show a dash.
• Your selection is saved per folder, so it is there when you come back.
• The tree stays quick on big libraries: ticking a folder of 30,000 files takes a fraction of a second.

Some files carry a marker: hard-linked (another file shares the data, usually a torrent that is still seeding; converting it writes a new file and the original stays on disk, so nothing is saved while it seeds) and may not save space (offered only because of Convert regardless of savings). Click a status to see why a file was or was not offered.

The Convert dialog

When files are ticked, a bar at the bottom shows how many and a Convert button. It asks for the settings below, tells you how many ticked files cannot be converted, and then adds them to the queue. While a queue is already running the button reads Add to queue: the files join the end of it.

Target codec

HEVC (H.265) by default. H.264 and AV1 are also offered, and H.266 (VVC) as experimental, when the chosen device can encode them. Notes under the box say what to know about the choice on this machine.

Rate control target (QP)

The quality target: a lower number means better quality and a bigger file. The recommended value for the codec is shown (HEVC 24). The scale differs between codecs, so use the range and wording the box shows.

Downscale to

Original, 480p, 720p, 1080p or 2160p. Files taller than the choice are scaled down, keeping the shape of the picture. Scaling down cannot be undone.

Files already at or below that height

When downscaling, either convert them at their own size (still saving space, without scaling) or skip them.

Convert regardless of savings

Keep the new file even if it is larger. Efficient files and files that came out larger before can then be ticked and converted. Files already in the target codec are still skipped.

These are the same options as Settings → Video, which also holds the encoding device, parallel workers and GPU decode and encode. Progress is on the Queue tab.