How to convert media?

[alekdavis 2]

I am trying to figure out how to optimize media files using the recent Convert feature. So I pick a library, select the Convert option from the menu, specify the conversion settings, and click the Convert button. And now what? How do I know which files got converted? What if the server gets rebooted? Will the conversion continue? How is this related to the Convert media scheduled task (it currently shows about 29% completion)? What does the Every 3 hours setting defined for the scheduled task mean? How do I cancel the conversion job? What if I convert the same library again? How do I know if there are any errors? Thanks.

 

UPDATE: Oh, crap, and it looks like I lost two movies so far. I mean, there used to be movies, but now the only things that remained in the movie folders are the jpegs, the vtt files, and the nfo file. What the heck! I started the conversion yesterday and then I wanted to cancel (I selected the option to not keep the original copies and to try it first on a smaller library), so I clicked the Stop button next to the Convert media scheduled task (I assumed this one was responsible for the conversion). Am I screwed now?

 

UPDATE 2: I sorted the library folder that I tried to sync and then stopped the task by date and I see that some of the MKV files have the updated timestamp, so I assume they got converted, but shouldn't have the extensions change to MP4? Why are they still MKVs? And One of the updated files got trimmed. I can play it, but it's now under 100 KB and only plays a few minutes. So I stopped and disabled Emby until I figure out how to safely cancel the conversion process. What should I do to stop it before it totally screws up my library?

Edited July 19, 2019 by alekdavis

[ebr 15580]

Hi.  This isn't immediately obvious (and we will address that) but you need to go to the "Download and Sync" section of the server dashboard and delete the convert job there.

 

Then we need to look at exactly what you did and logs to determine what may have gone wrong.

 

Thanks.

[alekdavis 2]

This is exactly what I did: (1) Selected a library with 50 or so movies. (2) Selected the 'Convert' option. (3) Set up the convert configuration to overwrite the original files and convert for TV. (4) Clicked the 'Convert' button. (5) A couple of minutes later, clicked the stop button next to the 'Convert media' scheduled task. (6) A few minutes later picked a smaller library (about 10 movies) and followed the same steps (only chose to keep the original copies). (7) Could not figure out how to check the conversion process, so a few hours later tried to convert the same library again.

 

I do not remember now if the system got rebooted in the process. I think there was a pending Windows update and it did, but not 100% sure.

 

I am not sure which logs to check. There are a few logs in the Logs screen.

Edited July 19, 2019 by alekdavis

[Luke 39673]

Hi, ebr answered in post #2 how to check the conversion process. Please let us know if this helps. Thanks.

[alekdavis 2]

Oh, I did not realize you could use the Downloads and Sync to view progress (#2 suggested to use it to cancel the job). I can see it now. It's about 50% complete so will take a chance to see what happens. Thanks.

[Luke 39673]

Yea we need to revamp this and have a dedicated section for conversions. Thanks.

[alekdavis 2]

Okay, I eventually stopped the task. Other than deleted and trimmed files, what I see is that every converted file regardless of the original resolution is ~3 GB, which is not right. I wish I chose an option to keep the original files, but I'm 100% positive that the original 704x384 videos were around 1.6 GB and now they are around 3 GB. Bummer.

[Luke 39673]

Can we please go over an example? thanks.

[alekdavis 2]

Hmmm... Just tried it on a single file and it worked fine: the converted file was actually less than the original. So not sure why my other files are over 3 GB. I'll keep an eye on it and let you know if I see a weird pattern.

[Luke 39673]

There should be an ffmpeg conversion log in the logs folder. Thanks.

[alekdavis 2]

I found the remux log for the media file that got deleted but it looks absolutely normal (I compared it with the other ones). Anyway, can probably close this one for now. I'll create another thread if I can report something more precise.

[Luke 39673]

Thanks for the info.