Download to, custom audio selection

[cptlores 41]

I often use the <Download to> feature in combination with the "Folder Sync" plugin to transcode movies and TV series down to a suitable bitrate for bringing them with me when I travel. That way I have a selection of transcoded material ready in a folder to copy whenever I am going to travel.

 

The problem I am having is that when transcoding to some lower bitrate profile the video is fine, but i get AAC audio that is 6 ch AAC from AC-3/DTS surround files and all available audio tracks in the source (there is usually 2-3 different audio tracks in movies etc) are transcoded and included. Naturally this makes the files much larger then they need to be.

 

So my request is the ability to select a single audio track and force stereo conversion when using the <Download to> feature. Being able to specify the audio bitrate would also be nice, but not strictly necessary.

Edited April 16, 2020 by cptlores

[Luke 42505]

Hi, yes i would expect more control over this in future updates. thanks for the feedback.

[cptlores 41]

Bump..

[Luke 42505]

Hi, yes this is planned for the future. Thanks.

[cptlores 41]

Bump..

[Luke 42505]

HI, yes more control over this is planned for future updates. Thanks.

[cptlores 41]

Time for another bump I guess...

[visproduction 360]

CPT,

Are you aware of mkvtools?

You can drag and drop any number of mkv media and select which combination of video, audio and subtitles you prefer and click the transcode button and it makes copies of every media in the group to a new directory.  In 10 minutes you could easily do 60 medias.  This does not reencode to a lower bitrate, as you mentioned above.  It does seem to solve your initial request, for now, if your portable hardware can handle the video bitrate of the original.

Making the same functionality inside Emby is a process that is more involved than most people imagine.  If you have developed similar types of software features, then you already know this.

Hope that is helpful.

Edited April 24, 2025 by visproduction

[cptlores 41]

Time for the yearly bump. sigh..

[Neminem 1729]

@visproduction I guess you need to tag people if you have a good point.

Op did not seam to see or care for your response

[cptlores 41]

It's not that I did not see it, but mkvtools (that I use often) is a completely different beast compared to just clicking "Download to -> folder" in Emby on a movie or even a complete series and have it waiting for you in that folder when you need it. And the difficult part is already in place with the "download to" feature. It is just missing options to select a specific audio track and specify stereo output for the transcoding parameters it is already sending to ffmpeg.

Edited May 8 by cptlores

[Q-Droid 1024]

This FR is about to graduate from kindergarten. Mom and dad must be so proud. 

 

[visproduction 360]

CPT,
I get that.  Of interest:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11400248/using-ffmpeg-to-get-video-info-why-do-i-need-to-specify-an-output-file

1. How many users would use this feature - Popularity estmate?
2. Send ffprobe result to a GUI check list what audio / video to transcode or download for direct play.
3. Add in transcode GUI showing ffmpeg options.
4. Get time estimate based on server hardware and available bandwidth.  Some settings will probably not work in real time.
5. Initiate and download button.
6. Show progress and time to completion.
7. Convert all functions to a plugin.
8. Style GUI to work for all Emby screen sizes, desktop, mobile, tablet, TV.
9. Test for all Emby versions.
10. Support this feature / plugin and run QA tests for bugs.
11. Update this feature and test again for any new codecs.
12. QA process should run on a variety of hardware setups.
13. Release in beta for review and bug testing.
14. Add feature, if it works without errors.
15. Estimate total cost of feature.
16. Pay compensation to developers and support / QA work.
17. Divide total cost into number of users, estimated to use this feature and find initial cost and annual bug testing and updates for feature cost per user.  Is this greater than, say $500 per user or less?

Edited May 8 by visproduction