MCEBuddy files not working but Handbrake conversions are

I’m trying to use MCEBuddy to run my files through a Handbrake Preset. When I use the Handbrake GUI, it works great, but when I use MCEBuddy, the files don’t work (long buffering to start, freezing, and unable to resume in the middle - even when just playing locally on VLC).

Here’s the MCEBuddy profile:

[Mid 720p MKV]
Description=Use a handbrake profile
order=handbrake
handbrake-general=
handbrake-video=–start-at duration:0 --preset-import-file Mid720p.json --preset Mid720p
handbrake-audio=
handbrake-audioac3=
handbrake-ext=.mkv
handbrake-audiodelay=skip
handbrake-VideoOptimized=true
handbrake-AudioOptimized=true
PreConversionCommercialRemover=true

I’m wondering if I should remove the Optimized settings or changing them to false.

Here’s the configuration for this task:

[SavedShows-T]
Profile=Mid 720p MKV
DestinationPath=\\SavedShows
WorkingPath=
FallbackDestination=False
CheckReprocessingHistory=False
AddToiTunesLibrary=False
AddToWMPLibrary=False
AutoIncrementFilename=False
SkipReprocessing=False
MaxWidth=15360
FPS=
VolumeMultiplier=0
QualityMultiplier=1
RenameBySeries=True
AltRenameBySeries=False
CustomRenameBySeries=%relativesourcepath%%originalfilename%
RenameOnly=False
DownloadSeriesDetails=True
DownloadBanner=True
ForceFilenameMetadata=False
OverwriteMetadataInternet=Default
FileSelection=
MetaSelection=
MetaChannelSelection=
MonitorTaskNames=T-SavedShows
DRC=False
AudioLanguage=
AudioOffset=0
InsertQueueTop=False
ExtractXML=False
WriteMetadata=True
AutoDeInterlace=False
PreferHardwareEncoding=True
StereoAudio=False
EncoderSelectBestAudioTrack=False
DisableCropping=True
StartTrim=0
EndTrim=0
ExtractCC=default
SaveSubtitles=True
CCOffset=0
EmbedSubtitles=True
EmbedChapters=False
StrictProcessing=False
ExtractAdsFromChapters=False
TaskCommercialSkipCut=False
KeepAdvertisements=False
MetadataMatchPriority=Default
SkipCopyBackup=False
SkipRemux=False
IgnoreCopyProtection=False
TiVOMAKKey=
Enabled=True
ForceShowType=Default
MetaShowTypeSelection=Default
MetaCodecSelection=Any
GpuSelection=Any
MetaDRMTypeSelection=All
FileSizeCompareType=LessThan
FileSizeThreshold=0
VideoBitrateCompareType=LessThan
VideoBitrateThreshold=0
VideoWidthCompareType=LessThan
VideoWidthThreshold=0
CommercialRemoval=None
ComskipINI=
ComskipCLIParams=
DomainName=
UserName=MCEBuddy
Password=
MetaCorrectionsCount=0

Here’s the JSON for the profile:

{
“PresetList”: [
{
“AlignAVStart”: false,
“AudioCopyMask”: ,
“AudioEncoderFallback”: “ac3”,
“AudioLanguageList”: ,
“AudioList”: [
{
“AudioBitrate”: 224,
“AudioCompressionLevel”: 0,
“AudioEncoder”: “ac3”,
“AudioMixdown”: “5point1”,
“AudioNormalizeMixLevel”: false,
“AudioSamplerate”: “auto”,
“AudioTrackQualityEnable”: false,
“AudioTrackQuality”: 0,
“AudioTrackGainSlider”: 0,
“AudioTrackDRCSlider”: 0
}
],
“AudioSecondaryEncoderMode”: true,
“AudioTrackSelectionBehavior”: “first”,
“ChapterMarkers”: true,
“ChildrenArray”: ,
“Default”: true,
“FileFormat”: “av_mkv”,
“Folder”: false,
“FolderOpen”: false,
“Optimize”: false,
“Mp4iPodCompatible”: false,
“PictureCropMode”: 0,
“PictureBottomCrop”: 0,
“PictureLeftCrop”: 480,
“PictureRightCrop”: 480,
“PictureTopCrop”: 0,
“PictureDARWidth”: 960,
“PictureDeblockPreset”: “off”,
“PictureDeblockTune”: “medium”,
“PictureDeblockCustom”: “strength=strong:thresh=20:blocksize=8”,
“PictureDeinterlaceFilter”: “decomb”,
“PictureCombDetectPreset”: “default”,
“PictureCombDetectCustom”: “”,
“PictureDeinterlacePreset”: “default”,
“PictureDeinterlaceCustom”: “”,
“PictureDenoiseCustom”: “”,
“PictureDenoiseFilter”: “off”,
“PictureSharpenCustom”: “”,
“PictureSharpenFilter”: “off”,
“PictureSharpenPreset”: “medium”,
“PictureSharpenTune”: “none”,
“PictureDetelecine”: “off”,
“PictureDetelecineCustom”: “”,
“PictureColorspacePreset”: “off”,
“PictureColorspaceCustom”: “”,
“PictureChromaSmoothPreset”: “off”,
“PictureChromaSmoothTune”: “none”,
“PictureChromaSmoothCustom”: “”,
“PictureItuPAR”: false,
“PictureKeepRatio”: true,
“PicturePAR”: “auto”,
“PicturePARWidth”: 3,
“PicturePARHeight”: 4,
“PictureWidth”: 1280,
“PictureHeight”: 720,
“PictureUseMaximumSize”: true,
“PictureAllowUpscaling”: false,
“PictureForceHeight”: 0,
“PictureForceWidth”: 0,
“PicturePadMode”: “none”,
“PicturePadTop”: 0,
“PicturePadBottom”: 0,
“PicturePadLeft”: 0,
“PicturePadRight”: 0,
“PresetName”: “Mid720p”,
“Type”: 1,
“SubtitleAddCC”: true,
“SubtitleAddForeignAudioSearch”: false,
“SubtitleAddForeignAudioSubtitle”: false,
“SubtitleBurnBehavior”: “none”,
“SubtitleBurnBDSub”: false,
“SubtitleBurnDVDSub”: false,
“SubtitleLanguageList”: [
“eng”
],
“SubtitleTrackSelectionBehavior”: “first”,
“VideoAvgBitrate”: 0,
“VideoColorMatrixCode”: 0,
“VideoEncoder”: “x265_10bit”,
“VideoFramerateMode”: “vfr”,
“VideoGrayScale”: false,
“VideoScaler”: “swscale”,
“VideoPreset”: “medium”,
“VideoTune”: “”,
“VideoProfile”: “auto”,
“VideoLevel”: “auto”,
“VideoOptionExtra”: “”,
“VideoQualityType”: 2,
“VideoQualitySlider”: 25,
“VideoMultiPass”: true,
“VideoTurboMultiPass”: true,
“x264UseAdvancedOptions”: false,
“PresetDisabled”: false,
“MetadataPassthru”: false
}
],
“VersionMajor”: 59,
“VersionMicro”: 0,
“VersionMinor”: 0
}

In the output files, there are obvious differences in the file info.

Here’s the MCEBuddy converted file. Why isn’t Handbrake the writing application?

Writing application : mkvmerge v17.0.0 (‘Be Ur Friend’) 64-bit
Writing library : libebml v1.3.5 + libmatroska v1.4.8 / Lavf60.16.100

This is the Handbrake file:

Writing application : HandBrake 1.9.0 2024120100
Writing library : Lavf61.7.100

I love the automatic qualities of MCEBuddy, but I’m considering moving to writing my own automation that uses the Handbrake command line for the standalone Handbrake app if I can’t get this to work.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you want logs (running it again now on Debug to get a more robust log file).

The optimized option just means that the profile is pre optimized and that MCEBuddy shouldn’t try to further optimize the audio or video settings respectively, eg quality scaling, volume leveling, cropping etc.

It sounds like you may be encountering an issue with encoding. Try enabling the Disable remuxing option in the conversion task expert options. That will skip the intermediate remuxing to TS operation and feed the source directly to handbrake for conversion.