Tvheadend post-processing scripts

Automatically transcode Tvheadend recording files to smaller video files using the HandBrake command line tool.

Features

Transcode recording files to MKV or MP4 video files
Keep or delete recording files after successful transcoding
Delete kept recording files older than a specified number of days
Verify transcoded video files using ffmpeg
Configure HandBrake settings (crop, deinterlace, preset, ...)
Run transcodings sequentially instead of in parallel
Run pre-transcoding and post-transcoding scripts

Main scripts

tvheadend-post-processor.sh

Transcode a recording file to a video file. This script is invoked from Tvheadend.
tvheadend-post-processor-batch.sh

Start or redo transcodings manually from outside Tvheadend. This is not a post-processor script for Tvheadend.

Additional scripts

examples/my-tvheadend-post-processor.sh

An example post-processor wrapper script that can:
- skip post-processing of specific programmes and/or channels
- set specific post-processing options per channel or a set of channels
- ...
examples/pre-scripts.d/10-pre-script.sh

An example pre-transcoding script.

Dependencies

Common dependencies:

awk, bash, ffmpeg, flock and getopt (package util-linux), handbrake-cli

Installation

Download the scripts:

git clone https://github.com/willemw12/tvheadend-post-processor.git
cd tvheadend-post-processor

The script(s) to be used by Tvheadend should be accessible to the Tvheadend user, usually "hts" or "tvheadend".

Optionally, copy the relevant scripts to another location, for example:

sudo cp tvheadend-post-processor*.sh /usr/local/bin/

Configuration

Set the post-processor command

From the main page of the Tvheadend's web interface, go to "Configuration" and then to "Recording". Change "View level" to "Expert" or "Advanced". Set "Post-processor command", including at least the following two arguments:

tvheadend-post-processor.sh "%e" "%f"

An initial default configuration file is created by the script during the first post-processing. To create the initial default configuration file manually, run, for example:

sudo -u hts tvheadend-post-processor.sh

The default configuration file location for this user is /home/hts/.config/tvheadend-post-processor/tvheadend-post-processor.conf.

Change the default configuration

Optionally, change some of the settings in the configuration file:

KEEP_RECORDING=no
TRANSCODING_PATH=/path/to/a/writable-folder
# Uncomment to change or rename the video files folder
#VIDEO_PATH=/path/to/a/writable-folder

and/or with command options:

tvheadend-post-processor.sh --no-keep-recording --transcoding-path=/path/to/a/writable-folder "%e" "%f"

Help

For more detailed information, run:

./tvheadend-post-processor.sh --help

and see also the generated configuration file.

License

These scripts are released under GPLv3. See included COPYING file.

Links

The scripts are on GitHub.