Updated Handbrake CLI Settings and Automated DVD Encoding

Back in January I posted about a workflow for automatic processing of DVD's. This is really handy if you are processing a bunch of home movies from DVD to an AppleTV friendly format (or any other format). I've updated my settings (and corrected a typo) from that post. I like the look of strict anamorphic video better on one of my videos so it was easy to simply modify the Automator workflow. I was also having some issues with the Hazel portion of the workflow moving the DVD image before it was done encoding. I modified the new Hazel script as follows:

1. RipIt creates a dvdmedia file of the disk in a folder called "Encode"

2. Hazel monitors the "Encode" folder for files of type "dvdmedia" and color label not set to green. If it identifies a file it runs the following sequence:

 

3. The modified automator workflow now looks like this:

 

Importantly, the file is now moved by the workflow and not by Hazel. This way, the file is only moved after the workflow ends. Interestingly, this was not an issue until I upgraded to an SSD. It may be coincidental but I wouldn't be surprised if this problem was an artifact of the incredible performance of SSD resulting in the file move taking too little time to allow Handbrake to start the second round of the 2-pass encoding.

4. Finally, Hazel Monitors the disk image archive for any "dvdmedia" file types and renamed the file to a bit more friendly format:

This is one of my favorite tweaks. It saves a ton of time that is easily relegated to a machine. The work starts with popping a DVD into my iMac and ends when the processed file is saved and the disk image archived. Pretty darn close to magical.