How do I convert 10-bit H.265 / HEVC videos to H.264 without quality loss?
Solution 1
10-bit/12-bit HEVC to 8-bit H.264
ffmpeg -i input -map 0 -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -vf format=yuv420p -c:a copy output.mkv
-
-map 0
will include all streams (default stream selection only selects 1 stream per type). See FFmpeg Wiki: Map. -
Adjust the
-crf
value to provide the desired level of quality. Add the-preset
option if you want to adjust encoding speed. See FFmpeg Wiki: H.264 for more info on-crf
and-preset
. -
Uses the format filter to choose the
yuv420p
pixel format to create 8-bit output.
10-bit/12-bit HEVC to 10-bit H.264
ffmpeg -i input -map 0 -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a copy output.mkv
-
-map 0
will include all streams (default stream selection only selects 1 stream per type). See FFmpeg Wiki: Map. -
Adjust the
-crf
value to provide the desired level of quality. Add the-preset
option if you want to adjust encoding speed. See FFmpeg Wiki: H.264 for more info on-crf
and-preset
. -
No need for the format filter in this case.
10-bit/12-bit HEVC to 8-bit HEVC
ffmpeg -i input -map 0 -c:v libx265 -crf 20 -vf format=yuv420p -c:a copy output.mkv
-
-map 0
will include all streams (default stream selection only selects 1 stream per type). See FFmpeg Wiki: Map. -
Adjust the
-crf
value to provide the desired level of quality. Add the-preset
option if you want to adjust encoding speed. See FFmpeg Wiki: HEVC / H.265 for more info on-crf
and-preset
. -
Uses the format filter to choose the
yuv420p
pixel format to create 8-bit output.
12-bit HEVC to 10-bit HEVC
ffmpeg -i input -map 0 -c:v libx265 -crf 20 -vf format=yuv420p10le -c:a copy output.mkv
-
-map 0
will include all streams (default stream selection only selects 1 stream per type). See FFmpeg Wiki: Map. -
Adjust the
-crf
value to provide the desired level of quality. Add the-preset
option if you want to adjust encoding speed. See FFmpeg Wiki: HEVC / H.265 for more info on-crf
and-preset
. -
Uses the format filter to choose the
yuv420p10le
pixel format to create 10-bit output. Other 10-bit pixel formats supported by libx265 areyuv422p10le
&yuv444p10le
, but your player may not like these. Seeffmpeg -h encoder=libx265
for additional supported pixel formats.
Solution 2
Handbrake can handle most anything.
The release notes mention 10-bit support.
The UI has all the options. I suggest you start there and get familiar with it.
See quick start guide.
There is also a CLI that can be downloaded here.
And the guide that has all the options laid out.
Related videos on Youtube
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HappyFace
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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HappyFace almost 2 years
My laptop can't handle 10bit H.265 / HEVC videos, so I'm looking to convert them to 10bit H.264. How do I do this using, say, ffmpeg, with the least quality loss? And how can I convert 10-bit H.265 to 8-bit H.265?
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HappyFace over 5 yearsCan you add the complete command?
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BlueGI over 5 yearsAdded links to post, start with the UI - it has a queue so you can load up an entire folder at once if needed.
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HappyFace over 5 yearsWhat about 10bit x265 to 8bit x265?
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Elisa Cha Cha over 5 years@HappyFace Looks like I misread the question. I added that section.
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HappyFace over 5 yearsAdding
-map 0
to the commands above will preserve subtitles and other additional streams. -
Alex Chiang almost 5 yearsPS4 only allow 8bit H264/AVC. But if use ffmpeg convert the 10bit H265/HEVC to H624, with preset, you will get the 10bit H264, which is not recognized on PS4 vedio player. This comment mark it useful for getting compability on PS4.
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Sriram Murali about 4 yearsConsider this answer superuser.com/questions/1296374/…