Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1vp97zt/built_an_automated_x265_pipeline_for_my_media/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/datahoarder by /u/BiiishOP on 2026-08-15 17:47:16+00:00.

https://preview.redd.it/a3huld64tkjh1.png?width=1526&format=png&auto=webp&s=e6cb6a2c9c7b03bd2634fac5458636b652eadd9b

Built this for my home media server because I got tired of manually deciding what was actually worth re-encoding. Also, when I started building it, I had no idea Tdarr or Unmanic even existed lol

It scans the library, sends candidates through HandBrake/x265, logs everything, and only keeps the new file if the space savings are worth it. If the encode comes out larger than the original, it gets tossed and the original stays put.

Current totals:

1,769 successful encodes

591.88 GB reclaimed

343 MB average saved per file

93.5% worth-it rate

347.4 total encode-hours

15.5 min average encode time

29.07 MB of storage reclaimed per encode-minute

Right now I'm only letting it loose on my kids' TV library while I keep tweaking the settings and decision logic. Once I'm happy with that, I'll move on to kids' movies, then eventually higher-production TV and movies where I want to be a lot more careful with dark scenes, grain, detail, blah blah blah

It also tracks failed encodes separately and dumps all the stats into the dashboard in the screenshot.

The goal isn't to crush everything down as small as possible. I just want meaningful space savings without looking at the result later and thinking "well, that looks like shit."

Curious what other people doing big library re-encodes are seeing.

Do you actually track savings and encode time, or do you mostly just let Tdarr, Unmanic, HandBrake, whatever, chew through the library and call it a day?