HandBrake

HandBrake converts video from one format to another. It reads most sources that FFmpeg and libdvdread can open, including unprotected DVD and Blu-ray structures, and writes MP4, MKV or WebM with H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9 or MPEG-4 video.

The part that saves the most time is the preset system. Presets exist for devices and for target qualities, so a whole folder of recordings can be queued and left to run with settings that are already sensible. Filters cover deinterlacing, denoising, detelecine, cropping and scaling, and subtitle tracks can be passed through, burned in or selected by language. Hardware encoders from Intel, AMD, Nvidia and Apple are used when the machine has them.

HandBrake has been developed since 2003 and publishes builds for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus a command line version that takes the same options for scripted batch work.