Hello readers! Today I'd like to write a post on how to convert video for Android using HandBrake. HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multipaltform, multithreaded video transcoder which is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. It comes with some presets for quick access to some common tasks.

There two built-in presets for Android: small screen device and bigger screen device. You can use those presets either via CLI (Command Line Interface) or via GUI (Graphical User Interface).


1. Converting via GUI
First thing first, please download the HandBrake GUI (handbrake-gtk) from here and select the latest version available. Once downloaded, run the following command to install HandBrake:
  • sudo dpkg -i handbrake-gtk_0.9.6ppa1~oneiric1_i386.deb
Once installed, simply open the app and under "Presets" option, select "Devices > Android Mid or Android High" to suit your need (look at the first figure).

2. Converting via CLI
Although there is a GUI which provides easy interface to get everything done, CLI is still beloved by many users, especially for those who like performing automatic tasks by using bash script or something like that. Well, you can convert video for Android via CLI too.
Please download the HandBrake CLI (handbrake-cli) from here, select the latest version available and then type the following command to install:
  • sudo dpkg -i handbrake-cli_0.9.6ppa1~oneiric1_i386.deb
Once installed, run the following command to start converting:
For small screen
  • # Android Small Device (screen size <= 480x...)
  • HandBrake -i video_in -o video_out.mp4 -Z "Android Mid"
For bigger screen
  • # Android Big Device (screen size >= 720x...)
  • HandBrake -i video_in -o video_out.mp4 -Z "Android High"
via: Xubuntu Geek