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General Questions

BitBonsai supports all video formats that FFmpeg can decode, including:
  • MP4 (.mp4, .m4v)
  • Matroska (.mkv)
  • AVI (.avi)
  • QuickTime (.mov)
  • WebM (.webm)
  • MPEG (.mpg, .mpeg)
  • FLV (.flv)
  • WMV (.wmv)
The app automatically detects codec compatibility. If a file is already in HEVC or AV1, it’s skipped unless you force re-encoding.See Understanding Jobs for more details on job statuses.
Storage savings depend on the source codec and target codec:
Source → TargetTypical Savings
H.264 → HEVC40-50%
H.264 → AV150-70%
MPEG-2 → HEVC60-80%
Example:
  • 1 TB of H.264 movies → ~500 GB as HEVC
  • 1 TB of H.264 movies → ~350 GB as AV1
Actual savings vary based on:
  • Source quality (bitrate, resolution)
  • CRF/quality setting (lower CRF = larger files)
  • Content type (animation compresses better than live action)
High-quality 4K files may save less (30-40%) due to already efficient encoding.
Yes. BitBonsai supports hardware acceleration via FFmpeg:
VendorTechnologyLinuxWindows
NVIDIANVENC✅✅
IntelQuick Sync (QSV)✅✅
AMDAMF/VCE✅✅
Configuration: Hardware encoding is configured per-library. When creating or editing a library, select the encoder:
Codec: HEVC
Encoder: NVIDIA NVENC (hevc_nvenc)
Requirements:
  • NVIDIA: GPU with NVENC support + drivers
  • Intel: iGPU with Quick Sync + drivers
  • AMD: GPU with VCE support + drivers
Performance:
  • NVENC: 3-10x faster than CPU encoding
  • Quality: Slightly lower than CPU at same bitrate (acceptable for most users)
See Codec Selection for encoder comparisons.
Yes. BitBonsai has a TRUE RESUME feature that preserves partial encoding progress.How It Works:
  1. Click Pause on an encoding job
  2. Job status changes to PAUSED
  3. FFmpeg process is killed gracefully
  4. Temp file (*.bbtmp) is kept on disk
  5. Click Resume to continue from last keyframe
Benefits:
  • No wasted work (unlike traditional pause which discards progress)
  • Safe to pause/resume anytime
  • Temp files cleaned up automatically on completion
Technical Details:
  • Resume point determined by temp file size vs. expected output
  • If temp file is corrupted, job auto-retries from scratch
  • If temp file is missing (deleted manually), job resets to QUEUED
Limitations:
  • Resume accuracy ~95-98% (may re-encode last 1-2 seconds)
  • Two-pass encoding does not support resume (restarts pass)
BitBonsai has automatic retry and error recovery:Auto-Retry Mechanism:
  1. Job fails (FFmpeg error, disk full, etc.)
  2. Status → QUEUED with retry counter incremented
  3. System retries up to 3 times
  4. After 3 failures → status changes to FAILED
Failed Job Recovery:
  • Review error logs in the job details panel
  • Fix underlying issue (disk space, permissions, corrupted source)
  • Click Retry to manually reset the job
Common Failure Causes:
ErrorCauseSolution
FFmpeg error code 1Corrupted source fileRe-download or remux file
Disk fullInsufficient temp spaceFree up disk space
Permission deniedFile/folder permissionsCheck ownership and rwx permissions
TimeoutJob exceeded max durationIncrease timeout in settings
Auto-Healing:
  • Orphaned jobs (stuck in ENCODING after restart) → auto-reset to QUEUED
  • Corrupted temp files → auto-deleted and job re-queued
  • Health check failures → auto-retry every hour
See Troubleshooting for detailed error diagnostics.