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I'd like to use HandBrake to compress some video that was taken via a camera that was mounted upside down.

I found a reference to a command-line rotate option, but I can't find it in the GUI.

Am I just missing it?

Linger
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nonot1
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  • For people viewing this question in 2021+, you can now do this via the GUI instead of the command line. I've posted an answer below that shows how to do it in the latest version (1.4.2). However, since the GUI option was very buggy when it was first introduced, be sure to update your version of Handbrake before trying to use it. – Pikamander2 Nov 05 '21 at 18:42

9 Answers9

94

On the Extra Options under Video tab put , --rotate=4 to rotate clockwise by 90 or , --rotate=7 for 90 counterclockwise.

Note: It will not work without the preceding comma and space.

(As of version 0.10.2.7286)

----Edit: as of 0.10.5.x

90 degrees counterclockwise

, --rotate=8

90 degrees clockwise

, --rotate=3
marche
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    worked like a charm :) Maybe the comma works like closing the x264 options and add it to the other one (like SQL injection) – keiki Dec 12 '13 at 20:03
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    This worked! Needs more upvotes. – dtbarne Feb 06 '14 at 02:25
  • In Linux this doesn't work. – Juan Simón Apr 10 '14 at 09:18
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    `, --rotate=7` rotates 90 degrees anticlockwise for me on Windows 7 – Rob May 09 '14 at 21:09
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    This is probably the best answer. Agreed; it should be upvoted to the top. It works with all the other GUI options. I was able to use `, --rotate=3` for a 180 degree rotation. – mkasberg May 18 '14 at 01:10
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    This is actually pretty funny; it works as an injection attack against the HandBrake GUI. The current Windows GUI works by constructing a long query string for the CLI. Since the "extra options" string for video isn't enclosed in quotes, you can close out the "extra options" section and just start putting in whatever command-line parameters you want. That's how this is working. Theoretically you could add whatever CLI parameters you want here. (At least until this is fixed) – RandomEngy Jun 15 '14 at 18:08
  • I did try with the latest — Version 0.9.9 x86_64 (2013051800) — GUI and couldn't inject any parameter in the x264 Advanced Options textarea. Plus, the activity panel actually states that an invalid option has been passed (x264 options: Unknown suboption , --rotate). Am I missing something? – Tom Desp Aug 12 '14 at 13:34
  • Just forgot to mention it was on a MacOS HandBreakGUI. – Tom Desp Aug 12 '14 at 13:44
  • Ubuntu 12.04 worked with billynoah's answer below, this didn't work in the GUI for me. – onaclov2000 Sep 06 '14 at 23:59
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    None of these options appear to work on MAC OS X Yosemite with version 0.9.9, so I just used QuickTime -> Edit to do it. – jjxtra Oct 12 '14 at 14:02
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    As of Handbrake 0.10.0 this no longer works :-/ – kralyk Mar 16 '15 at 17:16
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    Still works for me on Handbrake 0.10.2. Pretty sure this is codec dependent, i.e.: it will work on some codecs and it won't on others. – oKtosiTe Jul 05 '15 at 20:48
  • I think you need the following line, "Custom --rotate=[option]", where [option] equals the option of rotation according to the Handrake manual. – pdvries Jan 14 '16 at 16:53
  • Would be nice if the developers remove the need for a leading comma. Which user gets the idea to start an input by a comma?! – Avatar Mar 29 '16 at 10:43
23

From the Handbrake documentation:

    --rotate            Flips images axes
      <M>               (default 3)

To rotate 90° I used:

HandBrakeCLI -i source -o target.m4v --preset="Universal" --rotate="4"

with success. No luck getting this to work from the GUI.

note: I'm not sure why the above referenced blog post says:

a value of 1 flips on X, 2 flips on Y, and 3 flips on X and Y.

"3" is said to be default and as such should do no rotation at all. I've found this to be true.

info added by sorein:

HandBrake documentation: https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide

Sintax:
, --rotate=n
(comma and space needed)
It has to be entered in the tab VIDEO / EXTRA OPTIONS

Behaviour of "n"
The management of the ROTATE option is chaotic. It mixes FLIP and ROTATE!

1 : x flip
2 : y flip
3 : 180 degrees rotate (also the DEFAULT)
4 : 90 degrees rotate (clockwise)
5 : 90 degrees rotate + y flip
6 : 270 degrees rotate + y flip
7 : 270 degrees rotate

user278469
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But those new buttons though..
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14

From a recent post iPhone video rotation (and compression)

HandBrake (or at least the GUI) does not offer a way to rotate video. The HandBrake CLI does have a "rotate" option, however I found it is not a true rotation. Rather, it simply flips on an axis. The documentation is poor, but I found that a value of 1 flips on X, 2 flips on Y, and 3 flips on X and Y. So using a value of 3 is the same as doing a 180° rotation, which is useful for videos that are upside down, but not for videos that are sideways.

mencoder can do proper rotation.

While this refers to a Mac OS-X platform, I guess it should work for you too. Find a mencoder binary for your platform.

Community
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nik
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    I am just asking about flipping the video. Is this option in the handbrake GUI anywhere? – nonot1 May 03 '12 at 02:35
  • I couldn't find the rotate option in the GUI either. If you set everything else up and then "Add To Queue" when you "Show Queue" there is an option to create a batch script of the full queue. Do that then edit the batch file and add --rotate to the files that you want rotated. Then just run the bat file. This avoids most of the work of building up the command line – Craig Dec 31 '12 at 22:29
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    Command line options that are not visible in the GUI can be entered in the text box under the advanced tab. –  Feb 14 '13 at 11:03
  • @Matt That text box seems to be for x264 options, not Handbrake options. – duozmo Apr 14 '13 at 00:17
8

Full disclosure: VidCoder author here.

An alternative might be to use the latest VidCoder beta, which uses the HandBrake engine and has in-GUI support for rotation and reflection (with previews):

VidCoder rotation example

RandomEngy
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4

Note that as of Win x64 version 1.0.7 (and possibly earlier 1.0 versions), there is now a Rotate option under Filters, with the same 0/90/180/270 options that the CLI currently provides.

enter image description here

Dave DuPlantis
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  • The GUI option is definitely a huge improvement, although the first implementation wasn't working correctly. I've posted an updated version below for Handbrake 1.4.2, which still has some issues but isn't quite as buggy. – Pikamander2 Nov 05 '21 at 18:39
2

I've tried putting 

-7 --rotate <3>

into the box in the Video tab under Optimise Video: Extra Options box.

It worked and flipped my video on the XY axis (180 degree rotation).

slhck
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Jason Chin
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  • This works, thanks! Much better than having to switch to another tool. – Jörn Zaefferer Oct 09 '13 at 09:44
  • I tried that in the Mac Handbrake, but it didn't work. I noticed that the added options build the "x264 unparse" string, so I tried also in the format separated with colons, e.g. "7:rotate=3" and variations. Does anybody know how to effect this on the Mac? – ttarchala Nov 16 '13 at 13:35
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    In Linux this doesn't work. – Juan Simón Apr 10 '14 at 09:18
  • In Windows (Win 7), it works perfectly for me, thank you. My iOS isn't smart enough to realize how I'm holding my phone when I start recording video - yet, when played back on my phone, it knows to rotate it 180 - so annoying! – MikeTeeVee Sep 01 '14 at 21:09
  • I tried the same with <4> for 90° clockwise rotation but it will still do 180°... – Redoman Jun 18 '15 at 18:22
1

In Winx64 0.9.9.5530 the syntax is: 

rotate=3

No leading or trailing comma, space, etc.

random
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Chris
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0

The command line options posted above no longer appear to work, but a Rotation dropdown has been added to the GUI.

The first implementation of this option appears to have been buggy, so be sure to:

  • Update Handbrake to version 1.4.2 or higher.

Once you've done that, you can:

  • Go to the Dimensions tab and change the Rotation value to 90, 180, or 270.

However, Handbrake still has a weird bug/quirk where, if you attempt to set it to 90 or 270, it will clamp both dimensions at the lower value. So, for example, your rotated 1920x1080 video will get exported at 1080x1080 instead of 1080x1920.

To fix that, you can:

  1. Uncheck the Optimal Size box.
  2. Check the Allow Upscaling box.
  3. Manually set the Scaled Size to the correct resolution.

enter image description here

After that, your video should be exported with the correct rotation and resolution. That said, be sure to double check the exported video to make sure that it looks correct.

Pikamander2
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0

I just used v1.5.1 of HandBrake to rotate a .mov file and output it as an .mp4. In the Dimensions tab I just used the Rotation dropdown, in my case changing it from 0 to 270 (other options are 90 and 180).

Setting rotation on the Dimensions tab

You can checkout a preview of the rotation on the Summary tab.

Preview rotated video on Summary tab

deadlydog
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