Tdarr — Setup & Safe Profile Guide¶

Overview¶

Distributed transcode automation. CPU only. H264→H265 (HEVC).

aria2 download → /mnt/user/video/onejav (source)
    → Tdarr Folder Watcher detects new file
    → Transcode h264→h265 (CRF 23, preset medium, CPU)
    → Health Check (FFmpeg full decode)
    → Output → /mnt/user/video/h265
    → Emby/Jellyfin scan /mnt/user/video/h265

Volume Mapping¶

Container Path	Host Path	Purpose
`/media/video`	`/mnt/user/video`	Source (scan, read)
`/media/downloads`	`/mnt/user/downloads`	Additional source
`/media/output`	`/mnt/user/video/h265`	H265 output (write)
`/temp`	`/mnt/user/appdata/tdarr/transcode-cache`	Transcode cache (SSD)
`/app/server`	`/mnt/user/appdata/tdarr/server`	DB, plugins
`/app/configs`	`/mnt/user/appdata/tdarr/configs`	Config JSON
`/app/logs`	`/mnt/user/appdata/tdarr/logs`	Logs

Workers¶

transcodecpuWorkers=2 — 2 CPU transcode parallel
healthcheckcpuWorkers=1 — 1 CPU health check verify
No GPU workers

First-Time Setup (UI)¶

1. Access UI¶

http://<unraid-ip>:8265

2. Create Library¶

Libraries → Add Library
  Name:           onejav-h265
  Source path:    /media/video/onejav
  Transcode mode: ✅ Copy to output directory
  Output path:    /media/output
  Folder Watcher: ✅ Enabled

Why "Copy to output" not "Replace original": - Keeps source files intact in /onejav - Emby/Jellyfin continue serving originals until h265 ready - Safe — if transcode has issues, originals untouched - Can manually delete originals later after verifying h265

3. Plugin Stack (Safe Profile)¶

Add these plugins IN ORDER in the Transcode tab:

Plugin 1: Transcode h264→h265¶

Tdarr_Plugin_075a_FFMPEG_HEVC_Generic

- Codec: HEVC (h265) - CRF: 23 (sweet spot for quality/size) - Preset: medium (balance speed/quality) - Auto-skips files already h265

Plugin 2: Verify Duration¶

Tdarr_Plugin_a9he_New_file_duration_check

- Tolerance: 5% - Fails if output duration differs >5% from source - Catches: truncated files, missing segments

Plugin 3: Verify Size Savings¶

Tdarr_Plugin_a9hf_New_file_size_check

- Max ratio: 0.9 (output must be <90% of source) - Fails if transcode didn't actually save space - Catches: ineffective transcode, bloated output

4. Enable Health Check¶

Library → Settings → Health Check
  ✅ Enable health check after transcode

Health check runs ffmpeg -v error -i file -f null - (full decode). Detects: corruption, missing frames, decode errors.

CRF Reference (Quality Guide)¶

Content	CRF	Quality	Notes
Anime/Animation	20-22	Excellent	Avoid banding in gradients
1080p general	23	Good	Default sweet spot
720p general	24-26	OK	Less critical content
4K HDR	22-24	Good	Should preserve HDR metadata

Safety: Preventing Corrupted Output¶

4-Layer Verification¶

FFmpeg exit code — must be 0 (built-in, always on)
File size ratio — output < 90% source (Plugin 3)
Duration match — within 5% tolerance (Plugin 2)
Health Check worker — FFmpeg full decode (separate worker)

If any check fails:¶

Original file kept untouched
Failed output deleted from cache
Error logged in Job Reports (UI → Job Reports tab)

Safety: Aria2 Integration (Torrent Files)¶

Problem: Transcode file being downloaded/seeded¶

Risk	Protection
File being written by aria2	Tdarr file lock detection — skips locked files
Torrent seeding	File in use — Tdarr skips
.part files	Tdarr only processes .mkv/.mp4/.avi extensions

Optional: Modified Date Filter¶

Add plugin Tdarr_Plugin_tsld_filter_modified_date before transcode plugins: - Only process files older than 1 day - Extra safety margin for downloads to complete

Emby/Jellyfin Integration¶

Both already mount /mnt/user/video/h265: - Emby: /data/h265 - Jellyfin: /data/h265

After deploy, add library in Emby/Jellyfin UI pointing to the h265 path.

Monitoring¶

Job Reports tab: every file pass/fail with details
Worker verdict history: transcode outcomes over time
Library stats: total files, transcode progress, space saved
Logs: /mnt/user/appdata/tdarr/logs/

Troubleshooting¶

Issue	Cause	Fix
File skipped	Already h265	Normal — plugin auto-detects
Transcode very slow	CPU bottleneck	Reduce `transcodecpuWorkers` to 1
Output larger than source	CRF too low or source already compressed	Increase CRF or skip already-small files
Artifact/blocky video	CRF too high or preset too fast	Lower CRF (20-22), use preset medium/slow
Vỡ hình trên dark scenes	8-bit output from 10-bit source	Add HDR/10-bit filter → skip or preserve 10-bit