Transcode Hi10p

#!/bin/bash
# ----------
# This script uses x264/mkvmerge to convert any mkv x264 video to 8-bit (high @ 4.1 Profile) circumventing possible
# issues with the High 10 Profile (Hi10p)
#
# While Hi10p is supreme to 8-Bit (regarding both file size and quality), there is a serious lack of support for it,
# especially on linux (surprise, surprise!). Only newer versions of mplayer/2 and ffmpeg support this format.
# And even then you won't get GPU acceleration rendering the support useless unless you have a fast CPU, especially regarding
# 1080p material found in anime movies and BD rips of series.
#
# Unfortunately, more and more anime fansub groups are jumping on the Hi10P train :-(. Some don't even bother to tag
# their files with something like "Hi10p".
# ----------
# Needed tools:
# MKVToolnix (install Ubuntu mkvtoolnix package)
# x264 (install Ubuntu x264 package)
# ----------
# Usage:
# transcode_8bit <output directory> FILE1 FILE2 ...
# ----------

# initialize variables
OUTPUTDIR=$1
shift

if [ ! -d $OUTPUTDIR ]
then
   mkdir $OUTPUTDIR
fi

WORKDIR=$HOME
TEMPFILE=$WORKDIR/transcode.8bit.temp.$$.mkv

for input in "$@"
do
   output=$input
   output=${output##*/}
   output=${output%.mkv}[8-bit].mkv
   output=$OUTPUTDIR/$output

   echo "processing $input -> $output ..."

   # use x264 to transcode the video stream -- not sure which crf-value I should use
   # priorize quality over file size!
   x264 --threads=auto --tune animation --preset veryfast --profile high --level 4.1 --crf 16 -o "$TEMPFILE" "$input"
   # use mkvmerge to put everything back together (except the original video, of course)
   mkvmerge -o "$output" -D "$input" "$TEMPFILE"
   # make things pretty
   echo
   # clean up temp files
   if [ -e $TEMPFILE ]
   then
      rm -f "$TEMPFILE"
   fi

   echo "processing $input -> $output done"
   echo
done

# all done
exit 0