Flip or rotate video with Handbrake
As a free and open-source transcoder for digital video files, Handbrake is mainly used as a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. However, for people who have shot some video sideways, you can also use Handbrake to flip or rotate video orientation. Following is the step by step guide to flip or rotate video with Handbrake.
Step 1: Open HandBrake and load your video using the ‘Source' button to select the video you want to rotate or flip.
Step 2: Choose where to save the rotated video by clicking on the ‘Browse' button to select where the converted file will be saved.
Step 3: Open the ‘Filters' tab
Step 4: The "Rotate" option allows you to choose four different options:
- 0 - do noting
- 90 - rotate to the right
- 180 - turn upside down
- 270 - rotate to the left
You can also try the manual way of rotating by applying manual filters
Step 1: Open the "Video" tab
Step 2: We'll be working with the "Extra Options" setting
Step 3: Once you have the required command entered, click "Start Encode" to begin
Rotate 90 degrees clockwise
To rotate 90 degrees clockwise, enter the following command into the ‘Extra Options' setting:
, --rotate=4
Rotate 90 degrees anti-clockwise
To rotate 90 degrees anti-clockwise, enter the following command into the ‘Extra Options' setting:
, --rotate=7
Rotate 180 degrees (upside down)
To rotate 180 degrees so that the video is upside down, enter the following command into the ‘Extra Options' setting:
, --rotate=3
Related article: Best Handbrake Settings for iPad | Encode H.265 with Handbrake 1-0-0 | Rip Protected DVD with Handbrake on Mac
Best Handbrake alternative to flip or rotate video
Obviously, Handbrake can be a pretty good option for you to flip or rotate video. However, the drawback of using this method is that the output file container formats and codecs from Handbrake are just limited to MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Theora, H.264, H.265, VP8, MKV, MP4. If you wish to produce other container file formats or codec, Handbrake would be obviously not a good choice.
The good news is that here comes the best Handbrake alternative - Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate. Different from Handbrake that only allows you to load copy-free DVD and Blu-ray disc and digital video, this application offers full loading support for all digital video file formats and also commercial Blu-ray/DVD disc.
As for the core flipping or rotating option, you can flexibly adjust any video or Blu-ray/DVD movie in the following 4 ways:
Flip horizontal
Flip vertical
Flip 90°towards left
Flip 90°towards right
When mentioning about the output file formats, different from Handbrake, it not only allows you to output the MKV, MP4 container file formats but also other popular container formats such as AVI, WMV, MOV, FLV, 3GP, VOB, DV, etc and compression codec like MPEG-1, Xvid, Divx, MPEG-TS, etc. What's more, you can also flexibly adjust the output profile parameters such as video codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate and audio codec, bit rate, sample rate, channels, etc to get the best output video and audio quality.
For your great convenience, Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate is available on both Windows and Mac platform, you can switch to download Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac to perform the conversion on macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, Mac OS X El Capitan, Mac OS X Yosemite, etc.
Step-by-Step to Flip or Rotate Video with best Handbrake Alternative
Step 1. Add videos
Launch and start the program on your computer, click "File" > "Add Video/Audio" or "Add from Folder" to import source files to the program. Or you can drag-and-drop from local drive directly.
Note: After you load the video, you can go to "Format" drop-down list, select one of your desired file format to output. If you don't want to loss any file quality, just select to output the same video as original file format. Users can also hit "Settings" button (right besides format list) to change video frame rate, bitrate, solution, etc. if necessary.
Step 2: Enter edit mode
Tick and check the video you want to edit, hit "Edit" icon (the pencil-like button) on the top to open Video Editor window. In the "Video Editor" window, under the video preview window, click the 
to flip video horizontally or vertically, click the 
to rotate video clockwise or count-clock wise 90 degree to the correct display orientation. Finally, click OK to confirm the adjustment.
Step 3: Flip or Rotate video
Kick off "Convert" button to start using the Handbrake alternative to rotate or flip video.
After completing, hit "Open" or "Open output folder" to find converted files. Now you can enjoy your videos at the proper orientation.
