From 4bb37025cf1b4516acd2746dc60ec59449e8aab0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dennis Fink
Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 08:42:23 +0200
Subject: fix: allow out-of-range nice adjustments

Keep nice validation focused on accepting integer values instead of
rejecting values outside the standard -20 to 19 range.

Avoid failing early for values that nice itself accepts and clamps
internally. This gives users behavior that matches the underlying tool
instead of turning a non-error into a transcode.sh usage error.

Update help text and README wording to describe the option as a nice
adjustment, matching the command behavior.
---
 README.md    | 2 +-
 transcode.sh | 6 +++---
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5ce9e96..fd40cfe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ transcode.sh [OPTION] [--] FILE...
 | `--config-file FILE`, `--config-file=FILE` | Load configuration from FILE instead of the default path |
 | `-f PATH`, `--encode-file PATH`, `--encode-file=PATH` | Read file list from PATH (one per line) |
 | `-n`, `--dry-run` | Show what would be done; don't run ffmpeg |
-| `-N VALUE`, `--nice VALUE`, `--nice=VALUE` | Niceness value for ffmpeg (default: 19) |
+| `-N VALUE`, `--nice VALUE`, `--nice=VALUE` | Nice adjustment for ffmpeg (default: 19) |
 | `--hwaccel [METHOD]`, `--hwaccel=METHOD` | Enable hardware acceleration; METHOD defaults to `auto` if omitted (e.g. `cuda`, `vaapi`, `videotoolbox`); enabled by default |
 | `--no-hwaccel` | Disable hardware acceleration (omit `-hwaccel` from ffmpeg invocation) |
 | `-s`, `--size-report` | Print per-file size feedback and write a status TSV log |
diff --git a/transcode.sh b/transcode.sh
index 33794bf..b88c9d8 100755
--- a/transcode.sh
+++ b/transcode.sh
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ Long options that take a value also accept ${BOLD}${YELLOW}--option${ALL_OFF}${B
 
 ${BOLD}${BLUE}Encoding options:${ALL_OFF}
   ${BOLD}${YELLOW}-p, --preset${ALL_OFF} ${BOLD}${GREEN}NAME${ALL_OFF}             load ffmpeg arguments from a preset (default: ${BOLD}${RED}%s${ALL_OFF})
-  ${BOLD}${YELLOW}-N, --nice${ALL_OFF} ${BOLD}${GREEN}VALUE${ALL_OFF}              nice value for ffmpeg (default: ${BOLD}${RED}%d${ALL_OFF})
+  ${BOLD}${YELLOW}-N, --nice${ALL_OFF} ${BOLD}${GREEN}VALUE${ALL_OFF}              nice adjustment for ffmpeg (default: ${BOLD}${RED}%d${ALL_OFF})
   ${BOLD}${YELLOW}-n, --dry-run${ALL_OFF}                 show what would be done, do not run ffmpeg
   ${BOLD}${YELLOW}    --hwaccel${ALL_OFF} ${BOLD}${GREEN}[METHOD]${ALL_OFF}        enable hardware acceleration; METHOD defaults to ${BOLD}${RED}auto${ALL_OFF}
                                 if omitted
@@ -1527,8 +1527,8 @@ if [[ $_CLI_SIZE_REPORT_FILE -eq 1 && $SIZE_REPORT -eq 0 ]]; then
   warn "--size-report-file has no effect without --size-report"
 fi
 
-if [[ ! "$NICE_VALUE" =~ ^-?[0-9]+$ || $NICE_VALUE -lt -20 || $NICE_VALUE -gt 19 ]]; then
-  error "Invalid nice value (must be an integer between -20 and 19):" "$NICE_VALUE"
+if [[ ! "$NICE_VALUE" =~ ^-?[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+  error "Invalid nice value (must be an integer):" "$NICE_VALUE"
   exit $EXIT_USAGE_ERROR
 fi
 
-- 
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