diff --git a/h264 b/h264
index 9a6c906..bfd8280 100755
--- a/h264
+++ b/h264
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Output will be written to \$SRC.h264.mp4
   -1080p      Rescale to no bigger than 1080p
   -720p       Rescale to no bigger than 720p
   -480p       Rescale to no bigger than 480p
+  -bitrate B  Set average bitrate to B, overriding rescale setting
   -swenc      Software encode instead of hardware
 EOD
 
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ bitrate="-b:v 2048k"
 while true; do
   case "$1" in
     -height|--height)
-      height=$1
-      shift
+      height=$2
+      shift 2
       ;;
     -1080p|--1080p)
       height=1080
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ while true; do
       ;;
     -720p|--720p)
       height=720
-      bitrate="-b:v 3000k"
+      bitrate="-b:v 1200k"
       shift
       ;;
     -480p|--480p)
@@ -39,6 +40,10 @@ while true; do
       bitrate="-b:v 512k"
       shift
       ;;
+    -bitrate|--bitrate)
+      bitrateManual="-b:v $2"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
     -swenc|--swenc)
       codec=h264
       shift
@@ -56,6 +61,7 @@ done
 if [ "$codec" = "h264" ]; then
   bitrate="-crf 28"
 fi
+bitrate=${bitrateManual:-$bitrate}
 
 log () {
   echo "=== $*"