While only tangentially related, I dove into a rabbit hole not long ago trying to find the best ffmpeg GUI (that doesn't require Wine or a VM to run on macOS) and found some good stuff. Handbrake [1] is great and uses ffmpeg as part of its backend, but it gets somewhat limited when you start requiring more advanced things like vf chains, scripting/automation, obscure/legacy codec support, or specific hardware acceleration needs. I wanted to find something that gets (close to) as densely packed with features as ffmpeg from the command line, and here's what I found. I'm not going to list all their features and pros/cons, but just let others know about some of these as a starting point.
I'm not affiliated with any of these programs (Handbrake and ffmpeg included) in any way, I just want to point others in the right direction if they come across this comment.
StaxRip [2] - One of the most popular and complete options. Seems like one of the the go-tos on the VideoHelp [3] forums for video editing GUIs. Supports AviSynth+ and VapourSynth scripts among other advanced features.
clever FFmpeg-GUI [4] - Another VideoHelp go-to. I'm not 100% sure if this supports AviSynth/VapourSynth, but it's pretty damn feature-complete as far as ffmpeg goes.
Shutter Encoder [5] - Probably has the most intuitive UI of the bunch, it feels much closer to a Premiere Pro/Davinci Resolve type program rather than an ffmpeg wrapper, albeit those applications are much more robust for different tasks.
Hybrid [6] - My favorite out of these, purely because it was easy enough to get running on macOS and didn't sacrifice many ffmpeg features. Also supports AviSynth/VapourSynth.
Honestly, probably didn't even need to comment this; I wish I had more knowledge about these to share in-depth. If you're serious about video encoding, your best bet is to start learning how to use ffmpeg from the command line anyways, then maybe add AviSynth+/VapourSynth into the mix as you see fit, though those are a good deal more advanced than even ffmpeg. Just my two cents.
Can you recommend a tool for dicing up 2h digitizations of VHS tapes? I want to play the 2h video, seek around easily, mark 'chapters' and give them filenames, then do a no-transcode rough cut extraction of each chapter into its own video.
Interesting approach, i like the aesthetic. When you say 'add audio' is a big task , does this mean the videos after cutting up don't have audio, or just that the preview doesn't have audio? the latter wouldn't be a problem for the use case of slicing up home videos. I have the same task as parent, might have to make a weekend project out of it.
Thanks :) The preview doesn't play audio. But the sliced output has audio.
The UX should be a lot smoother once I get around to non-blocking inputs and the audio player. For now, futzing around with mpv or a fully-featured video editor might be the way to go.
That's where I am now. I'd like to optimize out the retyping and duplication of time strings.
I want the player ui (I'm using mpv) to have a command that:
1. Remembers the last end time to use as this chapter's start time
2. Gets the current time to use as chapter-end.
3. Accepts the name (e.g. 'chapter1').
4. Runs the ffmpeg copy command.
Perhaps mpv+lua can already handle this. I see commands for setting a loop range and for calling a subprocess. Not sure how I'd input the chapter name. Maybe I'll have an LLM name the chapters for me :)
u r on right track with llm, just tell it that you will give input file and set of start, end times and that it should generate the command for u. As a bonus ask it to give u the example as well so that it doesn't misunderstands! i think even chatgpt mini should be able to do it.
By having an LLM name the chapters, I meant having whisper do speechrec on the chapter and then asking an LM to summarize the content into a name up to k chars.
Yeah, I play a VHS tape and capture the whole thing. Maybe I should be using a scene detector to split files on camera cuts, which would be roughly correct for home movies (but not for TV shows).
Since we're all sharing our corners of the web, I guess I'll link mine as well.
I only have 6 posts over 4 years, mostly due to me thinking my ideas aren't "original" enough to warrant lengthy write-ups, but I know that's not exactly true.
I love your site! I especially like the minimal design. I've got my own personal blog of sorts for medium-to-long form posts but have been wanting to implement a way to have smaller notes like this on the same website.
At the moment, my site only has a small handful of posts from the past four years (6 to be exact), but that's mostly due to thinking my thoughts aren't "original" enough to warrant regular-length posts/articles, which I know probably isn't exactly true.
Yours is really encouraging me to start using mine more often regardless of word count or page length. Thank you for sharing!
Honestly, I live in Los Angeles and feel like I never even see these California-specific opt-out banners. I typically reject all but essential cookies on every website that prompts me, but never see anything related to the CCPA, which is a shame because I really do want to utilize it.
I agree with the general sentiment of the post, but I gravitate more towards e-ink displays, which has it's tradeoffs. Lugging around my Kindle Oasis is a chore, so I'll only bring it with me when I really plan on reading.
That being said, I like the idea of just using your phone. I scroll through Twitter, HN, Reddit, etc. a good chunk of the day anyways, might as well spend that time reading something worthwhile instead.
I also want to point out that I really like the look and feel of this website. I adore minimalist design for blogs, and my own website is similarly minimal but not quite the same. The author also touches on some subjects I find particularly interesting; investing, drugs, school (or lack thereof), etc.
Not the person you replied to, but I'd also be interested if you have any! I just sent you a message on Twitter to the link in your HN profile because I'm not sure how to private message here, I apologize if that's too forward!
Same with me, signed up for the waitlist months ago. Even asked around about buying an invite code but that just seemed a bit sketchy for me, it's so easy to get scammed doing that.
I'd love an invite eventually so I could try it out and really form an opinion on the whole Threads vs Bluesky vs Twitter drama, but I fear it's going to take much longer and I'll lose interest entirely. Which is a shame because I actually really like Twitter and have actively used it for 10+ years, but man Elon is making it really easy for me to jump ship somewhere.
Same here, last time I did any form of origami was when I was a child, yet this article was fascinating to read from start to finish. It’s beautiful seeing how intricate some seemingly “simpler” (for lack of a better word) hobbies really are when you get into the details of it all.
While only tangentially related, I dove into a rabbit hole not long ago trying to find the best ffmpeg GUI (that doesn't require Wine or a VM to run on macOS) and found some good stuff. Handbrake [1] is great and uses ffmpeg as part of its backend, but it gets somewhat limited when you start requiring more advanced things like vf chains, scripting/automation, obscure/legacy codec support, or specific hardware acceleration needs. I wanted to find something that gets (close to) as densely packed with features as ffmpeg from the command line, and here's what I found. I'm not going to list all their features and pros/cons, but just let others know about some of these as a starting point.
I'm not affiliated with any of these programs (Handbrake and ffmpeg included) in any way, I just want to point others in the right direction if they come across this comment.
StaxRip [2] - One of the most popular and complete options. Seems like one of the the go-tos on the VideoHelp [3] forums for video editing GUIs. Supports AviSynth+ and VapourSynth scripts among other advanced features.
clever FFmpeg-GUI [4] - Another VideoHelp go-to. I'm not 100% sure if this supports AviSynth/VapourSynth, but it's pretty damn feature-complete as far as ffmpeg goes.
Shutter Encoder [5] - Probably has the most intuitive UI of the bunch, it feels much closer to a Premiere Pro/Davinci Resolve type program rather than an ffmpeg wrapper, albeit those applications are much more robust for different tasks.
Hybrid [6] - My favorite out of these, purely because it was easy enough to get running on macOS and didn't sacrifice many ffmpeg features. Also supports AviSynth/VapourSynth.
Honestly, probably didn't even need to comment this; I wish I had more knowledge about these to share in-depth. If you're serious about video encoding, your best bet is to start learning how to use ffmpeg from the command line anyways, then maybe add AviSynth+/VapourSynth into the mix as you see fit, though those are a good deal more advanced than even ffmpeg. Just my two cents.
[1] https://handbrake.fr/
[2] https://github.com/staxrip/staxrip
[3] https://www.videohelp.com/software/sections/video-encoders-h...
[4] https://www.videohelp.com/software/clever-FFmpeg-GUI
[5] https://www.shutterencoder.com/
[6] https://www.videohelp.com/software/Hybrid
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