VidTool

VidTool is a video processing tool with both a modern graphical user interface (GUI) and a command line interface (CLI). It relies on ffmpeg and ffprobe, making it easy to batch process video files, reencode, gather information, and perform common video management tasks.

Installation

Flatpak (Recommended)

VidTool is available as a Flatpak with all dependencies included (wxPython, FFmpeg, codecs):

# Build and install locally
./build-flatpak.sh install

# Or create a distributable bundle
./build-flatpak.sh bundle

See README-flatpak.md for detailed build instructions.

Manual Installation

Features (GUI)

The GUI version (app.py) provides an intuitive interface for managing and processing video files. Key features include:

Core Features

• Browse and select directories containing video files
• View detailed information about each video (resolution, codecs, streams, etc.)
• Batch select and process multiple videos
• Reencode videos with customizable options (codec, suffix, extension, CRF, etc.)
• Play videos directly from the interface

Enhanced Video Management

• Column Sorting: Click any column header to sort videos by filename, codec, resolution, or size
• Live Filtering: Real-time filtering with regex support - find videos instantly as you type
• Batch Operations: Rename multiple videos using regex patterns or move to organized subfolders

The GUI is built with wxPython. To use it, ensure you have wxPython installed:

pip install wxPython

Then run:

python app.py

Requirements

VidTool does not require installation. Just make sure you have ffmpeg and ffprobe installed and available in your system path. For the GUI, you will also need wxPython.

To install all required Python dependencies, run:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Demo & Testing

To explore all features with sample data:

python demo_all_features.py

This creates 23 temporary video files and demonstrates filtering, sorting, and batch operations with guided examples.

Command Line Tool

VidTool also includes a command line tool (vidtool.py) for advanced users and scripting. The CLI supports batch reencoding, renaming, and information extraction.

usage: vidtool [-h] {reencode,rename,info} ...

Tool for batch reencoding, getting video info, and renaming videos with resolution.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

subcommands:
  {reencode,rename,info}
    reencode            Reencode a file/files with the extension specified, appending a suffix to the filename.
    rename              Rename a file (or all files in the current directory) to include video resolution.
    info                Get information about a video file.

See below for full CLI usage and options.

Command Line Usage

The CLI tool supports various operations:

usage: vidtool reencode [-h] [--av-copy-only] [--x265] [--vcodec [VCODEC]] [--acodec [ACODEC]] [--strip-video] [--strip-audio] [--strip-subs] [--strip-data]
                        [--custom-flags [CUSTOM_FLAGS ...]] [--batch] [--fix-resolution] [--fix-errors] [--force | --no-clobber]
                        pattern ext suffix

positional arguments:
  pattern               Pattern to match input files. "*.avi" for example.
  ext                   File extension to use for output files. Determines the codec used.
  suffix                Suffix to add after the file name and before the extension.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --av-copy-only        Copy audio and video streams only, strip everything else, and make an exact copy.
  --x265                Force using x265, and set crf to 28.
  --vcodec [VCODEC]     Specify a video codec (or use copy to copy rather than reencode video).
  --acodec [ACODEC]     Specify a audio codec (or use copy to copy rather than reencode audio).
  --strip-video         Strip video streams.
  --strip-audio         Strip audio streams.
  --strip-subs          Strip subtitle streams.
  --strip-data          Strip data streams.
  --custom-flags [CUSTOM_FLAGS ...]
                        Custom flags to use with ffmpeg, enclosed in quotes.
  --batch               Batch reencode all files in a directory matching a pattern, such as "*.avi".
  --fix-resolution      Odd numbered resolution fix. Scale to nearest even resolution.
  --fix-errors          Attempt to fix errors. Same as --err_detect ignore_err in ffmpeg.
  --force               Force overwriting existing files.
  --no-clobber          Don't overwriting existing files.

usage: vidtool info [-h] [--json] file

positional arguments:
  file        Video file to get information about.

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  --json      Output information in JSON format.

usage: vidtool rename [-h] [--batch] [file]

positional arguments:
  file        Filename. Required if not using --batch.

options:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  --batch     Batch rename all files in a directory.