What is a good GUI interface for FFmpeg?
I know they use some of the same encoding libraries.
The ffmpeg command line utility is "just" an interface to those libraries.
Handbrake doesn't do any of that. You can't even drag a bunch of audio files on to handbrake because handbrake doesn't do audio, while ffmpeg is great for encoding audio.
The fact that Handbrake doesn't expose the same features as the ffmpeg CLI tool is frankly irrelevant.
It's not just relevant, it's the whole thing. They asked for an ffmpeg GUI and someone recommended a GUI that doesn't use ffmpeg and doesn't do what ffmpeg can do. ffmpeg can not only rewire channels, it can stream video, capture video from the screen, capture video from a tv tuner, overlay text etc.
Also the libraries you listed are part of the ffmpeg project. They come from ffmpeg.
Also they asked for a GUI to ffmpeg, not necessarily a GUI to the command line tool.
Gah. I give up.
> someone recommended a GUI that doesn't use ffmpeg
Handbrake uses ffmpeg.
But I recognize your username. I don't remember from where but I remember reading or having a conversation with you which went nowhere. I think I'm done.
It's using ffmpeg.
That's the problem.
The thing I have a problem with, specifically, is your statement that Handbrake doesn't use ffmpeg. That statement is incorrect.
I have no problem with the statement "Handbrake doesn't make a good ffmpeg GUI, because it only exposes a small part of what ffmpeg can do". That part is totally 100% fine.
I have a problem with the statement "Handbrake doesn't use ffmpeg", which you claimed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39943516.
And I have a problem with the response "ffmpeg is a lot more than just a wrapper around the libraries" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39941964), given the fact that ffmpeg project is the libraries and that the ffmpeg CLI tool is just an interface to them. "ffmpeg is more than a wrapper around the libraries" is strictly speaking true (because ffmpeg is both the libraries themselves and the "wrapper" ffmpeg command line tool), but it doesn't make sense as a response in context.
Do you understand? Or do I need to break it down further?
Use ChatGPT to help you find the right command for your need.
I would love a “unless you’re a pro with hyper specific needs, forget these 90% of arguments and only use this 10% in this way” type of guide.
That’s tame for FFmpeg, likely just specifying a bunch of encoder parameters the simpler command left out for defaults, maybe with some input/output streams explicitly spelled out. If you want to look at really incomprehensible FFmpeg commands, try anything with filtergraphs.
That would give you hallucinated commands, not commands that actually exist or make sense. Better read documentation or ask experienced humans.
However the wiki pages can be quite good if they cover your use case and the real strength is so many examples online. Even if many of the example command lines feel like they have been cargo-culted through the years and no one actually understands what exactly they do.
I don't like interacting with command line parameters in general, it feels clunky to me, but I don't think there's a point in arguing about it since it is more of a personal preference
But then again, my experience is that ChatGPT is dreadful at everything but the simplest anything.
The fact that these glorified Markov chains manage to fool people into thinking they posses some kind of actual intelligence or ability to reason baffles me.
Have you tried Claude 3 Opus (or even just Claude 3 Sonnet)?
ChatGPT can help with learning a lot now but the mailing lists are incredible sources of kind and wonderful (and incredibly knowledgeable) people… go there!
Handbrake, Permute are super as mentioned… I’ve put down a couple to add to the list.)
Don’t think anything exists like XLD for FFMPEG video where you can just drop a file in set the quality and codec and get the exact same dimensiond file out every time.