Show HN: Convkit – A command line tool for converting images/video/docs offline

Going to some shady website for file conversions was really annoying me because I had to hope whatever I gave them wasn't saved, and whatever I got back wasn't something "unexpected." So I made convkit, a CLI that does file conversions 100% locally. Run

    conv in.mp4 out.gif 

and you get your GIF from the right tool (ffmpeg, ImageMagick, etc.) using settings tuned for good output. For example, a GIF's 256 colors are picked from the clip itself instead of ffmpeg's generic palette.

And if you've ever had an issue uploading a file that is too large, you can use the --max-size flag:

    conv clip.mp4 --max-size 10mb 

It trades resolution, frame rate and bitrate against each other, so you get the best-looking version that still fits.

Notes

- In early stages (0.3.x) so some issues pop up

- You only need the tools for the conversions you use, so video and GIFs only need ffmpeg; LibreOffice, pandoc and Typst are only for documents; Image to Image needs ImageMagick.

- Not all features are listed. If you are interested go to the github page! https://github.com/shdwfruit/convkit

- If you want any specific conversions, let me know!

Thanks for reading!