VeloCoder

A focused desktop video transcoder built with PySide6 and ffmpeg -- originally a minimal front-end replacing HandBrake, whose QSV path is dead on this box (see ARCHITECTURE.md). PySide6 GUI queue, one file at a time.

• H.265 (HEVC) / H.264 (AVC), CPU / Intel iGPU / AMD GPU processing
• Quality-first or target-file-size workflows, MP4 / MKV, 8-bit / 10-bit
• Audio: copy-through when compatible, AAC conversion, stereo downmix
• Batch queue with automatic interlace detection and live per-file edits
• An "Expert" section for exact rate-control values, tune, and deinterlace overrides -- Normal mode never needs it; it's there when you do

Forked from a sibling, more exposed-by-default build ("TITAN-i Transcoder") -- same ffmpeg engine and settings model, same everything else (shared history, unchanged). This fork's own difference is the UI layer: Normal mode surfaces every real output/media decision in plain language above a collapsed-by-default Expert section holding the remaining encoder-mechanics controls -- no capability lost, just organized around "Normal = intent, Expert = actual encoder mechanics" instead of exposing everything flat. See the guide for the full breakdown of every control.

Screenshots

Install and run

VeloCoder needs Python 3.12+, PySide6 6.11+ and ffmpeg/ffprobe on PATH. GPU encoding needs working VAAPI drivers (Intel intel-media-driver, AMD Mesa); without them VeloCoder offers the CPU encoder only.

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install .
velocoder

From a source checkout without installing, python -m velocoder with src/ on PYTHONPATH does the same: that's what launch.sh runs (with this machine's shared venv). scripts/install-desktop-entry.sh adds the checkout to the desktop menu.

Linux-first, not yet packaged for distribution (no Flatpak or bundled ffmpeg yet).

Project layout

src/velocoder/   the app: core/ (Qt-free engine), ui/ (Qt), help/
data/            desktop entry
scripts/         test runner, odcs-ui sync, desktop-entry installer
tests/           unittest suite
docs/            guide, architecture notes, screenshots

Details in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Documentation

docs/GUIDE.md	Every control, the queue, Help & About
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md	Source layout, the VAAPI findings behind the engine, theming, testing, known gaps
docs/CONSUMER_FORK_PLAN.md	The plan this build's Normal/Expert design came from

Development

python3 scripts/run_tests_chunked.py

Runs the unittest suite in batches of 20, each in a fresh process (one long process accumulates Qt resources across hundreds of MainWindows). For a single test: python3 -m unittest tests.test_ffmpeg.TestTune -v. See Testing for more.

License

MIT, see LICENSE. The bundled odcs-ui is also MIT (src/velocoder/ui/_vendor/odcs_ui/LICENSE).