A lightweight frontend for ffmpeg (yet another one) intended specifically for convenient video clipping. Easily clip out a section from a source clip with sensible defaults, so you don’t need to remember ffmpeg flags or consult an LLM every time.
- CLI and Qt-based GUI
- Output modes: stream copy or transcode
- Automatic hardware acceleration (NVENC), tonemapping and two-pass encoding to target a specific file size limit
- Support for soft subtitles and burning into video
Note: this project is not affiliated with ffmpeg
- Windows, Mac, or Linux
- ffmpeg installed and available in your system PATH. Tested with ffmpeg 7, but other recent versions might work.
- Install uv.
- Install ffclipper as a tool:
uv tool install git+https://github.com/Jonny-GM/ffclipper- To upgrade to a new version:
uv tool upgrade ffclipperLaunch the graphical interface:
ffclipper-gui
ffclipper --helpUsage: ffclipper [ARGS] [OPTIONS]
Create a clip from a source video.
╭─ Commands ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ --help -h Display this message and exit. │
│ --version Display application version. │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Source ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ * SOURCE --source Path or URL to the source video. [required] │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Output ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ OUTPUT --output Path for the output file. Defaults to appending '_clip' to the source name. │
│ CONTAINER --container Container format for the output file. [default: mp4] [choices: mp4, mkv, webm] [default: mp4] │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Total Bitrate ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ TARGET-SIZE-MB --target-size-mb Target max file size in megabytes when encoding. [default: 10] │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Time ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ TIME.START --time.start Start timestamp for the clip. Examples: '90s', '1m20s', '00:01:30'. │
│ TIME.END --time.end End timestamp for the clip. Examples: '90s', '1m20s', '00:01:30'. │
│ TIME.DURATION --time.duration Desired duration for the clip. Examples: '90s', '1m20s', '00:01:30'. │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Video ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ VIDEO.COPY --video.copy --video.no-copy Copy the video stream without re-encoding. [default: False] │
│ VIDEO.CODEC --video.codec Target video codec when auto-selecting an encoder. [default: h264] [choices: h264, │
│ hevc, av1, vp9, mpeg4] │
│ VIDEO.ENCODER --video.encoder Video encoder to use when encoding. [choices: auto, x264, x265, h264-nvenc, │
│ hevc-nvenc, svt-av1] [default: auto] │
│ VIDEO.RESOLUTION --video.resolution Output video resolution or "original" to keep the source. [default: original] │
│ [choices: original, 2160p, 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 480p] │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Audio ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ AUDIO.INCLUDE --audio.include Include an audio track in the output. [default: True] │
│ --audio.no-include │
│ AUDIO.COPY --audio.copy --audio.no-copy Copy the audio stream without re-encoding. [default: False] │
│ AUDIO.DOWNMIX-TO-STEREO Downmix audio to stereo when encoding. [default: True] │
│ --audio.downmix-to-stereo │
│ --audio.no-downmix-to-stereo │
│ AUDIO.KBPS --audio.kbps Audio bitrate when transcoding, in kilobits per second. [default: 128] │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Subtitles ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ SUBTITLES.INCLUDE --subtitles.include Include subtitle tracks in the output when the container supports them. This │
│ --subtitles.no-include is independent of subtitle burn-in. [default: False] │
│ SUBTITLES.BURN --subtitles.burn Subtitle stream index to burn into the video. │
│ SUBTITLES.BURN-METHOD --subtitles.burn-method Strategy for burning subtitles: 'auto', 'extract', or 'inline'. [default: │
│ auto] [choices: auto, extract, inline] │
│ SUBTITLES.DELAY --subtitles.delay Delay to apply when burning subtitles, in milliseconds. [default: 0] │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Runtime ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ RUNTIME.VERBOSITY --runtime.verbosity Increase logging verbosity. Commands: show FFmpeg commands; Output: also show FFmpeg │
│ output. [choices: quiet, commands, output] [default: quiet] │
│ RUNTIME.DRY-RUN --runtime.dry-run Print FFmpeg commands without executing them. [default: False] │
│ --runtime.no-dry-run │
│ RUNTIME.OPEN-DIR --runtime.open-dir Open the output directory when done. [default: True] │
│ --runtime.no-open-dir │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Example:
ffclipper --source path/to/video.mkv --time.start 00:01:23 --time.end 00:02:34 --target-size-mb 10