# Audion Media Tools — User Guide [Русский](USER_GUIDE_RU.md) · [About](README_EN.md) · [Console command](CLI_EN.md) · [Operations](OPERATIONS_EN.md) · [Measurements](MEASUREMENTS_RU.md) **Contents** - [The Window](#the-window) - [The Order of Work](#the-order-of-work) - [The Source and the Target](#the-source-and-the-target) - [Cutting: the Player and Its Keys](#cutting-the-player-and-its-keys) - [The Sections](#the-sections) - [Hardware](#hardware) - [The Journal and Reports](#the-journal-and-reports) - [SETTINGS and ABOUT](#settings-and-about) - [Rules for Safe Work](#rules-for-safe-work) - [Technical Reference](#technical-reference) How to work with it: the window, the order of running an operation, the Source and the Target, cutting with the player, the journal and the reports. ## The Window - **The header**: the name and version; in the middle the versions of what the program runs — yt-dlp, Deno, mpv, FFmpeg and the video card driver; on the right SERVICE, the language (RU / EN), the light or dark look, SETTINGS and ABOUT. - **The ribbon of sections**: AUDIO, ENCODE, PACKAGE, CUT, FRAME RATE, COLOR, DOWNLOAD — under each name a line of what it does. - **The form** on the left: the modes of the section, then the blocks of fields — the preset first, then what it can be changed with. Above the form stand RUN, ↺ (back to the preset of the mode) and COMMAND. - **The Source and the Target** on the right, with the buttons of the folders. - **The journal** under them: what the run says, in the colours of the program that says it, with FFmpeg's own progress line. - **COMMAND** at the bottom: a line for a command of your own. Every section and mode keeps its own form, and the form is remembered between launches. Only the encoder and the decoder are shared by all: they are a choice of the machine, not of the task. ## The Order of Work 1. Choose the Source and the Target — or leave `input` and `output`. 2. Open the section and the mode. 3. Pick a preset. 4. Change only what needs changing. 5. Press COMMAND — the journal shows exactly what will go to FFmpeg, and nothing is run. 6. Run the first file. 7. Run the folder. The preset sets a ready base; the fields below override it selectively. A tick never enables a hidden action the preset did not set. **Steps 5 and 6 are not skipped on a new operation.** A wrong parameter costs seconds on one file and an hour on a folder. ## The Source and the Target | button | what it does | |---|---| | folder | choose the folder with the originals (or the folder for the result) | | file | one file as the Source: the operation goes through it alone | | history | paths used before, the pinned ones first | | pin | keep this path at the top of the history | | open | open the folder in Explorer; one file is shown selected | | RESET | both paths back to the folders of the program, `input` and `output`; files are not touched | | LIST | the names of the files of the Source in the journal, with their subfolders | | DETAILS | what ffprobe knows of the Source: a table of the files, or every sound stream | | TO SOURCE | the result becomes the Source of the next operation: the Source is cleared into the Recycle Bin, then the Target is moved into it | | CLEAR | the contents of the Source, the Target or both — into the Recycle Bin; the folders stay, and the window asks first | A path may also be typed or dropped on the window. An empty field means the folder of the program. The Source is walked recursively and the output mirrors its structure: ``` Target\\\\. ``` `input\Day1\clip.mov` and `input\Day2\clip.mov` do not collapse into one flat folder and fight over a name. ## Cutting: the Player and Its Keys Cut points are found in the mpv player — `Open in the player` in the CUT section — and carried into the fields by `Take A and B`, or one at a time by `Mark IN` and `Mark OUT`. The keys work **in the player window**, not in the program. The file is chosen by the arrows beside its name; the button beside them tells what ffprobe knows of it. One file is cut at a time: the takes of a folder do not share cut points. The player writes into the last row. `+` after it adds the next row once the last one holds its points, and clears A and B in the player so the next piece is looked for from scratch. For KEEP and CUT OUT each row is a variant of its own, written to its own file — `_keep01`, `_cut02` — and rows may overlap; beside OUT stands the length of the piece. For SPLIT each point has one field, the buttons become `Take A` and `Mark here`, and a point is taken only past the ones before it. Points can always be typed as well: digits one after another from the hours, the separators come by themselves and what is left unfilled becomes zeros — `000128` becomes `00:01:28,000`; plain seconds work too. `▲▼` in a field step the section the caret stands in — hours, minutes, seconds, or a frame (a millisecond for sound); without a caret, the seconds; held, the step speeds up. Points are taken only while the player shows the file chosen in the section; after the arrows, press `Open in the player`. The dozen keys that do the whole job: | key | what it does | |---|---| | `Space` | play or pause | | `,` `.` | step exactly one frame back or forward | | `←` `→` | seek 5 seconds | | `Shift+←` `Shift+→` | **exactly** one second back or forward | | `Shift+↓` `Shift+↑` | **exactly** five seconds | | `↓` `↑` | one minute back or forward | | `Home` | to the start of the file | | `l` | set point **A**; press again for **B**; the piece between them loops | | `Ctrl+l` | clear A and B | | `b` | play **backwards** | | `n` | return to playing forwards | | `[` `]` | 10% slower or faster — at 0.25 every syllable is audible | | `Backspace` | back to normal speed | | `s` | a frame grab next to the source file | `l` *is* the cut: set A and B, listen to the loop, and if a point is wrong nudge it with `,` and `.` and press `l` again. **The difference between `←` and `Shift+←` matters.** An ordinary seek jumps five seconds and shows the nearest frame; `Shift` is exact, precisely one second, and lands on the frame. Finding a cut point needs the second one. `b` and `n` are this program's own: in stock mpv `b` is debanding, overridden here (`config\mpv\input.conf`). The full list — all 197 bindings with their player commands — is in `tools\MPV_HOTKEYS_EN.md`. It was taken from the player itself through `input-bindings`, not copied from a web page. Cutting in detail — the working cycle, the three actions, accuracy, refusals — is in `tools\TRIM_EN.md`; what is compatible with what when cutting is in `tools\TRIM_MATRIX_EN.md`. ## The Sections | section | about | in detail | |---|---|---| | AUDIO | extraction, resampling, loudness, packaging; sound inside a video without re-encoding the picture | `tools\AUDIO_WORKFLOWS_EN.md` | | ENCODE | lossless FFV1 and x264, ProRes and DNxHR, x264/x265/AV1, upload profiles | `tools\ENCODING_PIPELINES_EN.md` | | PACKAGE, FRAME RATE, COLOR | container changes, frame rate, lookup tables, HDR to SDR | `tools\REMUX_FPS_LUT_EN.md` | | CUT | frame-accurate and keyframe cuts; sound without loss (WAV, FLAC, ALAC) on the sample, compressed sound on its packets without re-encoding, or on the sample with Exact | `tools\TRIM_EN.md` | | DOWNLOAD | a link, a playlist or a list, format profiles, resolution, subtitles, cookies | `tools\YOUTUBE_DOWNLOAD_EN.md` | | SERVICE | what hardware is present, what it can do, profile checks, installers | `tools\HARDWARE_DIAGNOSTICS_EN.md` | Every field, choice and preset with its tooltip: [Operations](OPERATIONS_EN.md). **DOWNLOAD.** `PASTE` beside the link, the list file and the cookies file takes them from the clipboard. ⓘ beside the link shows what formats it offers, nothing downloaded. A link that wants a sign-in takes the cookies of a browser, or of a file — the shield beside it seals that file with DPAPI for this Windows account, so the open file is no longer needed. **COLOR.** The LUTs live in the `LUTs` folder of the program. The buttons beside the list add files (`.cube`, `.3dl`, `.lut`) or a whole folder — they are copied into `LUTs` — and open the folder. ## Hardware The program can choose between the NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD hardware paths, separate AV1 encoder and decoder, and the plain processor. **Run SERVICE → Hardware capabilities before the first run on a new machine.** The result is cached and hardware profiles are checked against it. A missing path is a normal answer, not a fault: it means the driver or the hardware is absent. ## The Journal and Reports The journal shows the lines of the run as the programs write them: `[CMD]` — the command FFmpeg was started with, `[PROGRESS]` with FFmpeg's own line under it, `[OK]`, `[WARN]`, `[ERR]`. A run opens with its name and the console command that repeats it, and ends with its outcome and time. Under the journal stand the operation, its time and its outcome; STOP ends a run, and a half-written file is taken away. Above the journal: LOGS — the journals of the runs, REPORT — their reports, CONFIG — the settings of the program, then copy the journal, clear it, and widen it (the width is remembered). Every operation writes `batch_report.md` and `.json`. AUDIO adds `audio_report.md` and `.json`: the source stream, input parameters, processing mode, loudness, output path. **COMMAND** at the bottom runs a command of your own — in the PowerShell 7 of the program (PS) or in `cmd.exe` (CMD). Its lines go to the journal, STOP ends it; while an operation runs, a command waits its turn. The buttons beside the line: the history (pinned commands first), the path of a file in quotes, the folder the command runs in. ## SETTINGS and ABOUT SETTINGS: the four looks (Audion Code Dark, Audion Vault Dark, Audion Dark, Audion Light), the size of the window's text and of the terminal's; COMPONENTS — the versions of yt-dlp, Deno, mpv, FFmpeg and 7-Zip with UPDATE or INSTALL, and CHECK NOW for the newest releases; SYSTEM — the processor, the video card and its driver, the memory, which FFmpeg coders passed the check, the disk, and COPY for a report of a trouble. ABOUT: the version, the folders of the program, the author, and what the program is made of with the licence of each part. ## Rules for Safe Work * A new operation: COMMAND first, then the run. * A large folder: the first file first. * Do not enable overwriting unless you are sure of the target folder. * A hardware path: check the hardware capabilities first. * A colour table: look at which `.cube` is selected. * A download batch: check the list of links first. * Clearing and TO SOURCE: look carefully at the folders — the window names them before it asks. --- ## Technical Reference ### Running `Start.exe` opens the window. If the Python environment or a tool is missing, `builder_main.cmd` builds it. The same operations run from a console or a script: `media_cli.cmd` — [Console command](CLI_EN.md). ### Checks After Changes ```cmd runtime\python.exe -m pytest -q -p no:cacheprovider tests system_core\tests install\Build-App.cmd ``` The first is the engine (about five minutes — the wrappers and the cuts run the real FFmpeg); the second checks the window, builds it into `App\` and lets the built copy check itself. What is run before a release: the [checklist](SMOKE_TEST_RU.md) (Russian). ### Tooltips Every field, choice and preset has its tooltip in both languages — hold the cursor on it. The same texts stand in [Operations](OPERATIONS_EN.md).