Changelog
Every Video Commander release in one place. Major features are covered in depth on the blog.
- Target VMAF encoding mode — automatically binary-searches for the lowest-bitrate CRF that meets a user-specified VMAF score (default 93), using a 30-second probe clip from the middle of the source.
- VMAF model selector in the encoding UI — choose HD / Default, 4K, or Phone to match the libvmaf model to the intended playback target.
- Job detail surfaces the full Target VMAF result: CRF found, achieved VMAF score, output file size, and bitrate.
- Preview (30s) encode — encodes a short clip to a temp directory without queuing a full job; the Player tab opens automatically when it completes.
- Player tab auto-opens after any encode job completes, with an "Open in Player" button in the job completion banner and job detail view.
- AVI inspection — all inspection views (overview, tree, graph, samples) now support AVI files.
- Fixed completed job status label to show terminal state (Complete / Failed / Canceled) rather than the stale last-progress label.
- Temporarily disabled the FFmpeg auto-installer on Windows while a fix is being worked on. Windows users can still install FFmpeg manually.
- MKV inspection — Video Commander can now inspect MKV/EBML files, including sample parsing, powered by the new built-in vc-mkv library.
- FFmpeg 8.1 builds are now available for both macOS and Windows.
- The generated FFmpeg command in the Convert view now has syntax highlighting and tooltips explaining each argument.
- Fixed local file validation on Windows that was incorrectly rejecting valid file paths.
- Tabs now close when middle-clicked.
- Batch encoding — add multiple source files to the encode queue and process them sequentially, each with independent progress tracking.
- Expanded FFmpeg controls: additional options surfaced in the UI, a new filter chain builder, and stream mapping controls for selecting audio, video, and subtitle streams.
- Job completion notifications — system notification when a job finishes.
- Updated progress bar surfaces encoding speed, bitrate, fps, and time remaining.
- Container and codec compatibility enforcement — incompatibilities are surfaced before a job starts with a clear explanation.
- VMAF report export — analysis results can now be exported as a report file.
- Fixed VMAF progress bar accuracy during trimmed-source analysis runs.
2026.6.2
April 6, 2026- Updated the sample video on the welcome screen.
- Updated the sample video on the welcome screen.
- Video Commander is now available on Windows.
- Job detail logs can now be copied to the clipboard.
- Fixed VMAF analysis on Windows.
- Added built-in DASH/HLS stream validator in the Inspect view — parses manifest trees, runs conformance checks, and surfaces findings categorized by Error, Warning, and Info severity.
- Selecting a finding highlights the relevant node in the manifest tree, navigable down to individual segments and representations.
- Segment probing: selecting a segment or representation fetches and analyzes that resource, reporting codec, container, duration, and detected anomalies. Bulk probing across all addressable segments is supported.
- Files can now be dragged directly onto the app window to open them as a new source tab.
- Refreshed progress bar visual style to better fit the dark UI theme.
- Upgraded mp4box dependency to v0.7.0 with improved MP4 parsing accuracy and bug fixes for fragmented and progressive MP4 files.
- Added automatic FFmpeg installer on macOS Apple Silicon — downloads, verifies SHA-256 checksum, and stores the binary path without manual setup.
- FFmpeg availability is checked once at app startup and shared across all views via a provider context.
- Settings > Local Tools shows the installed FFmpeg version and checksum, with a Check for Updates button.
- Installed FFmpeg version and checksum are preserved across app launches.
- Added 19+ built-in encoding presets to Convert: H.264, H.265, VP9, and AV1 at common resolutions, plus platform presets for YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter/X, Discord, TikTok, and Instagram Reels.
- New Command Preview panel in Convert shows the reconstructed FFmpeg command before queuing, with copy-to-clipboard.
- Fixed remote URL encodes saving to the temp directory instead of the Desktop.
- Fixed preset selection clearing the output path directory prefix.
- Fixed the Reveal button not opening the correct output directory.
- Fixed hardcoded video/mp4 MIME type being applied to non-MP4 output artifacts.
- Error and warning lines in job detail logs are now highlighted in red and yellow respectively.
- Added "See full log →" link on analysis failure to navigate directly to the job detail view.
- Added Settings > Data Management with a Clear Work Data action that resets projects, tabs, job history, and analysis results while preserving license, FFmpeg config, and cloud settings.
- Jobs and job events are now stored in separate files (.jobs.json, .job-events.json) to keep the main store lean.
- About dialog updated with Lucide icons, platform label in the version string, a Check for Updates button, and expanded to xl size.
- Complete UI retheme — deeper dark background across the shell, sidebar, title bar, and tab strip with subtler borders and improved contrast.
- Replaced floating JobsDock and bottom dockbar with a dedicated Jobs panel in the sidebar, featuring a live badge for queued and running jobs.
- Jobs panel uses a split-panel layout: job list on the left, full job detail with inline log output on the right.
- Removed the separate ConsoleDock — all log output is now surfaced per-job inside the Jobs panel.
- Sub-tab state retention: each source now remembers which tool tab was last active when switching between files or streams.
- Preview player now autoplays only on first load; re-navigating to an already-loaded source no longer triggers unwanted autoplay.
- Cloud Encoding section in Settings now checks license status on load and shows an upgrade prompt for non-Pro users.
2026.3.6
March 9, 2026- Expanded inspect overview details to surface more media context at a glance.
- Fixed license key sanitization to prevent character omission during activation.
- Improved Box Tree UI and added Box Graph flat/hierarchy views with drill-in behavior and right-click load-to-graph.
- Enriched manifest inspect views with codec humanization (H.264/H.265/AV1/VP9/AAC/Dolby/DTS/Opus/subtitles) and raw codec tooltips.
- HLS master playlists now show bitrate ranges, video range (SDR/HLG/PQ), HDCP columns, and session data tables.
- HLS media playlists now include segment duration stats (min/avg/max), init segment URI visibility, and detailed encryption key panels.
- DASH manifests now parse ContentProtection into DRM names (Widevine, PlayReady, FairPlay) and show DRM badges across overview/tree/table views.
- Added Copy buttons to URI cells across variants, renditions, segments, init segments, and key URIs.
- Routed HLS and DASH playback to Shaka Player; Video.js now handles progressive sources only.
- Upgraded Shaka debug tooling with ABR switch history and segment request logs (status, size, RTT), plus reset-on-source-change behavior.
- Unified player controls and styling with shared UI components and consistent panel styling.
- Fixed DASH manifest copy button behavior, refined sample source/welcome layout, removed stale listeners, and reduced redundant IPC fetches.
2026.3.5
March 7, 2026- Release distribution migrated to the new GitHub repo: video-commander/releases.
2026.3.4
March 6, 2026- Improved overall stability in day-to-day media workflows.
- Fixed minor UI issues and consistency gaps reported after 2026.3.3.
- General quality improvements to keep the app responsive during longer sessions.
2026.3.3
March 6, 2026- Improved overall stability in day-to-day media workflows.
- Fixed minor UI issues and consistency gaps reported after 2026.3.1.
- General quality improvements to keep the app responsive during longer sessions.
- FFmpeg configuration now lives in Settings and is shared across Convert, Analyze, and Delivery — set a custom binary once and ffprobe is resolved from the same directory.
- Improved VMAF Analyze flow with clearer reference-versus-distorted file setup, browse actions for both files, file-difference validation, and recent job output surfacing.
- Convert and Delivery now point users to global FFmpeg settings when FFmpeg is missing.
- Delivery engine panel makes it clearer which packaging engines are unavailable in the current build.
- Wording updates, job/progress presentation improvements, and sidebar layout spacing fix.
- Added interactive per-frame VMAF timeline graph in the Analyze view — plots quality scores across the full video duration to pinpoint encoding issues.
- Built-in license activation flow — enter and activate a license key in Settings, with license badge shown in the title bar and About dialog.
- Substantially expanded Preview player debug overlay: buffering state, dropped frames, current bitrate, resolution, and improved quality/bandwidth selector controls.
- Range of UI polish, bug fixes, and internal refactoring for stability and maintainability.
2026.2.2
February 20, 2026- Added Analyze feature with VMAF video quality assessment.
- Added Delivery & Packaging support for FFmpeg HLS/DASH workflows.
- Added Manifest Inspection for HLS and DASH manifest files.
- Various UI/UX improvements, bug fixes, and performance enhancements.
- Media inspection for video and audio files, including tracks and metadata.
- MP4 structure visualization with tree and graph views of box hierarchies.
- Track and sample analysis for deeper insight into timing and layout.
- Conversion workflows powered by FFmpeg.