Open your first file

Video Commander keeps the source at the center of the workspace. Open one file or stream, then move between Inspect, Convert, Delivery, Analyze, and Player without entering it again.

Choose a source

Use File → Open File or press Cmd/Ctrl+O for a file on this machine. You can also paste a source into the bar at the top of a tab. It accepts:

• a local file path;
• an http:// or https:// media URL;
• an HLS .m3u8 or DASH .mpd manifest; or
• an object from a configured Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, or MinIO source.

The bundled sample is safe to explore if you do not have a file ready.

Read the workspace

Each source opens in a tab. The tools below the source bar share that source:

• Inspect reads the container, streams, sample tables, signaling, and manifests.
• Convert builds and runs an FFmpeg encode.
• Delivery creates streaming or progressive-download outputs.
• Analyze compares a reference and distorted video with VMAF.
• Player plays local files and remote streams.

Manifest sources open the manifest and validation views that apply to HLS and DASH.

Tabs and projects

Press Cmd/Ctrl+T for another tab. Tabs keep their own source and current tool, so an inspection can stay open while an encode runs elsewhere.

Choose Save to Project or press Cmd/Ctrl+S to keep a useful source in the project tree. Projects store the workspace references and organization; they do not copy the media itself.

Run work

Inspect is immediate and uses Video Commander's native parsers. Convert, Delivery, and Analyze create jobs. Review the settings and the generated command, then press Cmd/Ctrl+Enter to queue the work. The status bar follows the active job, and the Jobs view keeps its progress, log, result, and history.

Next

Inspect a media file to see what is in the source before you change it.