FAQ
Video Commander is a desktop app for video engineers that helps inspect, analyze, preview, convert, and package media files. It is designed for technical media workflows around FFmpeg, MP4/ISOBMFF inspection, HLS, DASH, and VMAF analysis.
Video Commander is a desktop application. It runs locally so you can work directly with media files on your machine while keeping inspection, conversion, and delivery workflows in one interface.
Video Commander is available for macOS and Windows. Linux builds are planned and listed on the download page.
Yes. Video Commander has a free Personal plan for individual use. A paid Pro plan is intended for commercial use, priority support, and broader licensing.
Yes. Video Commander is built around FFmpeg for media conversion and delivery packaging. You get full control over codec, resolution, bitrate, filters, and stream mapping through a structured UI, and the app shows you the exact FFmpeg command before you run it so nothing is hidden.
Yes. On macOS, VideoToolbox hardware encoders are available for H.264 and H.265. On Windows, NVENC (NVIDIA), AMF (AMD), and QSV (Intel) encoders are supported for H.264, H.265, and AV1 where the hardware is capable. Hardware encoders are selectable alongside software codecs in the convert workflow.
Yes. You can add multiple source files to the encode queue and process them all in one go with shared encode settings. Each file gets its own job with independent progress tracking, and the queue processes them sequentially so you can set up a batch and walk away.
Yes. The Inspect view surfaces container metadata, codec parameters, and per-track stream details for any local file or remote URL. For MP4 and ISOBMFF files it includes a full box tree with hex dump, a visual box graph, and frame-level sample tables. For HLS and DASH sources it parses and displays the full manifest structure including variants, segments, and representations.
Yes. Video Commander supports delivery workflows for progressive MP4, HLS, DASH, and combined HLS+DASH packaging jobs. You can configure multi-rendition ladders, segment duration, playlist type, and AES content encryption — and get a CDN-ready folder structure as output.
Yes. The built-in validator parses HLS and DASH manifests and runs conformance checks, surfacing findings by severity — Error, Warning, and Info. For HLS it checks for missing renditions, BANDWIDTH and CODECS attributes, TARGETDURATION violations, version, and discontinuity sequence issues. For DASH it checks duration, AdaptationSet completeness, codec and bandwidth attributes, SegmentTemplate configuration, and period adjacency gaps. The validator can also probe individual segment URLs for reachability and latency.
Yes. The Analyze view lets you compare any reference video against an encoded output and run a VMAF quality score. Results include an aggregate summary with min, mean, and max scores, plus a per-frame quality timeline chart. Results can be exported as CSV or JSON, and jobs are saved so you can reload and compare previous runs at any time.
Start from the download page, install the latest build for your platform, and open your media file in the app. If you want to compare plans or licensing, review the pricing page before purchasing Pro.
This matrix summarizes what Video Commander supports today and which items are still planned based on the current public app and release materials.
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS desktop app | Current | Public macOS downloads are available now. |
| Windows desktop app | Current | Windows x64 builds are available now. |
| Linux desktop app | Planned | Listed on the download page, but not publicly available yet. |
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 and ISOBMFF inspection | Current | Includes metadata, structure, and sample-level inspection workflows. |
| HLS and DASH manifest inspection | Current | Manifest parsing and inspection are part of the current app. |
| MP4 validation tools | Planned | Dedicated validation workflows for MP4 compliance are planned, beyond current inspection tooling. |
| Integrated media preview | Current | Built-in player supports preview and playback inspection. |
| Additional player engines | Planned | Expanded player engine options (e.g. Shaka Player) for debugging playback across workflows are planned. |
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FFmpeg-based conversion | Current | Convert workflows are powered by FFmpeg with configurable settings. |
| Hardware encoding | Current | VideoToolbox (macOS), NVENC (NVIDIA), AMF (AMD), and QSV (Intel) encoders are available in the convert workflow. |
| Video filter pipeline | Current | Deinterlace, denoise, sharpen, deband, deshake, deflicker, dejudder, crop, rotate, and color EQ filters are available in the convert workflow. |
| Batch encode | Current | Multiple files can be queued for encoding in a single batch job with shared settings. |
| VMAF-based encoding | Planned | Encoding workflows driven by VMAF quality targets are planned. |
| Server mode | Planned | A server mode for distributed encoding across multiple machines is planned. |
| Cloud transcode jobs | Planned | Cloud encoding workflows are planned and not part of the current public product offering. |
| VMAF analysis | Current | Analyze workflows include VMAF quality measurement and comparison. |
| VMAF data export | Current | CSV and JSON export for VMAF results is available from the Summary tab, Timeline tab, and job detail view. |
| VMAF reporting | Current | Export dropdown with CSV and JSON options is available in the analysis views and job history. |
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Progressive MP4 packaging | Current | Delivery workflows support progressive packaging. |
| HLS packaging | Current | Delivery workflows support FFmpeg-based HLS packaging. |
| DASH packaging | Current | Delivery workflows support FFmpeg-based DASH packaging. |
| HLS validation | Current | HLS manifest validator checks for spec compliance including missing renditions, BANDWIDTH/CODECS attributes, TARGETDURATION violations, version, and discontinuity sequence issues. |
| DASH validation | Current | DASH manifest validator checks for missing duration, empty AdaptationSets, missing codecs/bandwidth, SegmentTemplate issues, period adjacency gaps, and duplicate mimeType without language differentiation. |
| Additional packagers: Bento4 | Planned | Bento4 is not an active packaging backend in the current build. |
| Additional packagers: Shaka Packager | Planned | Shaka Packager is not an active packaging backend in the current build. |
| Combined HLS + DASH jobs | Current | The current build supports combined packaging runs. |
| HLS and DASH encryption toggles | Current | Encryption settings are wired through the active packaging backend. |
| Encryption key rotation | Partial | Basic AES encryption is supported. Full key rotation support is partial. |
Review the latest release, compare plans, or contact us if your workflow needs a specific media inspection or delivery feature.