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A distributed video transcoder

Transmute provides a simple web based tool to manage your video library. Transmute will watch a directory and automatically transcode videos using FFmpeg & hardware acceloration (if available) so that your entire library meets a specified standard. In addition to transcoding, Transmute can also remove undesired audio tracks, subtitles, perform healthchecks & upscale/downscale video.

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Why do I care?

1. Transcoding MPEG-2/MPEG-4 video to h.264/h.265 can reduce file size by 50-90%
2. A more extreme measure is downscaling 4K to 1080p to reduce size by a further 75%
3. Stripping out unused audio tracks & subtitles can result in more savings
4. Some devices or players will be unable to play specific formats
5. If you use a self-hosted streaming service, your host will have to transcode videos on the fly when a device doesn't support the original format/resolution leading to choppy playback, transcoding your library ahead of time can avoid this in most cases

Why should I use this over __________?

Transmute's goal is to make the transcoding process as fast & simple as possible. Most transcoders provide hundreds of settings requiring some expertise to properly setup. With Transmute you simply specify what your video files should look like & it will transcode your videos as lossless-ly as possible using multiple computers to make short work of large libraries.

How does it work?

After choosing your desired settings & creating a new library in the WebUI, the server will begin scanning videos to collect metadata. If this metadata doesn't match your settings or a healthcheck is required, the server will queue a job.

Once a worker is available, it will request a job from the server & complete it using FFmpeg.

Documentation

• Wiki Docs
• Release Notes
• Tickets & Issues

Setup

Production

Prerequisites

• Docker

Instructions

1. Download the example compose file on your server: curl -o transmute.yml https://gitlab.zakscode.com/zakscode/transmute/transmute/-/raw/main/docker-compose.yml
2. Read the Configuration Guide & edit the compose file accordingly
3. Run the compose file:
   • Using Docker Compose: docker compose -f transmute.yml up
   • Using Docker Swarm: docker stack deploy transmute -c transmute.yml

Development

Prerequisites

• Git
• Node
• FFmpeg
• Docker (Optional)

Instructions

1. Clone this project: git clone
2. Pull the submodules: git submodule update --remote --init
3. Checkout the latest: git submodule foreach git switch develop
4. Install dependencies: git submodule foreach npm i
5. Link common:
   1. Link common to npm: cd common && npm link
   2. Link common to client (re-run after every npm install): cd ../client && npm link @transmute/common
   3. Link common to server (re-run after every npm install): cd ../server && npm link @transmute/common
   4. Link common to worker (re-run after every npm install): cd ../worker && npm link @transmute/common
6. Start each project as needed:
   • Start common: cd ../common && npm run watch
   • Start client: cd ../client && npm run start
   • Start server: cd ../server && npm run start
   • Start worker: cd ../worker && npm run start