Create VOD 🎬

🇷🇺 Russian README: https://gromlab.ru/vod/create-vod/src/branch/master/README_RU.md

CLI tool to convert videos to DASH and HLS with hardware acceleration (NVENC / Intel QSV / AMD AMF / VAAPI), adaptive streaming, and automatic thumbnails/poster.

Features:

• ⚡ Hardware acceleration: auto-detect encoder/decoder (NVENC / Intel QSV / AMD AMF / VAAPI / CPU)
• 🎯 Formats: DASH and HLS (shared segments)
• 📊 Quality profiles: multiple bitrates/FPS (auto or custom)
• 🖼️ Preview: thumbnail sprite + VTT, poster from the first frame
• ⏱️ Progress: per-profile and overall CLI progress bars

Install

For the CLI to work correctly, FFmpeg and MP4Box must be installed in the system.

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg gpac

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ffmpeg gpac

# macOS
brew install ffmpeg gpac

Quick Start

Before running, make sure FFmpeg and MP4Box are installed (see Install).

npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4

Output: In the current directory you'll get:

video/
├── manifest.mpd     # DASH manifest
├── master.m3u8      # HLS master playlist
├── poster.jpg       # Poster frame
├── thumbnails.{jpg,vtt}  # Sprite + VTT cues
├── audio/           # Audio init + segments (AAC)
├── 1080p/           # H.264 1080p init + segments
├── 720p/            # H.264 720p
├── 480p/            # H.264 480p
├── 360p/            # H.264 360p
├── 1080p-av1/       # AV1 1080p (if av1 selected)
└── ...              # Other profiles/codecs as {profile}-{codec}

CLI Usage

create-vod <input-video> [output-dir] [-r resolutions] [-c codec] [-p poster-timecode] [-e encoder] [-d decoder] [-m]

Main arguments

| Argument | Description | Default | Required | |---------------|------------------------------|---------|----------| | input-video | Path to input video file | - | ✅ | | output-dir | Output directory | . | ❌ |

Options

| Option | Description | Values / Format | Default | Example | |--------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------|---------------------------------| | -r, --resolutions | Quality profiles | 360, 720@60, 1080-60 | auto | -r 720,1080,1440@60 | | -c, --codec | Video codec(s) | h264, av1 (comma/space separated) | h264 | -c h264,av1 | | -p, --poster | Poster timecode | HH:MM:SS or seconds | 00:00:00 | -p 00:00:05 or -p 10 | | -e, --encoder | Video encoder | auto, nvenc, qsv, amf, vaapi, videotoolbox, v4l2, cpu | auto | -e nvenc | | -d, --decoder | Video decoder (hwaccel) | auto, nvenc, qsv, vaapi, videotoolbox, v4l2, cpu | auto | -d cpu | | -m, --muted | Disable audio track | flag | off | -m |

Examples

# Default (DASH + HLS, auto profiles)
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4

# Custom output directory
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 ./output

# Selected resolutions
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 -r 720,1080,1440

# High FPS
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 -r 720@60,1080@60

# Poster from 5th second
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 -p 5

# Force CPU encode/decode
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 -c h264 -e cpu -d cpu

# Force GPU encode + CPU decode
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 -c h264 -e nvenc -d cpu

# Combined parameters
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 ./output -r 720,1080@60,1440@60 -p 00:00:10

# No audio
npx @gromlab/create-vod video.mp4 -m

Supported resolutions

| Resolution | Label | FPS options | |------------|----------------|------------------| | 360 | 360p (640×360) | 30, 60, 90, 120 | | 480 | 480p (854×480) | 30, 60, 90, 120 | | 720 | 720p (1280×720)| 30, 60, 90, 120 | | 1080 | 1080p (1920×1080)| 30, 60, 90, 120| | 1440 | 1440p (2560×1440)| 30, 60, 90, 120| | 2160 | 2160p (3840×2160)| 30, 60, 90, 120|

High FPS (60/90/120) are generated only if the source supports that FPS.

Defaults & Automation

• Segment duration: 2 seconds
• Hardware accel: auto-detect best encoder/decoder (GPU if available, else CPU)
• Profiles: auto-selected based on source resolution
• Bitrate: BPP-based dynamic calculation
• Thumbnails: auto sprite (160×90, 1s interval) + VTT
• Poster: first frame (0:00:00, configurable via -p)
• Parallel encoding: enabled
• AV1: enabled only if hardware AV1 encoder detected (in auto mode); otherwise stays on H.264

Requirements: Node.js ≥18.0.0, FFmpeg, MP4Box (gpac), optional NVIDIA/Intel/AMD GPU for acceleration