rffmpeg

A simple CLI utility for recursive batch video conversion using ffmpeg.
Walks a directory tree, converts every video file with the ffmpeg flags you provide, and replaces the originals with the converted output.

⚠️ Warning — originals are deleted

After a successful conversion the original file is permanently deleted.
There is no recycle bin, no undo.

Before running on your real video library:

1. Copy a small subset of files into a temporary test directory.
2. Run rffmpeg against that directory and verify the results.
3. Only after you are satisfied with the output quality and file names, run it on your actual library.

Usage

rffmpeg <directory> [...ffmpeg args] "<output_template>"

| Argument | Description | |---|---| | <directory> | Root directory to scan recursively for video files | | [...ffmpeg args] | Any flags passed directly to ffmpeg (codec, quality, etc.) | | "<output_template>" | Output filename template. Supports {name} (basename without extension) and {ext} (original extension without dot) |

Examples

Convert to AV1 via NVENC, copy audio, keep original extension:

rffmpeg S:\videos -c:v av1_nvenc -cq 30 -preset p5 -c:a copy "{name}_converted.{ext}"

Re-encode audio to AAC, output as mp4:

rffmpeg /media/videos -c:v libx264 -crf 22 -c:a aac "{name}_x264.mp4"

Behavior

• Scans <directory> recursively for files matching supported extensions (see below).
• Files are processed in order of modification time (oldest first).
• Files whose name already matches the output template suffix are automatically skipped (to avoid re-converting already converted files).
• If the output file already exists on disk, the source file is also skipped.
• On a successful conversion the original file is deleted and the output file inherits the original's modification timestamp.
• The parent directory's modification timestamp is restored after each operation.
• On ffmpeg error the original file is kept and the script moves on to the next file.

Supported extensions

.mkv  .mp4  .avi  .mov  .wmv  .flv  .webm  .m4v  .ts

To add more, edit the VIDEO_EXTENSIONS constant at the top of the script.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• ffmpeg available in PATH