movmaker

Simple Python + ffmpeg movie maker.

Drop pictures, videos, music, and optionally one simple data.txt file into a single flat input directory. Then run one command to create an MP4 video.

No YAML. No required subdirectories.

Requirements

Python 3
ffmpeg
ffprobe usually included with ffmpeg

Install on Debian/Ubuntu/Raspberry Pi OS:

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Fonts

The default title/stamp styling uses these fonts:

Bebas Neue for the opening title, date, and location
Inter for the bottom-left/bottom-right stamps and per-file captions

Both fonts support common Danish and Croatian characters such as æ ø å Æ Ø Å č ć ž š đ Č Ć Ž Š Đ.

Install them locally for the current user:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fonts/google
curl -L -o ~/.local/share/fonts/google/BebasNeue-Regular.ttf \
  'https://github.com/google/fonts/raw/main/ofl/bebasneue/BebasNeue-Regular.ttf'
curl -L -o ~/.local/share/fonts/google/Inter%5Bopsz,wght%5D.ttf \
  'https://github.com/google/fonts/raw/main/ofl/inter/Inter%5Bopsz,wght%5D.ttf'
fc-cache -f ~/.local/share/fonts/google

Check that fonts are available:

fc-match 'Bebas Neue'
fc-match 'Inter'

Input folder

Example:

input/
  IMG_001.jpg
  IMG_002.png
  holiday_clip.mp4
  music.mp3
  data.txt

Supported file types:

Images: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp, .bmp, .tif, .tiff
Videos: .mp4, .mov, .mkv, .avi, .webm, .m4v
Audio: .mp3, .wav, .m4a, .aac, .flac, .ogg
Data: data.txt, info.txt, or title.txt

Files are ordered by filename, so names like this work well:

001.jpg
002.jpg
003.mp4
004.jpg

data.txt

data.txt is optional.

Simplest format:

Paris Trip
Paris, France
May 2024

Those three lines mean:

title
location
date

If the date line is omitted, movmaker uses the date from the first picture/video and displays it like:

May 14th 2026

Key/value format also works:

title: Paris Trip
date: May 2024
place: Paris, France

Optional per-file captions are supported:

IMG_001.jpg: Eiffel Tower
IMG_002.jpg: Louvre
IMG_003.jpg: First line | Second line

Usage

Basic:

python3 movmaker.py input

With options:

python3 movmaker.py input \
  --out-dir out \
  --image-duration 6 \
  --fade 3 \
  --audio-fade 10 \
  --audio-fade-in 2 \
  --video-fade 1.5 \
  --first-transition-at 12 \
  --resolution 1920x1080 \
  --fps 30

Fast preview render:

python3 movmaker.py input --preview

Current behavior

scans one flat input directory
auto-detects media/audio/data files by extension
shows each image fully visible for 6 seconds by default, not counting crossfades
keeps the first image longer so the first transition starts at 12 seconds by default
includes video clips inline
crossfades between media items over 3 seconds by default
loops/trims music to match the video
fades music in over 2 seconds and out over 10 seconds by default
fades video in/out over 1.5 seconds by default
overlays the opening title for the first 6 seconds: large title, then date/location on one line
displays optional per-file captions at bottom center; use | to split caption lines
adds persistent bottom-left title/date/place and bottom-right @bubulescu stamps
writes safe ASCII text in rendered overlays and metadata, so special letters become readable equivalents like Č -> C, å -> a, ø -> o
embeds MP4 metadata: title, date, location, artist, comment, and creation_time
writes an MP4 file named like YYYYMMDD_title.mp4 by default
takes YYYYMMDD from the first picture/video metadata, falling back to file modification date
uses local ffmpeg/ffmpeg and ffmpeg/ffprobe when present, otherwise system tools

Notes

This is an early version. The intended workflow is deliberately simple: dump files into one folder and run the script.

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