create-render-profile

Create Render Profile

Walks the user through building a render profile interactively, with a tight feedback loop: render a short test clip, inspect file size + bitrate, tune, repeat.

This is the antidote to "GPU-encoded but bloated". The goal is a profile the user trusts — saved by name, reused across jobs.

Procedure

1. Resolve the system profile

DATA_DIR="${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/video-editing"
PROFILE_FILE="$DATA_DIR/system-profile.json"
PROFILES_FILE="$DATA_DIR/render-profiles.json"
test -f "$PROFILE_FILE" || { echo "No system profile — run profile-system first."; exit 1; }

Read preferred encoders and the VAAPI render node from system-profile.json.

2. Ask the user

Field	Example	Default
Profile name	youtube-1080p	required, slugify
Container	mp4 / mkv / mov	mp4
Codec	h264 / hevc / av1	hevc (best size/quality)
Resolution	1920x1080 / 3840x2160 / source	source
Framerate	30 / 60 / source	source
Quality target	"small file", "YouTube", "archival"	"YouTube"
Sample clip	path to a representative source file	required

Map quality target → starting QP / bitrate (per encoder). Reasonable starting points:

• VAAPI HEVC: -qp 23 (YouTube), -qp 20 (archival), -qp 28 (small file)
• VAAPI H.264: -qp 22 (YouTube), -qp 18 (archival), -qp 27 (small file)
• libx264/libx265: -crf 20 / -crf 23 / -crf 28

3. Build the ffmpeg command

For AMD VAAPI HEVC at 1080p:

ffmpeg -hide_banner -ss 0 -t 30 -i "<sample>" \
  -vaapi_device "<render_node>" \
  -vf 'format=nv12,hwupload,scale_vaapi=w=1920:h=1080' \
  -c:v hevc_vaapi -qp <QP> \
  -c:a aac -b:a 192k \
  -movflags +faststart \
  "<test_out>"

For software fallback (x265):

ffmpeg -hide_banner -ss 0 -t 30 -i "<sample>" \
  -vf scale=1920:1080 \
  -c:v libx265 -crf <CRF> -preset medium \
  -c:a aac -b:a 192k \
  -movflags +faststart \
  "<test_out>"

Show the user the exact command before running.

4. Render the test clip + report

Write the test to $DATA_DIR/test-renders/<profile-name>-<attempt>.<ext>. After it completes:

size_bytes=$(stat -c%s "$test_out")
size_human=$(numfmt --to=iec --suffix=B "$size_bytes")
duration=$(ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 "$test_out")
bitrate_kbps=$(awk -v s="$size_bytes" -v d="$duration" 'BEGIN { printf "%.0f", (s*8/1000)/d }')

Report:

Test render (attempt N):
  Profile: youtube-1080p (hevc_vaapi, 1080p, qp=23)
  File:    1080p-test-1.mp4 (28.4 MB, 30.0s, ~7700 kbps)

5. Iterate

Ask the user: keep / tune / abandon.

• Tune: ask which way (smaller file / better quality / different codec / different resolution). Adjust QP by ±2 or bitrate by ±20% and re-render. Loop. Show all attempts in a small table so the user sees the trade-off.
• Abandon: clean up the test renders, exit without saving.
• Keep: proceed to step 6.

6. Save the profile

Append to render-profiles.json (create if missing):

{
  "profiles": {
    "youtube-1080p": {
      "created": "<ISO-8601>",
      "container": "mp4",
      "codec": "hevc",
      "encoder": "hevc_vaapi",
      "resolution": "1920x1080",
      "framerate": "source",
      "rate_control": { "mode": "qp", "value": 23 },
      "audio": { "codec": "aac", "bitrate": "192k" },
      "extra_args": ["-movflags", "+faststart"],
      "notes": "Tuned on <sample basename>: 28.4 MB / 30s / ~7700 kbps"
    }
  }
}

Write atomically (.tmp + mv).

7. Offer next step

Suggest render-with-profile to apply the new profile to a real folder. Mention list-render-profiles to review saved presets.