Auto Movie Assembler

Turn your video clips and images into polished, upload-ready videos in minutes!

Auto Movie Assembler is a Windows desktop app that automatically combines your video clips and images into a single finished video with professional transitions and customizable outro screens. Perfect for YouTube creators, vloggers, educators, and anyone who needs to quickly assemble videos without learning complex editing software.

What It Does

• Combines Videos & Images: Drag in your clips and images, get one polished video out
• Automatic Transitions: Smooth crossfades between clips, fade-in at start, fade-out at end
• Custom Outro Screens: Add professional 10-second outro with your text and branding
• Background Music: Replace all audio with your custom music track (auto-loops to fit)
• Batch Processing: Create multiple videos at once with multi-movie mode
• Smart Processing: Automatically handles large files, mixed aspect ratios, and more

No video editing experience required! Just select your files, customize your outro, and click "Assemble Video."

Features at a Glance

Core Features

• Combine unlimited video clips and images into one video
• Automatic fade-in, crossfades, and fade-out transitions
• Professional outro screens with customizable text, colors, and fonts
• Custom audio replacement with seamless looping
• Smart resolution matching (or force specific resolution like 1080p, 720p)
• Supports all common video formats (MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV) and images (PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP)

Outro Customization

Create professional-looking outro screens with:

• 2 Themes: Dark (dark background, light text) or Bright (light background, dark text)
• 11 Colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Cyan, Brown, White, Black
• 3 Saturation Levels: Gritty (muted), Comfy (balanced), Vibrant (punchy)
• 8 Fonts: Lucida Console, Courier New, Georgia, Verdana, Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma, Impact
• Custom Text: Add your own title, subtitle, and footer (channel name, social media, etc.)
• Live Preview: See exactly how your outro will look before processing

Advanced Features

• Multi-Movie Mode: Process 20 clips into 4 videos with 5 clips each - automatically!
• Clip Manager: Add clips from multiple folders, reorder, remove, reverse order
• Outro Presets: Save and load your favorite outro designs
• Auto-Split Large Videos: Handles videos over 30 minutes by splitting them automatically
• Portable: All settings saved to program folder (works from USB drives)

Quick Start

1. Installation

Requirements:

• Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
• FFmpeg installed and in your system PATH

Option A: Download Executable (Recommended for most users)

1. Download AutoMovieAssembler.exe from the releases
2. Double-click to run - that's it!

Option B: Run from Source (For developers)

1. Install Python 3.7 or later
2. Clone this repository
3. Install dependencies: pip install -r requirements.txt
4. Run: python auto_movie_assembler.py

How to Install FFmpeg

FFmpeg is a free video processing tool required by this app. Here's how to install it:

1. Go to https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
2. Download the Windows build (choose "Windows builds from gyan.dev" for easiest install)
3. Extract the ZIP file to a folder (e.g., C:\ffmpeg)
4. Add FFmpeg to your system PATH:
   • Open Settings → Search for "environment variables"
   • Click "Environment Variables"
   • Under "System variables," find "Path" and click "Edit"
   • Click "New" and add C:\ffmpeg\bin (or wherever you extracted it)
   • Click OK on all dialogs
5. Restart your computer (important!)
6. Verify installation: Open Command Prompt and type ffmpeg -version

If you see version information, FFmpeg is installed correctly!

2. Basic Usage (First Video in 5 Steps)

1. Launch the app - Double-click AutoMovieAssembler.exe

2. Add your clips

   • Click "Manage Clips" button
   • Click "Add Files" to select individual videos/images, OR
   • Click "Add Folder" to add all media from a folder
   • Click "Apply" to save

3. Choose where to save your video

   • Enter a filename (e.g., "my_video")
   • Click "Browse" next to "Output Folder" to choose save location

4. Customize your outro (Optional but recommended!)

   • Check "Enable Outro" checkbox
   • Choose your colors, font, and saturation
   • Type in your title, subtitle, and footer text
   • Click "Preview Outro" to see how it looks

5. Assemble your video!

   • Click the big green "ASSEMBLE VIDEO" button
   • Wait for processing (progress window shows status)
   • Done! Your video is saved to your output folder

That's it! Your video is ready to upload to YouTube, TikTok, or wherever you need it.

Detailed Guide

Managing Clips

The Clip Manager is your control center for selecting and organizing media files.

To Open Clip Manager: Click the "Manage Clips" button in the main window

Adding Clips:

• Add Files: Select individual video or image files (hold Ctrl to select multiple)
• Add Folder: Add all media from a folder (check "Include subfolders" for recursive scan)
• Incremental Adding: You can add files/folders multiple times from different locations

Organizing Clips:

• Reorder: Select a clip and use "Move Up" or "Move Down" buttons
• Reverse: Flip the entire clip list order
• Remove: Select clips and click "Remove Selected" (or press Delete key)
• Clear All: Remove all clips (you'll be asked to confirm)

Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Enter: Apply changes and close
• Esc: Cancel without saving changes
• Delete: Remove selected clips
• Ctrl+A: Select all clips
• Up/Down Arrows: Navigate clip list

Tips:

• Clips are displayed in the order they'll appear in your video
• Use numeric prefixes for easy sorting: 01_intro.mp4, 02_main.mp4, 03_outro.mp4
• Full file paths are shown so you know exactly which files are included

Customizing Your Outro

The outro is a 10-second end screen that plays after your main video content.

Enable/Disable: Check or uncheck "Enable Outro" checkbox

Theme: Choose how your outro looks

• Dark: Dark background with light text (great for most videos)
• Bright: Light background with dark text (good for professional/business content)

Colors: Pick your background and text colors

• Primary Color: Background color (11 options)
• Secondary Color: Text color (11 options)
• The app automatically ensures text is readable by adjusting contrast

Saturation: Control color intensity

• Gritty: Muted, subdued colors (professional, minimalist)
• Comfy: Balanced colors (default, works for most content)
• Vibrant: Punchy, energetic colors (gaming, entertainment)

Font: Choose from 8 fonts

• Lucida Console: Monospace, technical look
• Courier New: Classic monospace
• Georgia: Elegant serif font
• Verdana: Clean, readable sans-serif (default)
• Times New Roman: Classic serif, professional
• Arial: Universal sans-serif
• Tahoma: Compact, modern
• Impact: Bold, attention-grabbing

Text Fields:

• Title: Main heading (e.g., "Thanks for Watching!" - max 100 characters)
• Subtitle: Secondary message (e.g., "Subscribe for more!" - max 150 characters)
• Footer: Bottom text (e.g., "youtube.com/@yourchannel" - max 200 characters)
• Leave any field blank if you don't want that text block

Preview Your Outro:

• Click "Preview Outro" button
• Choose orientation: 16:9 (landscape) or 9:16 (portrait)
• See exactly how your outro will look in the final video
• Preview updates in real-time as you type or change settings

Save & Load Presets:

• Save Preset: Save your current outro design to a file (e.g., "Gaming Outro.json")
• Load Preset: Load a previously saved outro design
• Great for different types of content (gaming videos vs. tutorials vs. vlogs)

Image Settings

If you're including images in your video, you can control how long each image appears:

• Image Duration: Set seconds per image (range: 0.5 to 60 seconds)
• Default is 5 seconds per image
• All images use the same duration

Output Settings

Output Filename:

• Enter your desired filename (without extension)
• The app automatically adds .mp4 for you
• Invalid characters are automatically removed

Output Folder:

• Click "Browse" to choose where to save your video
• The app checks that the folder exists before processing

Frame Rate (FPS):

• 30 FPS: Standard for most online videos (smaller file size)
• 60 FPS: Smoother motion for gaming or action videos (larger file size)

Custom Audio (Optional):

• Click "Choose Audio File" to replace all video audio with your own music
• Supports: MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG, FLAC
• Audio automatically loops to match video length with smooth fades
• Click "Clear Audio Override" to remove custom audio

Resolution Settings

By default, the app matches all clips to the same aspect ratio as your first clip. You can override this to force a specific resolution.

Override Resolution (Optional):

• Check "Override Resolution" checkbox to enable
• Choose device type:
  • PC (16:9): Standard widescreen format (1920x1080, 1280x720, etc.)
  • Mobile (9:16): Vertical video for TikTok, Instagram Stories, YouTube Shorts
• Choose quality:
  • 1080p: Highest quality (recommended for YouTube)
  • 720p: Good quality, smaller file size
  • 480p: Lower quality, very small file size
  • 360p: Lowest quality

How It Works:

• Videos are letterboxed (black bars top/bottom) or pillarboxed (black bars left/right) as needed
• No stretching or distortion - original quality preserved
• All clips match the target resolution exactly

Multi-Movie Mode

Create multiple videos from many clips automatically!

Example: You have 23 clips and want videos with 5 clips each

1. Enable "Multi-Movie Mode" checkbox
2. Set "Clips Per Movie" to 5
3. Click "Assemble Video"
4. Result: 5 videos created (5+5+5+5+3 clips)
   • my_video_1.mp4
   • my_video_2.mp4
   • my_video_3.mp4
   • my_video_4.mp4
   • my_video_5.mp4

Features:

• Same outro applied to all videos
• Numbered filenames automatically
• Same settings for all videos in batch
• Great for series or episodic content

Tips & Best Practices

For Best Results

1. Organize Your Clips: Name files with numbers for correct order

   • Good: 01_intro.mp4, 02_main.mp4, 03_outro.mp4
   • Bad: clip1.mp4, final.mp4, intro.mp4 (alphabetical order may not match intent)

2. Use Consistent Aspect Ratios: All clips with same aspect ratio (16:9 or 9:16) look best

   • Mixed aspect ratios work, but you'll see black bars
   • Enable resolution override for consistency

3. Keep Text Short: Outro text that's too long may appear tiny

   • Title: Aim for under 50 characters for best readability
   • Subtitle: Under 100 characters
   • Footer: Under 150 characters

4. Preview Before Processing: Always check your outro preview

   • Ensures text fits properly
   • Confirms colors look good
   • Saves time if you need to adjust

5. Test Your Audio: Listen to your custom audio first

   • Make sure it's appropriate length (will loop if too short)
   • Check volume levels
   • Verify it's the right track!

6. Save Presets: Create presets for different video types

   • Gaming preset: Vibrant colors, bold font
   • Tutorial preset: Professional colors, clean font
   • Vlog preset: Your personal branding

Performance Tips

1. Large Videos: The app automatically splits videos over 30 minutes

   • No need to pre-split files
   • Handles long recordings without memory issues

2. Processing Time: Video assembly takes time (especially encoding)

   • 10-minute video may take 10-30 minutes depending on your computer
   • H.264 encoding is CPU-intensive (normal to see 100% CPU usage)
   • Be patient - it's not frozen, just working hard!

3. Free Up Resources: Close other programs during processing

   • Video editing uses lots of RAM and CPU
   • Gives the app maximum resources

4. Storage Space: Ensure you have enough disk space

   • Output videos can be large (1-5 GB for long videos at high quality)
   • Temporary files created during processing (cleaned up after)

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"FFmpeg not found" error

• Solution: Install FFmpeg and add it to your system PATH (see Installation section above)
• Must restart your computer after installing FFmpeg

"No clips found"

• Solution: Open Clip Manager and add files or folders
• Check that files are supported formats (MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, PNG, JPG, etc.)

Video assembly freezes at "Exporting video..."

• Not frozen! Encoding takes a long time (2-5x video length)
• Check Task Manager - CPU should be at 90-100% (it's working)
• Be patient, especially for long videos

Outro text too small

• Solution: Shorten your text, or use a narrower font like Courier New
• Text auto-shrinks to fit available space
• Longer text = smaller font

Clips in wrong order

• Solution: Rename files with numeric prefixes, or use Clip Manager to reorder
• Files are sorted alphabetically by filename

Audio out of sync

• Solution: Input videos may have variable frame rate (VFR)
• Re-encode input videos to constant frame rate before adding:

  ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -r 30 -c:a copy output.mp4
  

Need more help?

• Check the log.txt file in the program folder for detailed error messages
• Log file contains step-by-step information about what went wrong

Understanding the Process

When you click "Assemble Video," here's what happens:

1. Checking large files - Videos over 30 minutes are automatically split
2. Loading clips - All your videos and images are loaded into memory
3. Matching resolution - All clips adjusted to same aspect ratio/resolution
4. Adding transitions - Fade-in, crossfades, and fade-out applied
5. Creating outro - Your custom outro screen is generated (if enabled)
6. Replacing audio - Custom audio added (if specified)
7. Exporting video - Final video encoded to MP4 format (this takes the longest!)
8. Cleaning up - Temporary files removed

Progress updates show you which step is running. The export step (Step 7) takes the most time.

Settings & Portability

Automatic Settings:

• Your settings are automatically saved after every video assembly
• Next time you open the app, your last-used settings are loaded
• Settings file: gui/auto_movie_assembler_settings.json

Portable Use:

• Settings stored in program directory (not registry)
• Run from USB drive - your settings travel with you
• Great for using on multiple computers

Outro Presets:

• Saved to separate files (you choose the location and filename)
• Load presets anytime to quickly switch outro designs
• Share presets with others or backup your favorite designs

What Makes This Different?

Compared to traditional video editors (Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, etc.):

• Much simpler - no learning curve
• Automatic transitions - no timeline fiddling
• Fast workflow - minutes instead of hours
• Designed for one task: assembling clips quickly

Compared to online tools:

• Works offline - no internet required
• No file size limits or upload time
• No watermarks or subscription fees
• Your videos stay on your computer (privacy)

Perfect for:

• YouTube creators who record in segments
• Teachers creating lesson videos from slides and recordings
• Vloggers stitching together daily clips
• Gamers combining highlight clips
• Anyone who needs to quickly turn clips into finished videos

System Requirements

Minimum:

• Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
• 4 GB RAM
• 1 GB free disk space (10 GB recommended for processing large videos)
• FFmpeg installed in system PATH

Recommended:

• Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• 8 GB+ RAM
• 20 GB+ free disk space
• Quad-core CPU or better (faster processing)
• SSD drive (faster than HDD)

External Requirements:

• FFmpeg: Free, open-source video processing tool (required)
  • Download: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
  • Must be in system PATH

Supported Formats

Video Input:

• MP4 (most common)
• AVI
• MOV (QuickTime)
• MKV (Matroska)
• Any format supported by FFmpeg

Image Input:

• PNG
• JPG/JPEG
• GIF (static frames)
• BMP
• Any format supported by Pillow

Audio Input:

• MP3 (most common)
• WAV
• M4A (iTunes/Apple)
• AAC
• OGG Vorbis
• FLAC

Video Output:

• MP4 (H.264 video + AAC audio)
• Universal compatibility (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, etc.)

Building from Source

Want to build your own executable or contribute to development?

Build Steps

1. Install Python 3.7 or later
2. Clone this repository
3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Run directly:

   python auto_movie_assembler.py

Create Executable

1. Install PyInstaller:

   pip install pyinstaller

2. Run the build script:

   build_exe.bat

3. Find your executable in dist/AutoMovieAssembler.exe

FAQ

Q: Do I need an internet connection? A: No! Once installed, the app works completely offline.

Q: Is there a file size limit? A: No hard limit, but very large files (>2 GB) may require more RAM. Videos over 30 minutes are automatically split.

Q: Can I use this for commercial projects? A: Yes! The app itself is free to use. Check licenses for any music or content you add.

Q: What's the output quality? A: High quality! Uses H.264 encoding with good bitrate. Typical 1080p video is 3-8 MB per minute.

Q: Can I edit the video after assembly? A: This app doesn't edit videos - it assembles them. For editing, use traditional editors. For quick assembly, use this app.

Q: Why is processing so slow? A: Video encoding is CPU-intensive. A 10-minute video may take 10-30 minutes to encode depending on your CPU speed. This is normal!

Q: Can I cancel processing? A: Currently no graceful cancel (future feature). You can close the progress window, but the process continues in background until complete or you close the app.

Q: Does it work on Mac or Linux? A: Currently Windows only. Mac/Linux support is planned for future versions.

Q: Is my data safe? A: Yes! All processing happens on your computer. No data is uploaded anywhere. The app doesn't connect to the internet at all.

Q: Can I contribute or report bugs? A: Yes! Check the project repository for contribution guidelines and issue reporting.

Credits & Acknowledgments

Built with these amazing open-source libraries:

• ttkbootstrap - Modern themed Tkinter widgets
• MoviePy - Video editing library
• Pillow - Image processing
• NumPy - Numerical operations
• FFmpeg - Video encoding/decoding

Special thanks to all the developers who make these tools available for free!

License

This project is provided as-is for personal and educational use.

Third-party library licenses:

• ttkbootstrap: MIT License
• MoviePy: MIT License
• Pillow: PIL Software License
• NumPy: BSD License
• FFmpeg: GPL/LGPL

Support

Having issues? Here's how to get help:

1. Check the Troubleshooting section above for common issues
2. Look at the log file (log.txt in program folder) for error details
3. Check existing issues in the project repository
4. Report a new issue with:
   • Your Windows version
   • Complete log.txt contents
   • Steps to reproduce the problem
   • What you expected vs. what happened

For feature requests or suggestions, please open an issue in the project repository!

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Made with ❤️ for content creators who want to spend more time creating and less time editing.

Ready to assemble your first video? Download Auto Movie Assembler and start creating!

Authors

Reactorcore & Claude

Check out my other cool stuff

https://linktr.ee/reactorcore