ClipStudio

A desktop app for managing, tagging, and curating your gameplay replay library.

Built for players who record everything but never have time to find the good moments — ClipStudio turns a folder of raw OBS replays into a searchable, tagged, exportable highlight reel.

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Features

• Automatic import — watches your OBS replay folder and imports new clips as they land, no manual steps
• Game detection — reads the [Game Name] tag embedded by the OBS script (or set it manually from a Steam-backed picker)
• Highlight editor — mark in/out points on the timeline to create named, tagged, rated highlights; overlapping highlights are fully supported
• Tag system — hierarchical general tags + game tags; clips inherit tags from their highlights for search
• Players — track who was in each session; mark yourself with IsMe and get auto-tagged on every import
• Audio track mixing — multi-track clips get per-track volume and mute controls; FFmpeg preview mix in real time
• Subtitle / caption support — local Whisper transcription generates searchable captions synced to the timeline
• Trim & Export — non-destructive (stream copy) or destructive (re-encode) export, queued and processed in the background
• Stats dashboard — play counts, rating distribution, top games and tags
• Bulk edit — select multiple clips and apply tags, game, or players in one action; copy metadata from one clip to others with the format-brush
• Cross-platform — Windows, macOS, Linux (Avalonia UI)

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Screenshots

Library	Unreviewed Queue

Games	Stats

Tags	Players

Highlights Page	Clip Editor — Metadata

Clip Editor — Highlights & Captions	Clip Editor — Trim & Export

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Getting Started

Requirements

Windows

Dependency	Notes
.NET 9 Runtime	Required to run the app
FFmpeg	Bundled automatically in the installer
LibVLC	Bundled automatically in the installer

macOS

Dependency	Notes
.NET 9 Runtime	Required to run the app
VLC media player	Must be installed — LibVLC is loaded from the system VLC installation
FFmpeg	Bundled automatically in the installer

Linux

Dependency	Notes
.NET 9 Runtime	Required to run the app
libvlc5	Provides the LibVLC shared library used for video playback
FFmpeg	Bundled automatically in the installer

Install Linux dependencies on Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install libvlc5

Use the provided launcher script instead of running the binary directly — it automatically resolves the LibVLC library path so no developer packages are required:

./ClipStudio.sh

Why not bundled on Linux? VideoLAN does not publish an official Linux NuGet bundle (unlike Windows). Linux .so files are compiled against a specific distro ABI and glibc version, so there is no single binary that works across all distributions. VLC also ships hundreds of codec plugin files that would add ~100 MB to every release. Using the system VLC keeps the package small and ensures security patches flow through your distro's package manager automatically.

Download

Grab the latest installer from the Releases page.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/Phazertron/ClipStudio.git
cd ClipStudio
dotnet restore
dotnet run --project src/ClipStudio.UI

Run tests:

dotnet test

First Launch

A setup wizard runs on first launch and guides you through:

1. Source folders — select the folder(s) where your recording software saves replays (OBS, NVIDIA ShadowPlay, Xbox Game Bar, etc.)
2. FFmpeg — auto-detected or configured manually
3. Transcription — optional local Whisper model for caption generation
4. Theme — light or dark (dark by default)

Once the wizard completes, ClipStudio watches your source folders in the background. Any new video file that lands there is imported automatically and appears in the Unreviewed queue.

Tip — multiple profiles: Launch with --profile <name> (e.g. ClipStudio.exe --profile demo) to run a completely isolated library under %AppData%\ClipStudio_<name>\. Useful for keeping a demo library separate from your real one.

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OBS Integration (Recommended)

The bundled OBS script renames each replay buffer save to embed the active game name, so ClipStudio can auto-suggest the game tag without any manual input.

Produced filename format:

Replay 2025-03-03 22-49-45 [Battlefield 1].mp4

Installation:

1. Open OBS Studio and go to Tools → Scripts.
2. Click + and select obs-scripts/clipstudio_replay_tagger.py from the repo (or your local copy).
3. Click Close. The script is now active for all replay buffer saves.

Detection order (the script tries each in sequence):

1. OBS scene name — name your scenes after the game you are recording (e.g. Valorant, Deep Rock Galactic). This is the most reliable method.
2. Source name — if you use a Game Capture or Window Capture source with Capture Audio (BETA) enabled, the source name is used as the game title. Name that source after the game.
3. Foreground window title — fallback that reads the active window. Works for most fullscreen games; may be noisy for windowed games.

Generic default names such as Scene, Game Capture, Window Capture, and Game are automatically ignored so the script always tries the next detection step.

Only Replay Buffer saves are renamed. Regular recording stops are not affected.

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Manual Mode (No OBS Required)

ClipStudio works with any video files — OBS is not required.

1. Add any folder containing .mp4, .mkv, .mov, or .avi files as a source folder in Settings → Source Folders.
2. New files are detected automatically (or re-scan the folder manually from Settings).
3. Clips appear in the Unreviewed queue.
4. Open a clip to set the game tag manually: type a game name in the Game picker and select from the Steam-backed search results.

Files whose names already contain a [Game Name] bracket token (produced by any recording tool, not just OBS) are automatically parsed, and the game tag is pre-suggested in the Unreviewed queue.

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Usage Guide

Reviewing Clips

New clips land in the Unreviewed queue. Open a clip to:

• Confirm or correct the suggested game title using the Game picker.
• Apply general tags from the Tags section in the side panel.
• Tag players (participants) from the Players section.
• Rename the clip inline using the pencil icon next to the title.
• Define highlights on the timeline — set in/out points, label them, add tags and a star rating.
• Export any highlight directly with the Export button on its row.
• Set a clip-level rating, write notes, or capture frame screenshots.
• View and search captions generated by local Whisper transcription.

Mark the clip as Reviewed when done to clear it from the queue.

Tags and Highlights

• Tags are created in the Tags page and support a single-parent hierarchy and soft many-to-many relations.
• A clip inherits all tags from its highlights — searching for a tag matches both directly-tagged clips and clips that have a highlight with that tag.
• In the player, click a highlight row to jump to it and lock playback into a loop between its start and end times. Click the lock icon to unlock.
• The Highlights page shows all highlights across your entire library, filterable by rating, tag, and game.

Trimming and Exporting

1. Open a clip and scroll to Trim & Export in the side panel.
2. Click Begin Trim — an output path is pre-filled automatically.
3. Seek to the start point and click Mark Start. Seek to the end point and click Mark End.
4. Click Queue Export. The job runs immediately in the background.

Non-Destructive (default): stream-copy only — instant, lossless, no re-encode.
Destructive: FFmpeg re-encode — useful for precise frame-accurate cuts. Requires double confirmation. Optionally deletes the source file after export.

Export jobs and their status are visible on the Export page.

Audio Tracks

When a clip has multiple audio tracks (e.g., game audio + microphone on separate OBS tracks):

• The Audio Tracks section appears in the side panel after playback starts.
• Rename tracks, toggle the Include checkbox, and adjust per-track volume (0–200 %).
• Changes trigger a real-time FFmpeg preview mix (debounced 300 ms) loaded by VLC as an audio slave.
• Click Save Audio Settings to persist the mix for future sessions.
• On export, original tracks are passed through unchanged (stream copy — no re-encode).

Bulk Edit

Hover over a clip card to reveal a selection checkbox. Select multiple clips to open the bulk-edit panel:

• Add a tag, player, or game to all selected clips at once.
• Trash all selected clips with one confirmation.
• Copy Format brush — select exactly one clip and click the brush button. Click any other card to paste its tags, players, and game onto it. Press Escape to exit.

Search and Filter

Use the filter panel (funnel icon in the Library toolbar) to combine:

• Free-text search against filenames, notes, and highlight labels
• Status (Unreviewed / Reviewed / Archived)
• Game tag, general tags, players
• Date range, duration range, star rating
• Has highlights / Is favourite

Use the sort dropdown to order by date, name, duration, or rating.
Use the view toggle to switch between the tile grid and a compact table view.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcuts are active when the player view has focus (suppressed while a text field is focused).

Key	Action
Space	Play / Pause
Left arrow	Skip backward 5 s
Right arrow	Skip forward 5 s
, (comma)	Step one frame backward
. (period)	Step one frame forward

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Architecture

graph TD
    UI[ClipStudio.UI\nAvalonia MVVM]
    APP[ClipStudio.Application\nServices & Pipelines]
    DATA[ClipStudio.Data\nEF Core + SQLite]
    CORE[ClipStudio.Core\nDomain Model]
    OBS[obs-scripts/\nOBS Python Script]
    VLC[LibVLCSharp\nVideo Playback]
    FFMPEG[FFMpegCore\nTrim, Export & Preview Mix]
    WHISPER[Whisper.net\nLocal Transcription]
    STEAM[Steam Community API\nGame Metadata]
    FS[File System\nSource Folders]

    UI --> APP
    UI --> CORE
    UI --> VLC
    APP --> CORE
    APP --> DATA
    APP --> FFMPEG
    APP --> WHISPER
    APP --> STEAM
    DATA --> CORE
    OBS --> FS
    APP --> FS

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Project Layout

ClipStudio/
├── docs/
│   └── screenshots/            # README screenshots
├── documentation/
│   ├── SPECIFICATION.md        # Full software specification
│   └── DECISION_LOG.md         # Architectural decision log
├── src/
│   ├── ClipStudio.Core/        # Domain entities, enums, repository interfaces
│   ├── ClipStudio.Data/        # EF Core DbContext, SQLite, repository implementations
│   ├── ClipStudio.Application/ # Application services, import pipeline, Steam integration
│   └── ClipStudio.UI/          # Avalonia MVVM UI (Views, ViewModels, Assets)
├── tests/
│   └── ClipStudio.Tests/       # xUnit + Moq + EF Core InMemory
├── obs-scripts/                # OBS Python replay-tagger script
└── ClipStudio.sln

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Tech Stack

Concern	Technology
UI Framework	Avalonia UI 11 (Fluent theme, dark default)
Language	C# / .NET 9
Database	SQLite via Entity Framework Core 9
Video Playback	LibVLCSharp 3 + LibVLCSharp.Avalonia
Video Processing	FFMpegCore (thumbnails, preview strips, trim, export, audio mix)
Transcription	Whisper.net (local inference, CPU / Vulkan backend)
Dependency Injection	Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection 9
OBS Integration	Python script (OBS built-in scripting, v1.5.0)
Game Metadata	Steam Community Search API (credential-free)
Updates	Velopack (Windows .exe, macOS .dmg, Linux AppImage)
Testing	xUnit + Moq + EF Core InMemory

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Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue first for significant changes so we can discuss the approach before implementation.

If ClipStudio saves you time, consider supporting development:

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License

ClipStudio is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0.