ZVideoConverter v0.2.0 — Fixes and Features from Real-World Testing

Everything in this release comes from the first real-world testing: thank you for the detailed feedback.

Fixed

• Closing "Compare with original" no longer leaves a black window. The comparison crashed the whole interface on close, so the app had to be restarted. On top of the fix, a crash anywhere in the window now shows what happened and a Reload button instead of a black screen; your queue and profiles are kept.
• Constrained quality stays on the GPU. Some VA-API drivers can't cap the bitrate in CQ mode (no QVBR, only CQP, CBR and VBR). The app used to try anyway, fail, and redo the whole file on the CPU. Now every GPU gets a real QVBR test at start-up: where it doesn't work, the "Bitrate ceiling" switch is greyed out with an explanation, and a profile that already has a ceiling encodes on the GPU with the CQ value alone (the log says so).
• Much better size estimates. The estimate used a fixed figure per pixel and could be off by a factor of five on the GPU (for example 797 MB estimated, 2.1 GB real). It now starts from the source's own bitrate and knows which encoder will run: GPU encoders in CQ mode produce much bigger files than x264/x265 at the same number, and VA-API HEVC even bigger than VA-API H.264. Measured on real footage it is usually within about ±40 %; the 10-second preview still gives the exact figure.
• A profile can't be changed while conversions use it. It is read-only until they're done (or duplicate it).

New

• Expected final size during conversion: next to the current size, a projection of the finished file that gets more exact as the conversion progresses.
• Source bitrate in the file list, next to resolution, codec and size.
• The ffmpeg command in the settings: open "ffmpeg command" at the bottom of any settings tab to see (and copy) exactly what will run for a file.
• Fold away what you don't need: "Favourites", "My profiles" and "Built-in" collapse with a click on their title, and the settings panel folds into a thin bar. It opens again by itself when you edit a profile. Both are remembered.

Downloads

File	For
ZVideoConverter_0.2.0_x64-setup.exe	Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit)
ZVideoConverter_0.2.0_amd64.AppImage	Almost any 64-bit Linux, no install
ZVideoConverter_0.2.0_amd64.deb	Debian, Ubuntu 22.04+, Linux Mint 21+
ZVideoConverter-0.2.0-1.x86_64.rpm	Fedora, openSUSE
SHA256SUMS	Checksums of all files: sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing

Updating from 0.1.0: install over it. Profiles, settings and the queue are kept; the graphics card is tested again once on the first start.

Licensed under the GPL-3.0.

ZVideoConverter v0.1.0

The first release: a free bulk video converter for Windows and Linux that runs on your graphics card, keeps everything in one window, and never cuts off a file name.

Highlights

• Whole folders at once. Drop files or folders (sub-folders included) and convert them in parallel.
• GPU encoding and decoding. NVIDIA NVENC with NVDEC/CUDA decoding, AMD AMF on Windows, VA-API on Linux (AMD and Intel), Intel Quick Sync. Every encoder gets a real test encode at start-up, so only the ones that work on your machine are offered. If a GPU encode fails, the file is redone on the CPU.
• H.264, HEVC and AV1, plus VP9, MPEG-4, ProRes and 10-bit colour. MP4, MKV, WebM, MOV, AVI, TS, GIF and six audio formats.
• Every rate control mode. Constant quality as a real CRF/CQ number (18–20 high quality, 21–23 good, 24–26 more compression), constrained quality (CQ with a bitrate ceiling), CBR, VBR and target file size.
• Resolutions from 480p to 8K, also for upright video, plus any exact size like 540 × 960 with black bars, crop or stretch.
• File names stay intact. Show.S01E01.[1080p].mkv becomes Show.S01E01.[1080p].mp4. Collisions are shown before anything runs.
• Profiles you can edit. 14 built-in profiles; your own ones are edited in place and saved as you type.
• Check before you commit. A 10-second preview encode with the real file size, and a before/after split view.
• Set it and walk away. Watch folders, shut down or sleep when done, low-priority encoding, and a queue that survives restarts.
• ffmpeg on demand. No ffmpeg installed? One click downloads a verified build.
• English and German, with a one-minute interactive tour on first start.

Downloads

File	For
ZVideoConverter_0.1.0_x64-setup.exe	Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit)
ZVideoConverter_0.1.0_amd64.AppImage	Almost any 64-bit Linux, no install
ZVideoConverter_0.1.0_amd64.deb	Debian, Ubuntu 22.04+, Linux Mint 21+
ZVideoConverter-0.1.0-1.x86_64.rpm	Fedora, openSUSE
SHA256SUMS	Checksums of all files: sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing

The Linux builds need glibc 2.34 or newer (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 35 and later).

Good to know

• The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn about it. Choose More info → Run anyway, or compare the file with SHA256SUMS.
• On AMD's Linux driver (Mesa), the bitrate ceiling of constrained quality is a soft limit; with AMF on Windows it isn't applied. The README lists how each encoder behaves.
• No account, no telemetry. The only network access is an optional daily update check and the one-click ffmpeg download.

Licensed under the GPL-3.0.