Scene Splitter

A free, local Windows GUI for PySceneDetect. No servers. No uploads. Your 1.5 GB files stay on your machine.

What It Does

Scene Splitter is a lightweight Windows GUI that wraps PySceneDetect — the open-source scene detection engine. It runs entirely on your local machine. No cloud. No uploads. No file size limits.

✓Drag and drop any video file (MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, WMV)
✓Automatically detects scene cuts using OpenCV frame analysis
✓Splits video into individual scene files with timestamps
✓Exports CSV, EDL (Premiere/FCP), and HTML reports
✓Saves thumbnail images of each detected scene
✓Re-encodes with H.264/AAC for clean MKV output

Installation

Step 1 — Install Python

Download Python 3.10 or newer from python.org.

☑ Check "Add Python to PATH" during installation

Step 2 — Install PySceneDetect

Open Command Prompt and run:

pip install scenedetect

Step 3 — Install FFmpeg (Required for Splitting)

FFmpeg handles video encoding. Download from ffmpeg.org and add to your system PATH.

Or use gyan.dev for pre-built Windows binaries.

Step 4 — Download Scene Splitter

Download the Scene Splitter GUI files:

scene_splitter_gui.py

The main GUI application

Run_Scene_Splitter.bat

Double-click launcher — checks Python and runs the GUI

Place both files in the same folder. Double-click the .bat file to launch.

How to Use

1

Select Input Video

Click "Browse..." and pick your video file. MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV all supported.

2

Select Output Folder

Pick where scene files go. Auto-suggests a "scenes" subfolder next to your video.

3

Adjust Detection Settings

Threshold slider controls sensitivity. Higher = fewer scenes. Default 27 works for most content.

4

Check Output Options

Split video, export CSV, save thumbnails, or create an EDL for Premiere/Final Cut.

5

For MKV Files — Check "Re-encode with H.264/AAC"

MKV files encode poorly with default settings. This checkbox forces libx264 video and AAC audio for clean output.

6

Click "Detect Scenes"

Watch the real-time progress log. Scenes are split and saved to your output folder.

MKV-Specific Settings

MKV container files often encode poorly with PySceneDetect's default settings. The GUI includes a"Re-encode with H.264/AAC (recommended for MKV)" checkbox that applies these exact settings:

scenedetect -i episode.mkv split-video --preset fast --args "-c:v libx264 -c:a aac"

This forces H.264 video encoding and AAC audio — compatible with virtually every player and editor. Without this flag, MKV files may produce broken or unplayable output segments.

Troubleshooting

Q: "PySceneDetect not found"

A: Run: pip install scenedetect

Q: "FFmpeg not found" when splitting

A: Install FFmpeg and add to PATH, or disable "Split Video into Scenes"

Q: Too many / too few scenes detected

A: Adjust the Threshold slider. Higher = fewer scenes.

Q: MKV output files are broken or have no audio

A: Check "Re-encode with H.264/AAC" — MKV needs explicit codecs

Q: Split is very slow

A: Enable "Copy Mode" for fast stream copy (no re-encode). Only works with compatible codecs.

Download

Scene Splitter v1.0

Free. Open source. Local-only. No file size limits.

Download scene_splitter_gui.py →Download Run_Scene_Splitter.bat →Download README.md →

Or get all files from GitHub

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