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2026-02-10

I wasted time trying to use ffmpeg as a video editor

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I seem to have a very strong prior that I should try doing something with open source software with less lines of code, if possible.
I do think this mindset has some non-zero upsides, even in short ASI timelines.
But here I want to flag one specific way it was a downside, based on personal experience.
I spent atleast a couple months making youtube videos and trying to edit them using a custom wrapper I built on top of ffmpeg
After that, I used iMovie. It was way faster, and way easier, and also people around me immediately said that the production quality had improved.
(After that, I hired a video editor. I realised that if I can make my instructions dumb enough and repeatable enough, I don't need someone with a lot of skill to do what I was doing using iMovie.)

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