January 13, 2017

Convert Audio / Video Files with Selene Media Encoder





Selene is a GTK3/Vala media converter tool developed by Tony George (who's also behind Conky Manager), which "aims to provide a simple GUI for converting files to popular formats along with powerful command-line options for automated/unattended encoding".

Selene Media Encoder


Besides supporting most popular audio/video formats, Selene supports 2 types of presets: JSON presets (which determine the audio/video format, codecs, bitrate, quality and so on) as well as Bash script presets which can be used for converting files using any command line utility, useful for integrating tools that aren't directly supported by Selene, as well as for automated / unattended encoding.

It's also important to note that Selene can also crop / resize / resample videos or embed subtitles.

The application is under constant development, with the latest version (2.4) being released about 10 days ago with SOX Audio Processing support, an option to check for missing encoders (see screenshot below) and bug fixes.

Selene Media Encoder
Selene - encoders status

Selene Media Encoder
Selene Presets - filter options


Selene Media Encoder features:
  • Encode videos to MKV/MP4/OGV/WEBM formats;
  • Encode music to MP3/AAC/OGG/OPUS/FLAC/WAV formats;
  • Option to pause/resume encoding;
  • Option to run in background and shutdown PC after encoding;
  • Option for SOX Audio Processing;
  • Customizable presets;
  • Preview file before converting;
  • Bash scripts can be written to control the encoding process;
  • Command line interface for unattended/automated encoding (run "selene --help" for a list of available commands);
  • Support for copying audio tags (Artist, Album, etc) to the the output file;
  • Option to check for missing encoders.
Update January 26th, 2015: Selene has received VP9 and H.265/HEVC encoding support. Note that You need to have ffmpeg/avconv compiled with VP8/VP9 support to be able to use the new VP9 encoder (Ubuntu 14.04 and above should have this enabled by default).


Install Selene Media Encoder in Ubuntu or Linux Mint


Ubuntu / Linux Mint (and derivatives) users can install the latest Selene Media Encoder by using its official PPA. Add the PPA and install Selene using the following commands:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:teejee2008/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install selene
If you don't want to add the PPA or you're using Debian, etc., grab the Selene Media Encoder deb from HERE.

For encoding AAC/MP4 format, Selene needs NeroAAC encoder which you can install by using the following commands:
cd /tmp
wget http://ftp6.nero.com/tools/NeroAACCodec-1.5.1.zip
unzip -j NeroAACCodec-1.5.1.zip linux/neroAacEnc
sudo install -m 0755 neroAacEnc /usr/bin
sudo apt-get install gpac

Arch Linux users can install Selene via AUR.

Other Linux distributions: grab the Selene source code via Launchpad (BZR).

For more information, usage, how to use bash scripts for encoding and more, see Selene's homepage.

Source: http://www.webupd8.org/2014/06/convert-audio-video-files-with-selene.html