About this project

VideoKidnapper is an open-source desktop application for downloading, trimming, and captioning videos from the web. It integrates yt-dlp to support downloads from over 1,000 sites, including YouTube, Instagram, X, Reddit, and Facebook, and utilizes FFmpeg for local processing. Key capabilities include: - Video Acquisition: Download via URL, record the screen, or open local files. It supports browser cookie integration for private or age-gated content. - Editing Tools: Frame-accurate trimming with waveform and thumbnail strips, and the ability to queue multiple cuts for separate or concatenated export. - Advanced Captioning: Supports multiline text with outlines, shadows, and style presets. It features auto-captioning via Whisper, SRT/VTT import, and motion tracking (powered by OpenCV) to pin text to moving subjects. - Overlays & Formatting: Add logos, stickers, or GIF overlays. It includes tools to reframe 16:9 video to 9:16 for Shorts/Reels with blurred-background fill. - Export Options: Hardware-encoded MP4s and tuned GIFs (dither, palette, loop) with various quality presets. - Project Management: Saves work as .vidkid files with autosave recovery and a history tab for recent exports. - Interface: Provides a GUI built with CustomTkinter and a headless CLI mode for automated tasks.