VidMuncher

A Video Downloader Born from Pure Frustration

I built this because a certain multi-billion dollar video editor throws a tantrum over unsupported codecs. I'm not a real developer, but out of pure, unadulterated spite, I accidentally engineered a hardware-accelerated, self-updating media devouring monster. It was supposed to be a simple 10-line script. Now it has transcode support and a GUI. Please use it so my suffering isn't in vain.

What It Does

• Downloads videos from YouTube and 1000+ other sites via yt-dlp. View yt-dlp Supported sites
• Transcode to H.264, H.265, or AV1 - NVIDIA, AMD, Intel QuickSync, or CPU. Falls back silently if your GPU refuses to cooperate. I simplified the codec options because most video editors only support these.
• Audio extraction for when you just want the audio
• Download Sections - clip a specific part of a video using timestamps (e.g., *00:00:00-00:00:10) without downloading the entire file
• Self-configuring - downloads yt-dlp and FFmpeg automatically on first launch. No manual setup required

Getting Started

Windows

Installer (Recommended)

1. Download the -Installer.exe from the latest release.
2. Run the installer and follow the setup wizard.
3. Launch from your Start Menu or Desktop shortcut.

Portable

1. Download the -Portable.zip from the latest release.
2. Extract the folder to your preferred location.
3. Run VidMuncher.exe.

⚠️ Windows SmartScreen Warning Because this is an indie, open-source project without a paid Code Signing Certificate, Windows SmartScreen may flag the .exe as an "unrecognized app". This is completely normal. To run VidMuncher, click "More info" -> "Run anyway".

Linux Packages

For Debian/Ubuntu: Download the .deb file from the latest release, then install:

sudo apt install ./vidmuncher_*.deb

For Fedora/RHEL: Download the .rpm file from the latest release, then install:

sudo dnf install ./vidmuncher-*.rpm

For Arch Linux (EndeavourOS/Manjaro): Download the .pkg.tar.zst file from the latest release, then install:

sudo pacman -U ./vidmuncher-*.pkg.tar.zst

From Source

If you are adventurous and want to run it directly from the source code:

git clone https://github.com/aprixlabs/VidMuncher.git
cd VidMuncher
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python src/vidmuncher.py

Build Packages & Executables

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10+ with pip install -r requirements.txt
• For Windows Installers: Inno Setup 6 must be installed.
• For Linux DEB: dpkg-deb and fakeroot.
• For Linux RPM: rpmbuild.
• For Arch Linux: makepkg.

To easily wrap the application into an installer:

Windows Portable ZIP:

packaging/windows/build_windows.bat

Windows Installer (Setup.exe):

packaging/windows/build_installer.bat

Linux (.deb):

packaging/linux/build_deb.sh

Linux (.rpm):

packaging/linux/build_rpm.sh

Arch Linux (.pkg.tar.zst):

packaging/linux/build_arch.sh

Legal

Personal use only. Don't download things you shouldn't. GPL-3.0 License.

Thanks To

• yt-dlp - for doing the actual hard part
• FFmpeg - for doing the other actual hard part
• My video editor - for being so picky about codecs that I had to build this

Support VidMuncher

Keep my throat from getting scratchy :D