Section 3 of 6
What people actually used
One person's editor, a library under everything, and a front end for the hard part.
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One person's editor became everybody's
VirtualDub was written by Avery Lee and released free. For years it was the default way to cut and filter AVI on Windows.
Medium -
FFmpeg is the layer under almost everything else
Most tools that claim to convert video are calling FFmpeg. It is the piece the ecosystem depends on and the piece nobody markets.
Long -
HandBrake put a front end on the difficult part
HandBrake wraps encoder settings in presets, which is why people who never learned the parameters could still get a usable file.
Short