Media File Stream Cleaner

A Bash script to clean media files keeping only specified video, audio, and subtitle streams based on language. No re-encoding is performed (stream copy mode).

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Features

• Filter by Language: Keep only audio/subtitle streams in specified languages.
• No Re-encoding: Uses ffmpeg in stream copy mode (-c copy) for fast processing.
• Dry Run Mode: Preview changes without modifying files.
• Verbose Output: Enable detailed logging for debugging.
• Batch Processing: Process a single file or all MKV files in a directory.

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Requirements

• Bash (tested on Bash 5.3.15)
• ffmpeg (must be in $PATH)
• ffprobe (included with ffmpeg)

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Installation

1. Clone or download the script:

   git clone https://github.com/vr-ski/stream-cleaner.git
   cd stream-cleaner/src

2. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x stream_cleaner.sh

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Usage

./stream_cleaner.sh [OPTIONS]

Options

Option	Description
-i, --input-file	Input MKV file to process (cannot be used with --root-dir).
-r, --root-dir	Root directory containing MKV files (cannot be used with --input-file).
-a, --audio-langs	Comma-separated list of audio languages to keep (e.g., "jpn,eng").
-s, --sub-langs	Comma-separated list of subtitle languages to keep (e.g., "eng,deu").
-n, --no-video	Exclude video streams (include all video by default).
-d, --dry-run	Simulate the process without modifying files (shows detailed output).
-v, --verbose	Enable verbose output.
-h, --help	Show this help message.

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Examples

Process a Single File

Keep only Japanese audio and English subtitles in movie.mkv:

./stream_cleaner.sh --input-file movie.mkv --audio-langs jpn --sub-langs eng

Process All MKV Files in a Directory

Keep only Japanese audio and English/German subtitles in all MKV files in /path/to/files:

./stream_cleaner.sh --root-dir /path/to/files --audio-langs jpn --sub-langs eng,deu

Dry Run (Preview Changes)

Preview what would happen without modifying files:

./stream_cleaner.sh --input-file movie.mkv --audio-langs jpn --sub-langs eng --dry-run

Exclude Video Streams

Keep only Japanese audio and English subtitles, excluding video:

./stream_cleaner.sh --input-file movie.mkv --audio-langs jpn --sub-langs eng --no-video

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License

This project is licensed under the BSD-2-Clause License – see the LICENSE file for details.

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