GoMediaMinify

Preserve your memories efficiently with modern codecs like AVIF and H.265. Great visual quality, minimal storage space.

GoMediaMinify is an open-source command-line utility for shrinking everyday photo and video libraries with modern codecs like AVIF, WebP, H.265, and AV1. It keeps your originals untouched, organizes new files by capture date, and resumes large conversions automatically so home archives stay tidy without manual effort.

⚠️ GoMediaMinify uses modern lossy codecs (AVIF, H.265) to shrink your photos and videos. This means the output isn't pixel-for-pixel identical to RAW or original files, but it's visually very close while dramatically reducing size—perfect for cloud backups like Google Photos.

Quick Start (Non-Technical Users)

Just want to use it right away? Download the ready-to-use program:

📥 Download (No Building Required)

1. Go to Releases
2. Download the version for your system:
   • Windows: media-converter-windows-amd64.exe
   • macOS Intel: media-converter-macos-intel (older Macs)
   • macOS Apple Silicon: media-converter-macos-apple-silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
   • Linux x64: media-converter-linux-amd64
   • Linux ARM: media-converter-linux-arm64 (Raspberry Pi, etc.)

🔧 Install Dependencies

Install FFmpeg (which also ships ffprobe) and ImageMagick:

• macOS: brew install ffmpeg imagemagick
• Windows: Download FFmpeg + ImageMagick
• Linux: sudo apt install ffmpeg imagemagick

🚀 Use It

# Test first (see what happens without changing anything)
./media-converter --dry-run /path/to/your/photos /path/to/converted

# Convert safely (keeps your originals)
./media-converter /path/to/your/photos /path/to/converted

# Archive to NAS without conversion (checksum + duplicate checks)
./media-converter --copy-only /Volumes/SD-Card /Volumes/NAS/Photos-Master

Real Example: Before & After

Here's what happens when you convert a typical SD card from a camera:

Before Conversion

SD card with mixed photos and videos - +100GB

After Conversion

Same content converted - only 10GB used, organized by date

Result: 90% space saved, photos organized by actual date taken, originals preserved safely.

Purpose: Efficient Memory Backup

This tool is designed for preserving personal memories (family photos, vacation videos, etc.) using modern, efficient lossy codecs. It intentionally trades a little quality for huge space savings, making it ideal for cloud backups with providers like Google Photos. It's not intended for professional RAW file storage or pixel-perfect archival workflows.

What It Does

✅ Converts everyday photos: JPG/HEIC → AVIF/WebP (up to 90% smaller, visually very close) ✅ Compresses videos smartly: MOV/MP4 → H.265/AV1 (60% smaller, great quality) ✅ Organizes by date: Uses photo metadata to sort by actual date taken ✅ Keeps originals safe: Never overwrites your files ✅ Resume anywhere: Stop and continue later without losing progress

Ideal Use Cases ✅

• Household photo libraries that mix phone shots and camera images and need dependable backups.
• Trip or event footage where large 4K/HD videos benefit from smaller H.265/AV1 versions.
• Preparing libraries for cloud or NAS syncing when storage quotas are tight.

Not Recommended For ❌

• Professional RAW file workflows
• Files requiring pixel-perfect accuracy
• Commercial photography archives
• Content requiring original formats

Memory Backup Examples

Family Photo Collection

./media-converter ~/Pictures/Family ~/Pictures/Family_Memories
# Result: 20GB → 6GB of precious memories, perfectly organized

Vacation Videos

./media-converter --video-codec=h265 ~/Videos/Vacation ~/Videos/Vacation_Memories  
# Result: 4K vacation videos 50% smaller, same beautiful quality

Phone Camera Backup

./media-converter /Volumes/iPhone_Photos ~/Desktop/Phone_Memories
# Result: Years of photos organized by date, huge space savings

Copy-Only Archive Mode

Need a safe backup before touching your originals? Add --copy-only to mirror an SD card or external drive onto a NAS:

# 1. Archive cards with integrity checks
./media-converter --copy-only /Volumes/SD-Card /Volumes/NAS/Photos-Master

# 2. Optimise later from the archive
./media-converter /Volumes/NAS/Photos-Master ~/Photos-Optimized

In copy-only mode the tool:

• Calculates xxHash64 checksums for every file
• Skips duplicates automatically (even during the same session)
• Organises the archive by capture date
• Uses temporary files + atomic renames for safe writes
• Obeys --dry-run to rehearse the copy without touching the NAS

Supported Formats

Input: JPG, HEIC, HEIF, CR2, ARW, NEF, DNG, TIFF, PNG, RAW, BMP, GIF, WebP, MOV, MP4, AVI, MKV, M4V, MTS, M2TS, MPG, MPEG, WMV, FLV, 3GP

Output: AVIF, WebP (photos) • H.265, H.264, AV1 (videos)

Safety Features

• Never lose files: Originals are preserved by default
• Checksum guardrails: Copy-only mode verifies xxHash64 checksums and skips duplicates
• Crash-proof: Interrupt anytime, resume exactly where you left off
• Test mode: --dry-run shows what will happen without doing it
• Atomic operations: Files are either perfect or untouched
• Auto-recovery: Cleans up if something goes wrong

Installation Options

Option 1: Download Binary (Easiest)

Go to Releases and download for your platform.

Option 2: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/Azilone/GoMediaMinify.git
cd GoMediaMinify
go build -o media-converter

Configuration

Basic Options

Option	Default	Description
--dry-run	false	Preview without converting
--keep-originals	true	Preserve original files
--copy-only	false	Copy-only archive mode with checksum verification
--verify-checksum	false	Force checksum verification during conversion
--jobs	CPU-1	Number of parallel jobs
--photo-format	avif	Photo output (avif, webp)
--video-codec	h265	Video codec (h265, h264, av1)
--organize-by-date	true	Organize by date
--language	en	Month names (en, fr, es, de)

Config File ($HOME/.media-converter.yaml)

dry_run: false
keep_originals: true
max_jobs: 4
photo_format: "avif"
photo_quality_avif: 80
video_codec: "h265"
organize_by_date: true
language: "en"
adaptive_workers:
  enabled: true
  min: 1
  max: 6
  cpu_high: 80
  cpu_low: 50
  mem_low_percent: 20
  interval_seconds: 3

Adaptive Worker Mode

Use --adaptive-workers (or the adaptive_workers config block) when you want the converter to automatically scale the number of simultaneous video conversions based on current system load. The monitor checks CPU load averages and free memory every few seconds and nudges the worker limit between the configured min and max bounds:

• Reduce workers when CPU stays above cpu_high or free memory drops below mem_low_percent.
• Increase workers after two calm readings (CPU under cpu_low, memory comfortably above the threshold).

This keeps long video batches responsive on laptops without micro-managing job counts. Omit the block entirely to keep the traditional fixed limit.

Output Structure

With date organization (default):

converted/
├── 2024/
│   ├── 01-January/
│   │   ├── 2024-01-15/
│   │   │   ├── images/
│   │   │   └── videos/
└── conversion.log

Progress Tracking

Real-time progress with time estimates:

🎬 vacation_video.mov (245.3 MB)
   [████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 42.3% | Speed: 1.2x | ETA: 3m24s

📈 Overall: [█████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 15/40 (37.5%) | ETA: 12m30s

Advanced Usage

Custom Quality Settings

# High quality for archival
./media-converter --photo-quality-avif=90 --video-crf=23 ~/Photos ~/Archive

# Space-saving mode
./media-converter --photo-quality-avif=70 --video-crf=32 ~/Photos ~/Compressed

Resume Interrupted Conversion

# If conversion is interrupted, just run the same command again
./media-converter ~/Photos ~/Photos_Converted
# ✅ Automatically skips completed files and continues

Troubleshooting

Missing dependencies:

# Check if installed
ffmpeg -version
ffprobe -version
magick -version

# Install on macOS
brew install ffmpeg imagemagick

Not enough space: The tool needs about 50% of your source folder size for temporary files during conversion.

Large files timing out: Increase timeout with --timeout-video=3600

Development

Build

go build -o media-converter

# Cross-compile
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o media-converter.exe
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o media-converter-linux

Project Structure

├── main.go              # Entry point
├── cmd/root.go         # CLI interface
├── internal/
│   ├── converter/      # Conversion logic
│   ├── security/       # Safety checks
│   └── utils/          # File handling

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

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Built for preserving your precious memories efficiently. Modern codecs, great quality, minimal space.