For our June “Community Choice” Project of the Month, the community elected ShanaEncoder, an audio/video encoding program based on FFmpeg. Its features include closed caption, subtitle overlay, logo, crop, segment and more, and it supports H.264(High 10) decoding/encoding and unicode. Developer Lee Kiwon shared some thoughts about the project’s history, purpose, and direction.
SourceForge (SF): What made you start this project?
Lee Kiwon (LKW): FFmpeg provides many parameters and filter functions. However, it is difficult for users to memorize many parameters. So I made an encoding program based on FFmpeg that is easy for users to use.
SF: Has the original vision been achieved?
LKW: Yes, [it’s] satisfied many users.
SF: Who can benefit the most from your project?
LKW: Anyone who wants to use an encoder.
SF: What core need does ShanaEncoder fulfill?
LKW: ShanaEncoder is an audio/video encoding program.
SF: What’s the best way to get the most out of using ShanaEncoder?
LKW: Users can view the manuals and usage tips on the Shana (https://shana.pe.kr/) website.
SF: What has your project team done to help build and nurture your community?
LKW: Users can ask for help through questions and answers (https://shana.pe.kr/shanaencoder_qa).
SF: Have you all found that more frequent releases helps build up your community of users?
LKW: Yes.
SF: What was the first big thing that happened for your project?
LKW: [When] ShanaEncoder [was] introduced in a book. It helped to promote [the project].
SF: How has SourceForge and its tools helped your project reach that success?
LKW: It made many people become aware of this project.
SF: What is the next big thing for ShanaEncoder?
LKW: A code signing certificate to secure it.
SF: Do you have the resources you need to make that happen?
LKW: I’m currently receiving donations (https://shana.pe.kr/donate) because of the cost of a code signing certificate.
SF: If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently for ShanaEncoder?
LKW: I will allow users to easily create language files for multilingual support of ShanaEncoder.
SF: Is there anything else we should know?
LKW: No, Thank you for choosing ShanaEncoder as project of the month. 🙂