What Is FastFlix?

FastFlix is a free graphical interface for encoding video to H.264, HEVC, and AV1. It is not an encoder itself: it sits on top of FFmpeg (version 4.3 or greater required, 5.0+ recommended) and gives you a GUI to drive software and hardware encoders, HDR metadata, audio, subtitles, and cover art from one place. It suits anyone who wants control over encoding settings without hand-writing FFmpeg commands.

What FastFlix actually does

FastFlix is a front end. The heavy lifting is done by FFmpeg and, for hardware encoding, by separate encoder binaries. That distinction matters for two reasons:

• If an encoder is missing from the list, it is usually because your FFmpeg build was not compiled with it.
• Hardware encoders require both the right GPU and additional binaries that you download and link manually.

Software vs. hardware encoding

The site splits encoders into two groups.

Software encoders

These run on your CPU and need no special hardware. Supported encoders include x265, x264, rav1e, AOM AV1, SVT AV1, VP9, and VVC, with varying support for HDR10, HDR10+, audio, subtitles, covers, and bt.2020.

Hardware encoders

These require matching hardware:

Most Nvidia, Intel, and AMD hardware encoders come from rigaya's encoders, which must be downloaded separately, extracted to a folder of your choice, and linked in the FastFlix Settings panel.

AV1 hardware encoding is limited to the latest GPU generations: Intel Arc, Nvidia 4000 series, and AMD 7000 series.

What you need before it works

1. Install FFmpeg and ffprobe, and make sure both are on your PATH and executable.
2. Use FFmpeg 4.3 or greater; the latest master build is recommended and is required for some features.
3. If you want hardware encoding, install the matching rigaya encoder binaries and point FastFlix at them in Settings.

A practical warning from the project: the FFmpeg in your package manager may not support all encoders or options. Static builds from the FFmpeg download page are suggested for Linux and Mac.

Where to get it and how to get help

Releases with binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux are published on GitHub. The GitHub wiki holds help and further detail, and bugs go to the GitHub issue tracker.

How it differs from a typical transcoder

A normal transcoder hides encoding decisions behind presets. FastFlix exposes them: you choose the encoder, whether it runs on CPU or GPU, and how HDR10, HDR10+, audio, subtitles, covers, and bt.2020 are handled. The trade-off is setup work — FFmpeg on your PATH, plus separate hardware encoder binaries if you go the GPU route. If you want a GUI over FFmpeg's encoder options rather than a one-click converter, that trade-off is the point.