Tutorial · Python · ~8 min

How to Convert Video to H.265/HEVC in Python

Encode a 4K clip to HEVC at a target VMAF in about ten lines of code — then watch the size difference versus H.264.

PythonHEVC4K

Encode HEVC

Step 1 — Sign up and get your API key

Sign up (free tier included)
Copy the API key from the dashboard
pip install mlslabs

Step 2 — Submit an encode job

Cloud samples: football-match-4k.mp4 and movie-master-1080p.mp4.

Python

import mlslabs

client = mlslabs.Client("YOUR_API_KEY")

job = client.h265_encoding.submit(
    input_url="s3://bucket/football-match-4k.mp4",
    output_url="s3://bucket/hevc/",
    profile="main10",
    quality_target={"metric": "vmaf", "score": 92},
    preset="sports",   # sports | uhd | vod
)
print(job.job_id)

Step 3 — Poll for completion

Python

job.wait()
print(job.status)  # done | failed

Step 4 — Download and verify

Bash

curl -L -o out-hevc.mp4 <output_url>
ffprobe -show_streams out-hevc.mp4 | grep codec_name
# => codec_name=hevc

# typical result on the 4K sample:
# H.264 38MB  ->  HEVC 21MB  (same VMAF)