--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/python/ffslice.py	Sun Jun 28 11:56:13 2015 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+"""
+slice a clip with `ffmpeg`:
+
+ffmpeg -ss <00:00:00> -t <sec> -i <input_file> -q 1  <output_file> #
+
+--ss = start time ;
+
+-t = length of video to create from the start time in seconds.
+"""
+
+# imports
+import argparse
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+# module globals
+__all__ = ['main', 'Parser']
+here = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
+string = (str, unicode)
+
+
+def ensure_dir(directory):
+    """ensure a directory exists"""
+    if os.path.exists(directory):
+        assert os.path.isdir(directory)
+        return directory
+    os.makedirs(directory)
+    return directory
+
+
+def convert_seconds_to_hhmmss(time_sec):
+    """converts `time_sec` to (hh,mm,ss)"""
+
+    hh = int(time_sec / 3600)
+    mm = int((time_sec % 3600) / 60)
+    ss = int((time_sec % 3600) % 60)
+    return (hh,mm,ss)
+
+
+def format_seconds_to_hhmmss(time_sec, separator=':'):
+    """converts `time_sec` to string 'hh:mm:ss'"""
+    return separator.join(['{:0>2d}'.format(i)
+                           for i in convert_seconds_to_hhmmss(time_sec)])
+
+
+def duration(clip, ffprobe='ffprobe'):
+    """get the duration in seconds using `ffprobe` from ffmpeg"""
+
+    command = [ffprobe, clip]
+    assert os.path.exists(clip), "Missing clip, duration not available"
+
+    # probe the file
+    try:
+        output = subprocess.check_output(command, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+        # (for some reason, ffprobe sends output to stderr)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        print (e.output)
+        raise
+
+    duration = None
+    for line in output.splitlines():
+        # Parse the output of `ffprobe`
+        # look for a line like:
+        #   Duration: 00:00:59.73, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 7783 kb/s
+
+        line = line.strip()
+        if line.startswith("Duration:"):
+            if duration:
+                raise AssertionError("Duplicate duration - already found: {}".format(duration))
+            line = line.split(',')[0]
+            duration = line.split(':', 1)[1].strip()
+
+    if duration:
+        hh, mm, ss = [float(i) for i in duration.split(':')]
+        duration = 3600*hh + 60*mm + ss
+
+        return duration
+
+
+class FFSliceParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
+    """fflice CLI option parser"""
+
+    default_slice_time = 300.
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        argparse.ArgumentParser.__init__(self, description=__doc__)
+        self.add_argument('clips', metavar='clip', nargs='+', help="clips to slice")
+        self.add_argument('-d', '--directory', dest='directory',
+                          default=os.getcwd(),
+                          help="output directory [DEFAULT: %(default)s]")
+        self.add_argument('--durations', '--print-durations', dest='print_durations',
+                          action='store_true', default=False,
+                          help="print durations and exit")
+        self.add_argument('-n', dest='number', type=int,
+                          help="number of slices")
+        self.add_argument('-t', '--time', dest='slice_time',
+                          type=float,
+                          help="time of each slice [DEFAULT: {}]".format(self.default_slice_time))
+        self.add_argument('--dry-run', dest='dry_run',
+                          action='store_true', default=False,
+                          help="print out what will be done")
+        self.add_argument('--hhmmss', dest='hhmmss',
+                          action='store_true', default=False,
+                          help="display times in 'hh:mm:ss' format; thedefault is in seconds")
+
+        self.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose',
+                          action='store_true', default=False,
+                          help="be verbose")
+        self.options = None
+
+    def parse_args(self, *args, **kw):
+        options = argparse.ArgumentParser.parse_args(self, *args, **kw)
+        self.validate(options)
+        self.options = options
+        return options
+
+    def validate(self, options):
+        """validate options"""
+
+        missing = [clip for clip in options.clips
+                   if not os.path.exists(clip)]
+        if missing:
+            self.error("Not found: {}".format(', '.join(missing)))
+
+        if options.slice_time and options.number:
+            self.error("Cannot specify slice time and number of slices")
+            # TODO: allow specification of both
+        elif options.slice_time is None and options.number is None:
+            options.slice_time = self.default_slice_time
+
+        ensure_dir(options.directory)
+
+    def format_seconds(self, seconds):
+        """format seconds to string"""
+        if self.options.hhmmss:
+            return format_seconds_to_hhmmss(seconds)
+        return '{:.2}'.format(seconds)
+
+
+def main(args=sys.argv[1:]):
+    """CLI"""
+
+    # parse command line options
+    parser = FFSliceParser()
+    options = parser.parse_args(args)
+
+    # compute durations
+    durations = {clip: duration(clip) for clip in options.clips}
+    if options.print_durations:
+        returncode = 0
+        total = 0.
+        for clip in options.clips:
+            _duration = durations[clip]
+            if _duration is None:
+                print ("Duration not found: '{}'".format(clip))
+                returncode = 1
+            else:
+                print ('{} : {}'.format(clip,
+                                        parser.format_seconds(_duration)))
+        sys.exit(returncode)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
+