A python script for splitting up movies into distinct scenes

Slicer.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Slice a long VHS-rip MP4 into individual clips using PySceneDetect + ffmpeg.
Usage: python vhs_slice.py input.mp4 [--out out_dir] [--threshold 35]
If there are too many scenes try increasing threshold, and vice versa

To run this script you'll need to use a python environment manager to install and manage the necessary dependencies
"""

import argparse, os, subprocess, sys
from scenedetect import SceneManager, open_video, ContentDetector
from scenedetect.video_splitter import split_video_ffmpeg

def detect_scenes(path, thresh):
    video = open_video(path)
    sm = SceneManager()
    sm.add_detector(ContentDetector(threshold=thresh))
    sm.detect_scenes(video)
    return sm.get_scene_list()

def main():
    p = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    p.add_argument("input")
    p.add_argument("--out", default="clips")
    p.add_argument("--threshold", type=float, default=27)
    args = p.parse_args()

    os.makedirs(args.out, exist_ok=True)
    scenes = detect_scenes(args.input, args.threshold)
    if not scenes:
        sys.exit("No cuts found—try a lower threshold.")

    split_video_ffmpeg(args.input, scenes, output_dir=args.out,
                       output_file_template="Scene-$SCENE_NUMBER.mp4",
                       show_progress=True)
    print(f"Done. {len(scenes)} clips in {args.out}/")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()