OxiMedia Python Bindings

Status: [Stable] | Version: 0.2.0 | Tests: extensively tested | Updated: 2026-07-14

Python bindings for OxiMedia, a royalty-free multimedia processing library written in Rust.

Part of the oximedia workspace — a comprehensive pure-Rust media processing framework.

Features

• Video Codecs: AV1 (encode/decode), VP9 (decode), VP8 (decode)
• Audio Codecs: Opus (encode/decode), Vorbis (decode), FLAC (decode)
• Container Formats: Matroska/WebM (demux/mux), Ogg (demux/mux), FLAC (demux), WAV (demux)
• Filter Graph: Scale, crop, volume, normalize filter bindings
• Pipeline: Multi-stage media pipeline builder
• Batch Processing: Batch transcoding operations
• Progress Tracking: Long-running operation progress tracking
• Media Probing: Media format and stream information queries
• Metadata: Typed metadata field access
• Error Types: Structured error types with categories and severity
• Format Information: Container capabilities and codec queries
• Media Hashing: Content hashing and fingerprinting
• ml — PyO3 bindings for oximedia-ml typed pipelines (SceneClassifier, ShotBoundaryDetector, AestheticScorer, ObjectDetector, FaceEmbedder)
• neural — PyO3 bindings for oximedia-neural tensor and inference models (Tensor, SceneClassifier, ThumbnailRanker, SrUpscaler, FeatureExtractor)
• analytics — PyO3 bindings for oximedia-analytics viewer-session tracking, engagement scoring, and attention heatmaps (ViewerSession, SessionMetrics, ContentEngagementScore)
• cache — PyO3 bindings for oximedia-cache's LRU cache (LruCache, CacheStats)
• Zero-copy operations where possible
• Thread-safe Python bindings

Installation

From PyPI

pip install oximedia

From Source

cd crates/oximedia-py
pip install maturin
maturin develop

Quick Start

Video Decoding

import oximedia

# Create AV1 decoder
decoder = oximedia.Av1Decoder()

# Send compressed packet
decoder.send_packet(packet_data, pts=0)

# Receive decoded frame
frame = decoder.receive_frame()
if frame:
    print(f"Frame: {frame.width}x{frame.height}")
    y_plane = frame.plane_data(0)  # Y plane
    u_plane = frame.plane_data(1)  # U plane
    v_plane = frame.plane_data(2)  # V plane

Video Encoding

import oximedia

# Create encoder configuration
config = oximedia.EncoderConfig(
    width=1920,
    height=1080,
    framerate=(30, 1),
    crf=28.0,
    preset="medium",
    keyint=250
)

# Create AV1 encoder
encoder = oximedia.Av1Encoder(config)

# Encode frame
frame = oximedia.VideoFrame(1920, 1080, oximedia.PixelFormat("yuv420p"))
encoder.send_frame(frame)

# Receive encoded packet
packet = encoder.receive_packet()
if packet:
    print(f"Packet: {len(packet['data'])} bytes, keyframe={packet['keyframe']}")

Audio Decoding

import oximedia

# Create Opus decoder
decoder = oximedia.OpusDecoder(sample_rate=48000, channels=2)

# Decode packet
audio_frame = decoder.decode_packet(packet_data)

print(f"Audio: {audio_frame.sample_count} samples, {audio_frame.channels} channels")

# Get samples as float32
samples_f32 = audio_frame.to_f32()

# Get samples as int16
samples_i16 = audio_frame.to_i16()

Container Demuxing

import oximedia

# Open Matroska file
demuxer = oximedia.MatroskaDemuxer("video.mkv")
demuxer.probe()

# Get stream information
for stream in demuxer.streams():
    print(f"Stream {stream.index}: {stream.codec}")
    if stream.width:
        print(f"  Video: {stream.width}x{stream.height}")
    if stream.sample_rate:
        print(f"  Audio: {stream.sample_rate}Hz, {stream.channels} channels")

# Read packets
while True:
    try:
        packet = demuxer.read_packet()
        print(f"Packet: stream={packet.stream_index}, size={packet.size()}, "
              f"pts={packet.pts}, keyframe={packet.is_keyframe()}")
    except StopIteration:
        break

Container Muxing

import oximedia

# Create muxer
muxer = oximedia.MatroskaMuxer("output.mkv", title="My Video")

# Write header
muxer.write_header()

# Write packets
for packet in packets:
    muxer.write_packet(packet)

# Finalize
muxer.write_trailer()

Zero-Copy NumPy Access

VideoFrame.plane(i), AudioFrame.samples, and cv2_compat.Mat implement the PyO3 buffer protocol, so NumPy can wrap the underlying Rust buffer without copying:

import oximedia
import numpy as np

# Decode a video file
decoder = oximedia.Av1Decoder()
# ... feed packets, get frames ...
frame = ...  # an oximedia.VideoFrame returned by the decoder

# Zero-copy numpy view of plane 0 (Y in YUV420P)
plane0 = np.asarray(frame.plane(0))
print(plane0.shape, plane0.dtype)  # (height, width, 1) uint8

# Audio interleaved samples as a numpy view
audio = oximedia.AudioFrame(...)
samples = np.asarray(audio.samples)

Each call to plane(i) / samples returns its own buffer view, so multiple concurrent views of the same frame are safe.

Command-Line Interface

The package ships a python -m oximedia entry point (installed with the wheel — no separate console script needed):

# Probe a media file (text or JSON output)
python -m oximedia probe input.mkv
python -m oximedia probe input.mkv --json

# Transcode using a built-in preset
python -m oximedia transcode input.mkv output.webm --preset youtube-1080p
python -m oximedia transcode input.mkv output.webm --crf 28

# Quality assessment between two files
python -m oximedia quality reference.mp4 distorted.mp4 --metric all

# cv2-style colour conversion / format conversion
python -m oximedia cv2 cvt-color input.png output.png --code BGR2RGB
python -m oximedia cv2 convert input.bmp output.jpg

# Inspect available presets / codecs / version
python -m oximedia presets
python -m oximedia codecs
python -m oximedia version

Run python -m oximedia --help (or python -m oximedia <subcommand> --help) for the full argument list.

Supported Codecs

OxiMedia only supports royalty-free, patent-unencumbered codecs:

Video

• AV1 - Alliance for Open Media codec (encode + decode)
• VP9 - Google's royalty-free codec (decode)
• VP8 - Google's earlier royalty-free codec (decode)

Audio

• Opus - Modern low-latency audio codec (encode + decode)
• Vorbis - Xiph.Org audio codec (decode)
• FLAC - Lossless audio codec (decode)

Containers

• Matroska/WebM (.mkv, .webm) — demux + mux
• Ogg (.ogg, .opus, .oga) — demux + mux
• FLAC (.flac) — demux
• WAV (.wav) — demux

API Overview

Core Python classes:

• PixelFormat, SampleFormat, ChannelLayout — Format descriptors
• VideoFrame, AudioFrame — Frame data containers
• EncoderConfig, EncoderPreset, Rational — Encoding configuration

Video codecs:

• Av1Decoder, Av1Encoder — AV1 codec
• Vp9Decoder, Vp8Decoder — VP9/VP8 decoders

Audio codecs:

• OpusDecoder, OpusEncoder, OpusEncoderConfig — Opus codec
• VorbisDecoder, FlacDecoder — Vorbis/FLAC decoders

Filters:

• PyScaleConfig, PyCropConfig, PyVolumeConfig, PyNormalizeConfig — Filter configurations

Container:

• Packet, StreamInfo — Packet and stream data
• MatroskaDemuxer, OggDemuxer — Container demuxers
• MatroskaMuxer, OggMuxer — Container muxers

Probe/info:

• PyVideoInfo, PyAudioInfo, PyStreamInfo, PyMediaInfo — Media information

Advanced (public modules):

• batch, batch_bindings — Batch processing
• codec_info — Codec information queries
• error_types — Structured error types
• filter_bindings — Filter graph bindings
• format_info — Format information
• media_hash — Content hashing/fingerprinting
• pipeline_bindings, pipeline_builder — Pipeline construction
• progress_tracker — Progress tracking
• py_config — Configuration builder
• py_error — Error handling
• py_metadata — Metadata access
• stream_reader — Streaming reader utilities
• timeline — Timeline management
• transcode_options — Transcoding options
• video_bindings, video_meta — Video utilities

License

Apache-2.0 — Copyright 2024-2026 COOLJAPAN OU (Team Kitasan)

Patent Protection

OxiMedia is designed to only work with royalty-free codecs. Attempting to use patent-encumbered codecs (H.264, H.265, AAC, etc.) will result in an error.