pyavc 1.0.3

A command line utility and library for converting DOCX and TXT files to Avid Script Files (.avc)

pyavc

pyavc is a Python library that allows you to convert DOCX or TXT files into Avid Script (.avc) files. It can be used both as a command-line tool and as a library within your Python scripts.

This project is not affiliated with Avid or Avid Media Composer, it is simply an open source helper library to make fellow AEs' lives a bit easier.

Installation

To install pyavc, you can use pip3:

pip3 install pyavc

Usage

As a Python Library

The main (and only) method provided is convert. It allows you to convert a DOCX or TXT file and save the result in a specified output directory.

convert(filepath, output_dir, output_name=None)

Parameters

• filepath (os.Path): The path to the input DOCX or TXT file.
• output_dir (os.Path): The path to the output directory where the converted file will be saved.
• output_name (str, optional): The name of the output file (without extension). If not provided, the output file will be named based on the input file name.

Example Usage

import pyavc as avc

# Convert a TXT file and save the output
avc.convert('/path/to/input.txt', '/path/to/output/dir')

# Convert a DOCX file and specify a custom output name
avc.convert('/path/to/input.docx', '/path/to/output/dir', output_name='custom_name')

Command-Line Usage

pyavc can also be used from the command line to quickly convert files.

Syntax

pyavc -i <path-to-input-file> -o <path-to-output-dir> [-n <output-name>]

Parameters

• -i, --input: Path to the input DOCX or TXT file.
• -o, --output_dir: Path to the output directory where the converted file will be saved.
• -n, --output_name: (Optional) Name of the output file (without extension). If not provided, the output file will be named based on the input file name.

Example Commands

# Convert a TXT file and save the output
pyavc -i /path/to/input.txt -o /path/to/output/dir

# Convert a DOCX file and specify a custom output name
pyavc -i /path/to/input.docx -o /path/to/output/dir -n custom_name

License

This project is licensed under the GPL 3.0 License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request with any improvements or suggestions. I am but a humble assistant editor and programming is more a hobby than a profession, so I'm always open to feedback.

Some Notes

This library is still in the 'finishing touches' phase, and as always, there may be undiscovered bugs.

Due to differences in formatting between DOCX and TXT files, if you decide to convert to TXT manually, care needs to be taken to ensure line breaks are added in order for Avid not to read entire paragraphs as single lines. This is an issue which occurs regardless of whether you're using Avid Media Composer or pyavc. If in doubt, supply the Word file directly and allow the library to do this for you. However, the Word conversion feature still needs a bunch of testing (as at 08/25/2024).

Acknowledgments

pyavc would not be possible without the pyavb library by mjiggidy, itself a fork of the pyavb library by markreidvfx, which provided so many useful hints - as it turns out, AVC files are constructed much like AVB files. Who would have thought?