Parallel Media Encoder Parallel Media Encoder

Acknowledgements

Third-party libraries and SDKs

Parallel Media Encoder is built on top of the following third-party libraries and SDKs. The full license text for each is bundled inside the app under Contents/Resources/Licenses/ and can also be viewed inside the app at Settings → Acknowledgements.

Open-source components

Sparkle

Auto-update framework by Andy Matuschak and contributors. Licensed under the MIT License. Includes bsdiff/bspatch (BSD 2-Clause) and an Ed25519 reference implementation (public domain).

Project: sparkle-project.org · Source: github.com/sparkle-project/Sparkle

FFmpeg

Multimedia libraries (libavcodec, libavformat, libavutil, libswscale, libswresample) from the FFmpeg project. Licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later (LGPL v2.1). Dynamically linked as shared libraries in the app's Contents/Frameworks/ directory, which satisfies the LGPL's relinking requirement: users may replace the shipped dylibs with compatible builds of their own (re-signing the app afterwards, e.g. ad hoc with codesign --force --deep -s -).

Project: ffmpeg.org · Source of the shipped build: downloads.parallelmediaencoder.com/source

Modifications

The FFmpeg shipped with Parallel Media Encoder is PME build ffmpeg-7.1.4-pme.1: upstream FFmpeg 7.1.4 with one change, 0001-dnxhdenc-exact-fast-rc-slice-overflow.patch (September 2026), to libavcodec/dnxhdenc.c and libavcodec/dnxhdenc.h.

The DNxHD/DNxHR encoder's fast rate control could size a slice smaller than the slice then coded, which aborted the whole application (seen with DNxHR LB at small frame sizes on noisy footage). The patch codes macroblocks only at quantisers whose sizes were measured, lets the quantiser counter reach its full range, and makes an oversized slice fail that picture with an error instead of aborting. The other libraries are unmodified.

Source code

The complete corresponding source of the FFmpeg libraries in the app (the patched FFmpeg source tree, the patch on its own, and the build script that configured and compiled it) is available at no charge from the same place the app is downloaded: downloads.parallelmediaencoder.com/source (ffmpeg-7.1.4-pme.1-source.tar.xz). Every FFmpeg build included in a released version of Parallel Media Encoder stays available there.

Build configuration

Shared-library versions: libavcodec 61.19.101, libavformat 61.7.102, libavutil 59.39.100, libswscale 8.3.100, libswresample 5.3.100. Configured with these options (after applying the patch above): 

--prefix=<install> --enable-shared --disable-static --disable-programs
--disable-doc --disable-htmlpages --disable-manpages --disable-podpages
--disable-txtpages --disable-everything --enable-decoder=dnxhd
--enable-encoder=dnxhd --enable-parser=dnxhd --enable-demuxer=matroska
--enable-demuxer=asf --enable-demuxer=avi --enable-demuxer=mxf
--enable-demuxer=flv --enable-demuxer=mov --enable-decoder=h264
--enable-decoder=hevc --enable-parser=h264 --enable-parser=hevc
--enable-decoder=mpeg4 --enable-decoder=msmpeg4v3
--enable-decoder=msmpeg4v2 --enable-decoder=mjpeg
--enable-decoder=dvvideo --enable-parser=mpeg4video
--enable-parser=mjpeg --enable-decoder=wmv3 --enable-decoder=vc1
--enable-decoder=wmv1 --enable-decoder=wmv2 --enable-parser=vc1
--enable-decoder=vp6 --enable-decoder=vp6a --enable-decoder=vp6f
--enable-decoder=flv --enable-decoder=vp9 --enable-parser=vp9
--enable-bsf=vp9_superframe_split --enable-decoder=rawvideo
--enable-decoder=aac --enable-decoder=ac3 --enable-decoder=eac3
--enable-decoder=dca --enable-decoder=flac --enable-decoder=opus
--enable-decoder=vorbis --enable-decoder=mp3 --enable-decoder=truehd
--enable-decoder=wmav1 --enable-decoder=wmav2 --enable-decoder=wmapro
--enable-decoder=pcm_s16le --enable-decoder=pcm_s16be
--enable-decoder=pcm_s24le --enable-decoder=pcm_s24be
--enable-decoder=pcm_s32le --enable-decoder=pcm_s32be
--enable-decoder=pcm_f32le --enable-decoder=pcm_f32be
--enable-parser=aac --enable-parser=ac3 --enable-parser=flac
--enable-parser=opus --enable-parser=vorbis --enable-parser=mpegaudio
--enable-muxer=mov --enable-muxer=mxf --enable-protocol=file
--enable-swscale --enable-swresample --disable-avdevice
--disable-postproc --disable-avfilter --disable-network --disable-debug
--disable-libxcb --disable-libxcb-shm --disable-libxcb-xfixes
--disable-libxcb-shape --disable-xlib --disable-sdl2
--disable-securetransport --disable-videotoolbox --disable-audiotoolbox
--arch=arm64 --extra-cflags='-arch arm64 -mmacosx-version-min=14.0 -O2'
--extra-ldflags='-arch arm64 -mmacosx-version-min=14.0'
--install-name-dir=@rpath

This configuration does not include --enable-gpl, --enable-version3 or --enable-nonfree, and links no external libraries. All enabled decoders are FFmpeg's native LGPL implementations, so the resulting binaries are covered solely by the LGPL v2.1 or later.

The configure line above is also embedded verbatim in each shipped dylib and can be verified with: 

strings libavcodec.61.19.101.dylib | grep -- --enable

libMXF

MXF file reader/writer library from BBC Research & Development. Licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License.

Source: github.com/bbc/bmx

swift-argument-parser

Command-line argument parser by Apple and the Swift project authors. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Source: github.com/apple/swift-argument-parser

Proprietary SDKs

The following SDKs are used under license from their respective vendors to decode camera-original files. They are proprietary software and are not open source.

RED R3D SDK

Used to decode RED .R3D and Nikon N-RAW .NEV camera-original files. Copyright © RED Digital Cinema. All rights reserved. "R3D", "REDCODE", and "RED" are trademarks of RED.com, LLC.

Blackmagic RAW SDK

Used to decode Blackmagic RAW (.braw) camera-original files. Copyright © Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved. "Blackmagic RAW", "BRAW", and "Blackmagic Design" are trademarks of Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd.

Canon Cinema RAW Development SDK

Used to decode Canon Cinema RAW Light (.crm) camera-original files. Copyright © Canon Inc. All rights reserved. "Canon", "Cinema RAW Light", and "CRM" are trademarks of Canon Inc.

ARRI Image SDK

Used to decode ARRI camera-original files (ARRIRAW / .ari / MXF) in ARRI build variants of the application. Copyright © Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH & Co. Betriebs KG (ARRI). All rights reserved. "ARRI", "ARRIRAW", "ALEXA", "AWG", and "LogC" are trademarks of Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH & Co. Betriebs KG.

The ARRI Image SDK bundles the following open-source components, whose license terms are included with the SDK and in the app bundle:

  • TinyXML: zlib/libpng license
  • cxxopts: MIT License
  • LibTIFF: libtiff license (BSD-like)
  • OpenCL headers: Khronos Group license

Corrections

If you believe an attribution is missing or incorrect, please get in touch.