dovi_tool is a CLI tool combining multiple utilities for working with Dolby Vision.

The dolby_vision crate is also hosted in this repo, see README for use as a Rust/C lib.
The C compatible library is also known as libdovi, refer to the same document for building/installing.

 

Building

Toolchain

The minimum Rust version to build dovi_tool is 1.88.0.

Dependencies

On Linux systems, fontconfig is required.
Alternatively, system fonts can be bypassed by building with --no-default-features --features internal-font.

Release binary

To build release binary in target/release/dovi_tool run:

cargo build --release

 

Usage

dovi_tool [OPTIONS] <SUBCOMMAND>

To get more detailed options for a subcommand

dovi_tool <SUBCOMMAND> --help

All options

• --help, --version, --crop, --drop-hdr10plus, --mode, --edit-config, --start-code

All subcommands

• Metadata utilities: info, generate, editor, export, plot
• HEVC parsing & handling: convert, demux, mux, extract-rpu, inject-rpu

More information and detailed examples for the subcommands below.

 

Dolby Vision metadata utilities

dovi_tool provides an important set of tools for analyzing, editing and generating Dolby Vision metadata.

Commands

• info

  Prints the parsed RPU information.
  To get the summary, use --summary or -s.

  Using --frame: prints the RPU data as JSON for a specific frame.

  • Frame indices start at 0.

  Example to get metadata for frame 124:

  dovi_tool info -i RPU.bin -f 123
  

 

• generate

  Allows generating a binary RPU from different sources.
   

  From an exported CMv2.9 or CMv4.0 Dolby Vision XML metadata file

  • The binary RPU can be created with support for the following metadata levels:

    • CMv2.9: L1, L2, L5, L6
    • CMv4.0: CMv2.9 + L3, L8, L9, L10, L11

     

    Both per-shot and per-frame trims are supported.
    Level 5 metadata requires both canvas-width and canvas-height to be set.

    Example:

    dovi_tool generate --xml dolbyvision_metadata.xml -o RPU_from_xml.bin
    

   

  From a generic profile 5/8.1/8.4 configuration JSON file

  • See documentation: generator.md or examples

    Example:

    dovi_tool generate -j assets/generator_examples/default_cmv40.json -o RPU_generated.bin
    

   

  From an existing HDR10+ metadata JSON file

  • The metadata is generated from a configuration JSON file, and the L1 metadata is derived from HDR10+ metadata.
    The HDR10+ metadata must contain scene information for proper scene cuts.

    Flags:

    • --hdr10plus-peak-source How to extract the peak brightness for the metadata [default: histogram]
      Possible values: histogram, histogram99, max-scl, max-scl-luminance

    Example:

    dovi_tool generate -j assets/generator_examples/default_cmv40.json --hdr10plus-json hdr10plus_metadata.json -o RPU_from_hdr10plus.bin
    

   

  From a madVR HDR measurement file

  • The metadata is generated from a configuration JSON file, and the L1 metadata is derived from the madVR measurements.
    Supports using custom targets nits from Soulnight's madMeasureHDR Optimizer, with flag --use-custom-targets.

    Example:

    dovi_tool generate -j assets/generator_examples/default_cmv40.json --madvr-file madmeasure-output.bin -o RPU_from_madVR.bin
    

 

• editor

  Allows editing a binary RPU according to a JSON config. See documentation: editor.md or examples.
  All indices start at 0, and are inclusive. For example, using "0-39" edits the first 40 frames.

  Example:

  dovi_tool editor -i RPU.bin -j assets/editor_examples/mode.json -o RPU_mode2.bin
  

 

• export

  Allows exporting a binary RPU file to text files containing relevant information.
  The command allows specifying the desired data to export as file.
  Default: export outputs the full RPU serialized to JSON (equivalent to --data all).

  • -d, --data: List of key-value export parameters formatted as key=output,key2...
    • all - Exports the list of RPUs as a JSON file
    • scenes - Exports the frame indices at which scene_refresh_flag is set to 1
    • level5 - Exports the video's L5 metadata in the form of an editor config JSON
  • -l, --levels: Export specific extension metadata levels.
    • Possible values: all levels in format level1, level2... See dovi_tool export --help message.
      Output file path may be added as level1=output.csv,level2... to override default path.
  • -f, --levels-format: Format to output levels exports, defaults to csv.
    • Possible values: csv, json

   

  Example to export the whole RPU list to JSON:

  dovi_tool export -i RPU.bin -d all=RPU_export.json
  

  Example to export both scene change frames and L5 metadata (with specific path)

  dovi_tool export -i RPU.bin -d scenes,level5=L5.json
  

 

• plot

  Allows plotting the RPU metadata into a graph.
  The output is a PNG image.

  Flags:

  • -t, --title The title to set at the top of the plot
  • -s, --start Set frame range start
  • -e, --end Set frame range end (inclusive)

  Plot options:

  • -p, --plot-type Sets the DV metadata level to plot [default: l1, brightness metadata]
    Possible values: l1, l2, l8, l8-saturation, l8-hue

  • --target-nits Target brightness in nits for L2/L8 plots [default: 100]
    Possible values: 100, 300, 600, 1000, 2000, 4000

  • --trims Trim parameters to include in L2/L8 trims plots. By default all are included.
    Possible values: slope, offset, power, chroma, saturation, ms, mid, clip
L8 only: mid and clip.

  Example:

  dovi_tool plot RPU.bin -t "Dolby Vision L1 plot" -o L1_plot.png
  
  # L2 plot
  dovi_tool plot RPU.bin -p l2
  

 

HEVC parsing & handling

For working with an HEVC source file, there are multiple options that apply to most commands:

Conversion modes

• -m, --mode Sets the mode for RPU processing.
  • Default (no mode) - Copies the RPU untouched.
  • 0 - Parses the RPU, rewrites it untouched.
  • 1 - Converts the RPU to be MEL compatible.
  • 2 - Converts the RPU to be profile 8.1 compatible.
    • Removes luma/chroma mapping for profile 7 FEL.
  • 3 - Converts profile 5 to 8.1.
  • 4 - Converts to profile 8.4.
  • 5 - Converts to profile 8.1, preserving mapping.
    • Old mode 2.

Other options

• -c, --crop Set active area offsets to 0 (meaning no letterbox bars).
• --drop-hdr10plus Ignore HDR10+ metadata when writing the output HEVC.
• --edit-config Path to editor config JSON file.
  • Limited editing capabilities when working with HEVC. See documentation.
• --start-code HEVC NALU start code to use when writing HEVC.
  • Options: four (default), annex-b
  • four is the default, writing a 4-byte start code all the time.
  • annex-b varies the start code, according to spec. Almost matches x265 behaviour.

Commands

• convert

  Converts RPU within a single layer HEVC file.
  The enhancement layer can be discarded using --discard.

  Examples to convert to profile 8.1 and discard EL:

  dovi_tool -m 2 convert --discard file.hevc
  

  ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -bsf:v hevc_mp4toannexb -f hevc - | dovi_tool -m 2 convert --discard -
  

 

• demux

  Rust port of yusesope's python tool. Credits goes to them.
  Demuxes single track dual layer Dolby Vision into Base layer and Enhancement layer files.
  The base layer file output is equivalent to using the remove subcommand.

  Flags:

  • --el-only Output the EL file only.

  Examples:

  dovi_tool demux file.hevc
  

  ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -bsf:v hevc_mp4toannexb -f hevc - | dovi_tool demux -
  

  Example to convert RPU to profile 8.1 while demuxing:

  dovi_tool -m 2 demux file.hevc
  

 

• mux

  Interleaves the enhancement layer into a base layer HEVC bitstream.
  This is the inverse of demux.

  Muxing supports the base layer input as both raw HEVC bitstream and piped/streamed.

  • --no-add-aud Disable adding AUD NALUs between frames
  • --remove-eos Removes EOS/EOB NALUs from both BL and EL, if present
  • --discard Discard the EL while muxing. This is equivalent to injecting the RPU, but without extracting first.

  Examples:

  dovi_tool mux --bl BL.hevc --el EL.hevc
  

  ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -bsf:v hevc_mp4toannexb -f hevc - | dovi_tool mux --bl - --el EL.hevc
  

  Example to convert RPU to profile 8.1 while muxing:

  dovi_tool -m 2 mux --bl BL.hevc --el EL.hevc --discard
  

 

• extract-rpu

  Extracts Dolby Vision RPU from an HEVC file.
  Input file:

  • HEVC bitstream: single track (BL + RPU), single track dual layer (BL+EL+RPU) or an enhancement layer (EL+RPU) video file.
  • Matroska =: MKV file containing a HEVC video track.

  Supports profiles 4, 5, 7, and 8.

  Flags:

  • -l, --limit Number of frames to process from the input. Processing stops after N frames.

  Examples:

  dovi_tool extract-rpu video.hevc
  
  # Directly using MKV file
  dovi_tool extract-rpu video.mkv
  

  ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -bsf:v hevc_mp4toannexb -f hevc - | dovi_tool extract-rpu - -o RPU.bin
  

  FEL to MEL example:

  dovi_tool -m 1 extract-rpu video.hevc
  

 

• inject-rpu

  Interleaves RPU NAL units between slices in an HEVC encoded bitstream.
  Global options have no effect when injecting.

  Flags:

  • --no-add-aud Disable adding AUD NALUs between frames

  Example:

  dovi_tool inject-rpu -i video.hevc --rpu-in RPU.bin -o injected_output.hevc
  

 

• remove

  Removes the enhancement layer and RPU data from the video.
  Outputs to a BL.hevc file by default.

  Examples:

  dovi_tool remove file.hevc
  

  ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -bsf:v hevc_mp4toannexb -f hevc - | dovi_tool remove -
  

 

Build artifacts can be found in the Github Actions.
More features may or may not be added in the future.