Spoolwell™

Changed

• US spelling throughout: “color” in the dashboards, the User Guide and the Cheat Sheet.

Version 1.11.16 23 October 2026

New

• Install Update (Windows): when a newer version is out, the update bar has an Install Update button. It downloads the update, checks that it is signed by The Picture Org, puts it in and starts the dashboard again. Your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are kept, the previous version is kept as a backup, and it starts only when no task is running. On a Mac, Download works as before.

Changed

• The corruption and sync check reads each file's details in one pass, so a big folder is checked faster. The results are the same.
• Merge reads its clips' details several at a time, about twice as fast before the merging starts. The merged videos are the same.
• The trial and license messages use each app's full name.

Fixed

• Merge: clips in a folder whose name starts like the output folder's (for example "card" for the output and "cardsrc" for the clips) are no longer left out.
• A file that could not be swapped in or moved aside is now reported as a failure instead of as done.
• Problems that used to be passed over without a word are now written to the log, to make support easier.

Version 1.11.15 23 October 2026

Changed

• Setup now installs in a ThePictureOrg folder (C:\Program Files\ThePictureOrg\Spoolwell, or in your own account when it's only for you) and moves an older install there by itself, with new Start menu and desktop icons. Your settings, Reports, Logs and license key stay where they are. If the toolbox is running, Setup asks you to close it first.
• On a Mac the app is now in Applications > ThePictureOrg. If you kept the app in the Dock, drag it in again from Applications > ThePictureOrg.
• Settings now shows the Spoolwell icon beside its description, and the License section is now last.
• Once a license is entered, the License section says thank you.
• A license covers one person on up to 2 computers.
• The downloads have new names: ThePictureOrg-Spoolwell-Setup, -Standalone and -Mac, followed by the version.
• Setup has a new picture on its first page.
• The User Guide now says you can type or paste a folder path into the Target Media and Output Folder boxes (and use Cmd-Shift-G in the Mac chooser).

Version 1.11.14 18 October 2026

Changed

• New name: Spoolwell™ Video Preservation Toolbox. The Start menu folder, desktop icon and Mac app are now called Spoolwell Video Toolbox, and Setup and the Mac installer remove the old ones. The tools and buttons, your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are unchanged.

Version 1.11.13 18 October 2026

Changed

• A name of its own: the toolbox moved to a new product name, by The Picture Org(anizer). The Start menu folder, desktop icon and Mac app were renamed to match (Setup and the Mac installer remove the old ones). The tools and buttons, your settings, Reports, Logs and license key are unchanged.

Version 1.11.12 17 October 2026

Fixed

• The desktop shortcut now shows the new app icon (it kept the old picture, while the Start menu showed the new one). Open the toolbox once after updating and the shortcut is updated.

Version 1.11.11 16 October 2026

Added

• Create an error log: if something isn’t working, open Settings and click Create an error log. It saves one text file on your Desktop with the versions, your settings (no license key or folder names), the end of each log and the newest Report, ready to email to us. Nothing is sent by itself.
• A new app icon: a VHS tape whose reels are the lenses of our logo’s camera, on the Start menu, desktop, taskbar and Mac apps.
• The console logs of the last 5 runs are kept, not only the latest.

Version 1.11.10 16 October 2026

Changed

• Logs and Reports no longer grow without end. Each time the toolbox opens, a log longer than 2000 lines keeps its newest 2000, and the Reports folder keeps the newest 50 Reports of each kind; older ones are deleted. Nothing else in your files is touched.

Version 1.11.9 16 October 2026

Changed

• Smart cut (Remove Blue Screen, Replace Title): the re-encoded pieces now carry exactly the same H.264 settings as the untouched parts, checked on the first piece, so every player sees one consistent video. Captures whose frame rate varies (dropped frames) are re-encoded whole instead, so the sound can’t drift; the reason shows in the log and report. Sound in any format, PCM captures included, now rides along the smart cut instead of quietly falling back to a full re-encode. Frame counts are checked exactly and lengths to within two frames. New “StrictHeaders” option for a player that is fussy about headers.
• Merge Videos by Date: a DV clip whose sound runs a little faster or slower than its picture (“unlocked” audio) now has its sound gently stretched to the picture’s length, so the two stay together to the end; the log says by how much, and “NoAudioStretch” turns it off. One high-quality scaling step instead of two, color tags for PAL, NTSC and HD, and an exact frame rate. Picture and sound lengths are compared on every output.
• Test MP4 Integrity: the sync check compares where picture and sound start and end, in milliseconds, allowing one frame plus 50 ms (it used to allow half a second on total length).
• Split Video at Marks passes Preset, Audio Bitrate, Fade Seconds, Min Part Seconds and StrictHeaders on to the cutter, so joined parts match; the break-point record is kept only when parts were made.
• Convert Audio to AAC: the audio bitrate can be typed as 256k, 256 or 256000.
• The blue-screen scan is quicker.
• Dashboards: the log no longer slows the desktop dashboard on long runs; accented file names show correctly in the browser log; cancelling no longer freezes the window while ffmpeg stops; a part name with a semicolon stays one name; a second browser tab no longer loses log lines; a missing ffprobe no longer wipes the last report.
• Trial: a signed trial extension is honoured even when this computer’s clock was once wrong.
• Updates: new ffmpeg files are swapped in only once both are downloaded, so a failed download never leaves half an update, and Setup clears out any PowerShell an earlier update left half-installed.

Added

• A tests folder with a self-check that makes its own test clips and checks every tool’s output for frame counts, sync and untouched frames, plus a tool to compare graphics-card encoders with the CPU encoder on your own clip.

Version 1.11.8 15 October 2026

Changed

• Mac: the toolbox is now signed by The Picture Org and checked by Apple, so macOS opens it without the “can’t check for malicious software” warning and without a trip to Privacy & Security. Install it with the new Install Video Toolbox app in the download (it replaces the Install and Uninstall .command files); there is an Uninstall Video Toolbox app too.
• Mac: Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates now only checks, because the signed app isn’t changed after it is installed. Each new Mac package brings current versions.

Version 1.11.7 14 October 2026

Added

• Replace a title: a new tool fixes the title card or title overlay at the start of a finished video, to correct a spelling or add a line that was missed, without redoing the whole video. Only the first few seconds are redrawn; the rest of the picture and all of the sound are copied untouched, so nothing drifts out of sync. The original is kept in an “Old titles” folder until you are happy. Choose “Replace-VideoTitle” in either dashboard and click Preview Titles first to see what would change.
• Videos made from this version on remember their title text inside the file, so a later fix finds it right away.

Changed

• Everyone gets a fresh 21-day free trial, once: the first time this version starts, the trial begins again from day 1, even if an earlier one had run out. A license key you have entered isn’t affected.

Version 1.11.6 12 October 2026

Added

• New videos now end with “-Final”, so the finished copy is easy to tell from the captures it came from: for example Tape 3-Final.mp4, Tape 3 - Part 01-Final.mp4 or Tape 3 - Edited-Final.mp4. This applies to the merge, blue-screen, split and AAC tools.
• Change the word or turn the ending off in Settings > File Names. Your originals are never renamed, and videos you made earlier without the ending aren’t made again.

Version 1.11.5 12 October 2026

Security

• Security fixes throughout the toolbox. Nothing changes in how you use it.
• The browser dashboard only accepts a real picture file as the studio logo, and keeps its private address from being passed to websites you open from it.
• File names with quotes, brackets or other unusual characters are handled safely in title text and the blue screen tool.
• Windows: the Setup program only ever removes the toolbox's own files, and updating ffmpeg checks downloads more strictly.

Version 1.11.4 11 October 2026

Changed

• The Media Preservation Toolbox is now the Video Preservation Toolbox. Only the name has changed: the tools, your settings, Reports, Logs and license key stay as they are, and it installs in the same folder.
• Windows: the Start menu folder and desktop icon are now called Video Toolbox, and the Setup removes the old Media Toolbox ones. Mac: the app is now Video Toolbox.app, and the installer removes the old Media Toolbox.app.

Version 1.11.3 11 October 2026

Added

• The toolbox now tells you when a newer version is out. At most once a day, when the dashboard opens, it reads the short list of current version numbers from our download service; nothing about you, your files, your license key or your computer is sent. When a newer version is out, a bar above the console offers Download, What's New, Not Now and Skip This Version. Nothing is downloaded or installed by itself.
• Settings has a new Updates row: the version you have, Check Now, and a tickbox to turn the daily check off.

Docs

• User Guide section 22 (New versions of the toolbox), README and Cheat Sheet.

Scripts: new ToolboxUpdateCheck.ps1 1.0.0.

Version 1.11.2 11 October 2026

Changed

• Updates within the major version are now called complimentary updates in the license and the guides: a license for version 1 covers every 1.x version.
• Buy a license now opens the Tools page on our website, where both tools are sold.

Fixed

• Opening two dashboard windows at the same moment on the first day could show the trial as expired. The trial date is now saved in one step, so this no longer happens.

Scripts: PictureOrgLicense 1.0.1.

Version 1.11.1 11 October 2026

Changed

• The Setup program asks who will use the toolbox. "Anyone who uses this computer" (the default) installs it in C:\Program Files\The Picture Org\Media Toolbox, like other Windows programs, with Start menu and desktop icons for every account; Windows asks for an administrator's permission. "Only for me" installs in your own account as before, with no permission needed.
• Your own files are no longer kept in the toolbox's folder. Settings, studio branding, Reports and Logs are kept in your own account: %LOCALAPPDATA%\PictureOrg\MediaToolbox on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/PictureOrg/MediaToolbox on a Mac. Each person who uses the computer has their own, and installing, updating or uninstalling leaves them alone. The first time 1.11.1 opens it copies these files from where earlier versions kept them; the originals are left where they were, so nothing is lost. Settings in both dashboards shows the folder under "Your Files", with an Open Folder button, and the Start menu has "My Reports and Logs".
• If an earlier version is installed only for you and you now install for everyone, Setup removes the old copy's Start menu and desktop icons, so there aren't two, and offers to remove its program files, keeping your settings, branding, Reports and Logs.
• Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates, with the toolbox installed for everyone: checking works as before; installing asks Windows for an administrator's permission and shows its progress as usual. If permission is refused, nothing is changed and the log says why. A downloaded PowerShell is switched in at the next start, after a short message and one more permission prompt.
• Mac: the package is now an app, Media Toolbox.app, with "Install Media Toolbox.command" (copies it into Applications and clears the download mark) and "Uninstall Media Toolbox.command" (removes the app and keeps your files and license key). The app starts the browser dashboard without a Terminal window; the dashboard stops by itself 10 minutes after its last page is closed, when nothing is running.

Docs

• README, User Guide (where your files are kept, installing for everyone or only for you, the Mac app, updating) and Cheat Sheet.

Scripts: Update-Toolbox 1.1.0, Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.9, Merge-VideosByDate 1.3.2, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.9; new ToolboxPaths.ps1 1.0.0.

Version 1.11.0 11 October 2026

Added

• A 21-day free trial with every feature, then a license key. The donation link at the bottom of both dashboards is replaced by the license area: the days left in the trial (or "Licensed to" and your name), Buy a license, Enter key... and, once licensed, Remove license from this computer (it asks first, and says when a bundle key also comes off Auto Crop & Straighten). Keys are checked on the computer itself; nothing is sent anywhere. They are kept in your user account, so they survive upgrades. One license is for one person on up to 2 computers, and updates are complimentary within the major version.
• For 7 days after the trial the toolbox keeps working, and a reminder with Buy a license and the key box opens each time the dashboard opens. After that the dashboard still opens and the license area works, but Execute Task, the player, the preview copy and the scene search ask for a key first. Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates always runs.
• Run from the command line, the tool scripts check too: after the trial they print the reason and stop with exit code 9 before doing anything; during the reminder days they print a warning and carry on.

Changed

• LICENSE.txt is now a paid license (21-day trial, then a license key; one person on up to 2 computers; updates complimentary within the major version). The copyright, no-modification and third-party terms are as before.

Docs

• README, User Guide (new section 21, Trial and license key), Cheat Sheet and Design Document.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.8, Merge-VideosByDate 1.3.1, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.1.2, Convert-AudioToAac 1.0.1, Test-Mp4Integrity 1.3.3, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.5, Set-MergedVideoDate 1.0.2, Sync-MediaManifest 1.3.2, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.8; new PictureOrgLicense.ps1 1.0.0.

Version 1.10.15 10 October 2026

Fixed

• A PowerShell process could still be left behind after closing the dashboard (reported after 1.10.14). The dashboard, the player window and the browser dashboard now end their own process outright once settings are saved and jobs stopped, instead of asking PowerShell to quit (which can wait on shutdown handlers). The player leaves its result for the dashboard in a small file beside the break points.

Added

• Logs\dashboard_trace.log lists the other pwsh.exe processes running when the dashboard starts, with their command lines, so any left behind (by the toolbox or another program) can be traced.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.7.

Version 1.10.14 10 October 2026

Fixed

• Closing the dashboard, the player window or the browser dashboard could leave a hidden PowerShell (pwsh.exe) running, and they added up each time the toolbox was opened and closed. PowerShell waits for every leftover thread before it quits (Windows' video playback or a job that is still stopping can leave one), so each one now ends its process outright once it has saved its settings and stopped its jobs.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.6.

Version 1.10.13 10 October 2026

Added

• Mac package, MediaToolbox-Mac-1.10.13.zip: the toolbox with its own PowerShell 7.6 and ffmpeg 9 for Apple silicon Macs, so nothing needs installing. Double-click Launch.command; the first time, allow it under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway (the toolbox isn't registered with Apple). Intel Macs use PowerShell and ffmpeg from Homebrew, as before.

Fixed

• Split with Join: kept parts that follow each other (nothing skipped between them) now run on with no fade. Before, every break between two kept parts got a fade, even where nothing was cut.
• The Windows dashboard now deletes player preview copies and scene scans older than a week from the temp folder, as the browser dashboard already did (they piled up when only the Windows dashboard was used).
• Browser dashboard: Find Scene Changes falls back to Fewer, the default, rather than Normal.

Docs

• README, User Guide (sections 1, 2, 13, 14, 17 and others) and Cheat Sheet: the Mac package, the Setup program for upgrading and uninstalling, the Reports and Logs folders, the full folder layout and the AAC tool.
• Script help, tooltips and code comments checked against the code and brought up to date (dashboard versions, report names, log paths, the Output Folder tooltip per tool, player parameters and exit codes).

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.7, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.1.1, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.4, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.5, Update-Toolbox 1.0.1.

Version 1.10.12 9 October 2026

Added

• Windows Setup program, MediaToolbox-Setup-1.10.12.exe, as an easier alternative to the zip. Installs for the current Windows account without administrator rights (in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Picture Org Media Toolbox), with Start menu shortcuts, an optional desktop icon, and an entry in Settings > Apps. Installing a newer version over an older one keeps settings, studio branding, Reports and Logs; uninstalling keeps them too unless asked.
• The dashboard doesn't offer to make a desktop shortcut when it was installed with the Setup program.

Version 1.10.11 9 October 2026

Added

• Split player (both): a Result line under the parts list says exactly what the split will make before you run it: each file and its name with the times it covers, the stretches left out, or, with Join ticked, the one joined video and its length. The Windows dashboard tells the player whether Join is ticked.

Docs

• User Guide section 19 starts with "How parts are made, skipped and joined": six plain rules (a part runs from its break to the next; skipped parts are removed; every kept part is its own file, named or not; delete a break to merge two parts; Join makes one video; nothing is made until Execute Task) and a worked newscast example. Cheat sheet updated to match.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.4.

Version 1.10.10 9 October 2026

Changed

• Find Scene Changes: Fewer now suggests a few more breaks than it first did (changes of 12 and up; it was 15 before 1.10.9 and 25 in 1.10.9). Normal (8) and More (5) are unchanged.

Scripts: Find-SceneChanges 1.0.3.

Version 1.10.9 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows split player: the Frame buttons (and Left / Right) went to the start of the video. The position is now noted before pausing and kept by the player while paused, instead of being read back from Windows' player, which can report 0 just after pausing. If the two disagree, Logs\dashboard_trace.log says so.
• Windows split player: after clicking the slider or the picture, the arrow keys could stop working (keyboard focus went nowhere). Clicking anywhere but a text box now gives the keys back to the player; Esc leaves a text box. Browser player: ticking Keep no longer takes the keys away.

Added

• Start and End buttons at the two ends of the player's button row, and the Home / End keys, in both players.
• Windows player: each part's tooltip says where it runs, from its break to the next one.

Changed

• Find Scene Changes: Fewer is stricter (changes of 25 and up, was 15). Reversed in 1.10.10.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.3, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.2.

Version 1.10.8 9 October 2026

Added

• Split tool: keep only some parts. The Windows player's list now has a Start row (the part before the first break) and, on every row, a Keep tickbox and a name box, so you no longer have to type "skip" (the browser player already had these). Untick Keep to leave a part out, such as a blue screen or a commercial.
• Split tool: "Join the kept parts into one video" (-Join on the command line). Instead of a file per part, the parts you keep go into one video, "<name> - Edited.mp4", with a quick fade where a part was left out. Example: a newscast where you keep the segments before and after a commercial and drop the rest of the tape.

Changed

• Find Scene Changes: Fewer (sharpest changes only) is now the default, in both players and Find-SceneChanges.ps1.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.6, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.1.0, Find-SceneChanges 1.0.1, Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.2.

Version 1.10.7 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Blue-screen tool missed short blue flashes in the middle of a tape. A flash of blue can last only about half a second (flat blue, silent), and blue had to last at least 1 second to be cut. The shortest blue now cut is 0.3 s (-MinBlueSeconds). Blue that is still too short is now listed in the log as "[KEEP] Blue but shorter than ..." instead of being passed over silently.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.5.

Version 1.10.6 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows split player still closed while clicking through breaks. Its exit code (0x80131623) is WPF ending the program on an internal check, not the video decoder. The likely trigger: the break-point text box was selected, scrolled and unfocused from code while a click in it was still being handled. Now the breaks are shown in a separate list beside the text box (click one to go to it; the one shown is highlighted), and the text box is never changed from code during a click. Names typed after "# suggested" are tidied once you've left the box.
• Preview copy (after the player closed): the picture area now says the copy is being made, with a percentage and the time left, and the break list, markers and Find Scene Changes work while it is made. If the copy fails, ffmpeg's reason is shown and logged.

Scripts: Show-BreakPlayer 1.0.1.

Version 1.10.5 9 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows dashboard: the whole dashboard could close while clicking through break points in the split player. The trace log showed the process ending with no error at all, which is Windows' video playback failing inside the player (no script can catch that). The player now runs as its own program (Show-BreakPlayer.ps1 1.0.0), so only the player closes. Its break points are saved as you go and come back to the dashboard either way. After such a close, the dashboard offers to reopen the player on the small preview copy, which Windows plays more reliably.
• While the player is open, Find / Mark Breaks... shows "Player is open...", and Execute Task for the split tool asks you to finish in the player first.

Version 1.10.4 9 October 2026

Changed

• CSV reports now go in a Reports folder and logs (dashboard_debug / _trace / _error, web_debug) in a Logs folder, both next to the scripts. On start, the dashboards move reports and logs left beside the scripts by earlier versions into these folders.

Fixed

• Windows split player: clicking quickly through the breaks (markers, list lines, N / P) could make the player stop working. Jumps are now spaced at least 150 ms apart; only the latest one is applied, so the frame shown still ends up on the last break clicked. Opening and closing the player is now written to the trace log, so a crash there can be told apart from one elsewhere.

Version 1.10.3 9 October 2026

Changed

• Both dashboards: Output Folder now sits right under Target Media (shown for the merge, blue-screen, split and AAC tools), and File Prefix sits under the Title / Family name row, next to the other naming choices.

Version 1.10.2 9 October 2026

New

• Settings button (top right, both dashboards). FFmpeg Binary and Studio Branding (studio name, title card color, logo) moved there from the main window, which now shows only what changes from job to job. Done or Esc goes back. If a job can't find ffmpeg, the Settings window opens by itself.
• Split tool: the player button is now "Find / Mark Breaks..." (was "Mark in Player..."), since it's also where the suggested breaks come from. When the player opens with no break points yet, Find Scene Changes starts by itself (Normal sensitivity); you can mark your own while it runs. The empty Break Points hint says the same.

Fixed

• File Prefix (and other fields) sometimes came back from a couple of runs ago. All windows of a dashboard share one settings file, and a second window, or one left minimized to the tray, wrote all of its older values back when it closed or changed anything. Each window now writes only the fields changed in it. The browser dashboard also saves each field as it changes, not only when a job starts.

Version 1.10.1 9 October 2026

New

• Split player, both dashboards: a row of markers under the slider / timeline, one per break (yellow = suggested, blue = yours, white = the break shown). Click one to go straight to that break.
• The break the frame shown belongs to is highlighted in the list, so after N, P or a click you can see which one you're on.
• Click a break in the list to go to it: a single click on its line (Windows; was a double-click) or anywhere on its row (browser). In Windows a click on the time also gives the keys back to the player.

Changed

• Windows player: a name typed after "# suggested 23" is moved in front of the note (it used to be read as part of the note and ignored), and Remove Suggestions no longer removes a suggestion that has been named that way.

Version 1.10.0 8 October 2026

New

• Convert-AudioToAac.ps1 (Convert-AudioToAac 1.0.0), in both dashboards: converts the sound in videos to AAC, whatever its format (PCM, FLAC, AC-3, MP2, MP3, ALAC, Opus, DTS ...). The picture is copied untouched; tracks already AAC are copied; files are not renamed (MP4, M4V and MOV keep their extension; AVI, MKV, MTS and the like become MP4, or MOV for DV). Each new file is checked before it is used: the picture must be identical (SHA-256 of every packet, or of every decoded frame for AVCHD), every sound track must decode cleanly, start in step with the picture and be as long as before, and a copy to another drive or the NAS must match by SHA-256. New files go into an AAC folder, or with "Replace the originals" each takes its original's place and the original is deleted, only after every check has passed (the dashboards ask first, and the option isn't remembered). Report: aac_report_*.csv. User Guide section 20; on the Cheat Sheet.

Fixed

• Browser dashboard: rows hidden for the update tool (such as the branding color) could still show.

Version 1.9.6 8 October 2026

Fixed

• Windows dashboard: the progress label said "% of this day" for every tool. It now says "of this file" for the blue-screen, split and other tools, and "of this day" only when merging.

Version 1.9.5 8 October 2026

New

• One-page Cheat Sheet (docs\Media-Toolbox-Cheat-Sheet.html and .pdf, letter size): starting the toolbox, the five steps of every job, which tool to use, the key options, file dates and names, player keys, checking suggested breaks, reports and logs, and common fixes. Linked from the top of the User Guide and the README.

Changed

• User Guide: the dashboard_trace.log description now matches 1.9.2 (keeps history, records jobs and crashes).

Version 1.9.4 8 October 2026

Changed

• Blue-screen and split tools: with File Prefix blank, the prefix comes from the family name, as for merging ("The Smith Family" gives "Smith_"). The family name is now passed whatever the Title setting; it is still shown only on a title card.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.4, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.3.

Version 1.9.3 8 October 2026

New

• File Prefix for the blue-screen and split tools (-Prefix), as for merging: "Smith" gives "Smith_1995-03-26.mp4" or "Smith_1995-03-26 - Part 01.mp4". Blank keeps the original name. The title card and the date still come from the original name.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.3, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.2.

Version 1.9.2 8 October 2026

Changed

• Windows dashboard: dashboard_trace.log now keeps earlier sessions (the newest 2000 lines) instead of starting empty each time, marks each line with the window's process number, and records when a job starts and ends. If the dashboard closes unexpectedly, the error that ended it (even one on a background thread) and the process exit are written there first, so the cause can be found after reopening.

Version 1.9.1 8 October 2026

Fixed

• Blue-screen and split tools: an unexpected error on one file (for example a file locked or removed on a network share, or a permission problem) stopped the whole batch. Now that file is marked FAIL in the log and the CSV report, with the error, and the batch carries on with the next file.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.2.

Version 1.9.0 8 October 2026

New

• Find Scene Changes (Find-SceneChanges 1.0.0), in the split tool's player in both dashboards: reads the whole video once and suggests a break wherever the picture changes suddenly (the camcorder stopped and started, or one recording taped over another). Suggestions land on exact frames and are marked "suggested" for you to check before splitting. Three settings: Fewer, Normal, More; changing it is instant after the first search. Camera flashes and brief dropouts in the middle of a scene are ignored; static between two recordings counts as one change, with the break on the first clean frame after it.
• Player: Break > and < Break (keys N and P) jump from break to break; Move Nearest Break Here (H) nudges a break that is a frame or two off; Remove Suggestions clears the ones you haven't named or moved.
• Break-point lines can carry a note after " #" (Find-SceneChanges writes "# suggested 23").

Fixed

• Windows player window: times were rounded to whole seconds, so frame stepping and Add Break Here would not have worked.

Scripts: Find-SceneChanges 1.0.0, Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.1, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.1.

Version 1.8.0 8 October 2026

New

• Split a video at break points (Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.0): choose the new tool, pick a video, and scrub through it in a player (a window in the Windows dashboard, part of the page in the browser dashboard). Step frame by frame, add a break wherever a new video should start, name the parts, leave out the ones you don't want. Each part becomes its own MP4 ("<name> - 02 Birthday party.mp4") in a Split folder. Breaks land on the exact frame; with Smart cut only the frames up to the next keyframe are re-encoded, and the sound is cut at the same point.
• Videos the player can't play (DV AVI, MPEG-2) get a small preview copy to mark on, frame for frame the same as the original. The original is what gets split.
• Break points can also be typed or pasted (one per line, "00:12:30.5 Birthday party"; "skip" leaves a part out) or given on the command line, and are saved next to the parts as <name>.marks.txt.
• Blue-screen tool: "Split into separate videos at the blue screens" (-Split). Each stretch of picture between the blue screens becomes its own video ("<name> - Part 01.mp4"), cut like a join, with no fades. Moments shorter than 2 seconds between two blue screens are left out (-MinPartSeconds).
• Split parts are dated from the original's date plus the part's start time, so they sort in order. With a title card, each part gets one ("Part 2 of 5", or the part's name as the title).

Changed

• Blue-screen tool: a split, or several parts, share one copy pass of the source, so a long tape on a network share is still read only once.

Scripts: Remove-BlueScreen 1.2.0, Split-VideoAtMarks 1.0.0.

Version 1.7.0 8 October 2026

New

• Title card or overlay for the merge and blue-screen tools (Title: No title / Title card / Overlay text). The card is 4 seconds before the video with the logo, family name, title, date and "Preserved by <studio>"; the sound is delayed by exactly the card's length, so sync is unchanged. The overlay shows the title and date at the lower left of the first 4 seconds. For the blue-screen tool the title comes from the file name; for merging it is the day's date.
• Family name (optional), shown on the title card.
• Merge: with File Prefix blank, the file prefix comes from the family name ("The Smith Family Archives" gives Smith_, "The Smith-Jones Family" gives Smith-Jones_).
• Studio Branding: studio name, card color and logo, saved in branding.json, so other studios can use the toolbox under their own name. The dashboards show the chosen logo too.
• Playfair Display bundled as the title font (or put your own in assets\fonts).
• Donationware license (LICENSE.txt): free to use, not to modify or resell. "Buy me lunch" link in both dashboards.
• README.txt (installing, upgrading, uninstalling) and this change log.

Changed

• New name: Picture Org Media Preservation Toolbox (was Media Automation Toolbox / Media Operations Dashboard).
• Copyright notices in every script and launcher; NOTICE.txt credits FFmpeg, PowerShell and Playfair Display, and the FFmpeg license text is included in bin.
• Bundled PowerShell updated to 7.6.6.
• User Guide: new introduction and requirements; Design Document brought up to date.

Fixed

• The Family name box could only be typed in when Title was set to Title card.

Scripts: Merge-VideosByDate 1.3.0, Remove-BlueScreen 1.1.0.

Version 1.6.0 8 October 2026

New

• Update ffmpeg and PowerShell: "Check for ffmpeg / PowerShell Updates" in the tool list (Update-Toolbox 1.0.0). Downloads are checked against their published checksums; the old versions are kept.
• Several dashboard windows can run jobs at the same time, each with its own log and reports.
• Merge: with Recursive Scan, each sub-folder is treated as its own tape with its own Merged folder.
• Time taken for each file or day, in the log and in a new Time column in the reports (the blue-screen report also breaks it down by step).
• Blue-screen tool: a date at the start of the file name (e.g. 1998-10-25 Halloween.mp4) is written into the output and onto its file dates. Files with no blue get a dated, untouched copy.

Changed

• Blue-screen tool is much faster on network drives: it reads only what it needs and writes the output once.
• Blue-screen edges are exact to the frame.

Scripts: Merge-VideosByDate 1.2.1, Remove-BlueScreen 1.0.4, Update-Toolbox 1.0.0.

Version 1.5.0 8 October 2026

New

• Trim Blue Screen tool (Remove-BlueScreen): removes the VCR blue screen from the start, end and middle of tape captures. Smart cut re-encodes only around each cut and copies the rest untouched; Full re-encode and Copy only are also available.
• Automatic GPU encoding (NVIDIA, Intel or AMD) when available, with the CPU as fallback.

Version 1.4.0 7-8 October 2026

New

• Merge by date tool (Merge-VideosByDate): one MP4 per recording day from AVI/DV captures, NTSC or PAL, dated from the day's first clip. Preview only is on by default.
• Set-MergedVideoDate (command line): dates MP4s that were merged in other software.

Fixed

• A DV clip with no aspect-ratio flag is treated as 4:3 instead of being squeezed.
• A clip that can't be read is left out with a warning; the rest of the day is still made.
• Tape dropout messages are summarised as one line per day.
• A prefix such as "Smith" gets an underscore, giving Smith_2001-12-01 17.08.25.mp4.
• Validator (Test-Mp4Integrity 1.3.2): the harmless "UDTA parsing failed" warning no longer fails a file.

Version 1.3.1 1 October 2026

Fixed

• Browser dashboard: the folder and file choosers open in front of the browser (macOS asks once for permission to control System Events). The Windows chooser got the same fix.

Version 1.3.0 1 October 2026

New

• Browser dashboard (MediaToolboxWeb.ps1) for macOS and Windows, alongside the Windows dashboard, with Launch.command (Mac) and Launch-Web.bat (Windows). It keeps its own settings file.

Version 1.2.2 1 October 2026

Changed

• macOS "._" metadata files are skipped instead of being reported as corrupt video.

Version 1.2.1 1 October 2026

New

• Version number shown in the bottom-right corner of the dashboard.

Version 1.2.0 1 October 2026

New

• User Guide button in the dashboard header, opening the guide from the docs folder.

Version 1.1.0 1 October 2026

New

• First launch asks whether to create a desktop shortcut (with a camera icon from the logo).

Changed

• "Auto-Move Corrupted Files to 'failed'" is ticked on first launch.

Version 1.0.0 1 October 2026

New

• Version numbers in the dashboard, the scripts and the documents.
• Optional logo at the top left of the dashboard (assets\logo.png), also used as the window icon.

Before 1.0.0 1 October 2026

The first day's work, reviewing and finishing the original scripts:

• Dashboard: fixed several bugs; Cancel stops only the ffmpeg it started; the window no longer freezes or errors while a job runs (updates go through a queue); "Deep Analysis" checkbox; settings saved between runs.
• Validator (Test-Mp4Integrity): fixed parse errors and logic bugs; safe with unusual file names; audio clipping detection; live progress lines with percentage and speed; black, freeze and silence findings written as readable lines and included in the CSV report; missing audio is a warning, not a failure.
• Storage manifest (Sync-MediaManifest): fixed frame rate, cover art, missing bitrate, number formats and totals.
• Packaging: bundled ffmpeg, ffprobe and PowerShell with Launch.bat; the dashboard falls back to the bundled ffmpeg and ffprobe and saves paths relative to its folder, so the folder can be moved.
• Troubleshooting: Launch-Debug.bat, dashboard_error.log and dashboard_trace.log.
• Documentation: User Guide, Design Document, and commented scripts with Get-Help.