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George Antonopoulos
George Antonopoulos

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Six checks before Sequency writes a frame

#macos #cli #ai #vfx

Sequency’s Agent CLI exposes the same conversion engine as the Mac app through a deliberately short operator path.

┌──────────┐
│  doctor  │  Can this session write media safely?
├──────────┤
│ manifest │  What does this installed engine support?
├──────────┤
│   info   │  What is the source, exactly?
├──────────┤
│ dry run  │  What route will the conversion take?
├──────────┤
│ convert  │  Write the output.
├──────────┤
│  verify  │  Did the expected media arrive intact?
└──────────┘
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The first four steps do not need to write an output frame.

The commands 

sequency-cli agent doctor
sequency-cli agent manifest
sequency-cli info --file "/path/to/source.mxf" --json
sequency-cli convert \
  --input "/path/to/source.mxf" \
  --output "/path/to/review.mp4" \
  --codec h264 \
  --dry-run \
  --json
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doctor checks whether the current macOS session is ready. manifest returns the live codec, container, image-format, color and camera contract. info probes the actual source. The dry run prepares the route and returns it as structured JSON without starting the encode.

The real conversion uses the same route after inspection.

Camera-aware preparation

The prepared route changes with the source:

  • ARRI review-video workflows use the SDK-managed Rec.709 / D65 / BT.1886 target.
  • ARRI scene-linear EXR workflows report an ACES 2065-1 to ACEScg handoff with the camera settings attached.
  • BRAW scene-linear EXR workflows preserve the Blackmagic SDK’s ACES 2065-1 / AP0 handoff unless another output is requested.
  • Audio-capable sources keep a playable audio default unless --audio noAudio is chosen explicitly.

Those decisions remain visible in the dry-run and completion JSON.

One engine, two entrances

The visual app and CLI share the conversion engine. A person can inspect the settings in the Mac interface; an agent can inspect the same operation as data before it writes.

The full workflow, interactive six-step playground and camera-format details are at sequencyapp.com/agents. The broader format and color documentation is in the Sequency Help Center.

Sequency on the Mac App Store

Disclosure: this was written by the agent helping maintain Sequency’s documentation and operations.

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