feat(encoding parameters): adding support for user provided video encoding parameters (#3455)

* chore(video backend): renaming codec into video_backend in get_safe_default_video_backend()

* feat(pyav utils): adding suport for PyAV encoding parameters validation

* feat(VideoEncoderConfig): creating a VideoEncoderConfig to encapsulate encoding parameters

* feat(VideoEncoderConfig): propagating the VideoEncoderConfig in the codebase

* chore(docs): updating the docs

* feat(metadata): adding encoding parameters in dataset metadata

* fix(concatenation compatibility): adding compatibility check when concatenating video files

* feat(VideoEncoderConfig init): making VideoEncoderConfig more robust and adaptable to multiple backends

* feat(pyav checks): making pyav parameters checks more robust

* chore(duplicate): removing duplicate get_codec_options definition

* test(existing): adapting existing tests

* test(new): adding new tests for encoding related features

* chore(format): fixing formatting issues

* chore(PyAV): cleaning up PyAV utils and encoding parameters checks to stick to the minimun required tooling.

* chore(format): formatting code

* chore(doctrings): updating docstrings

* fix(camera_encoder_config): Removing camera_encoder_config from LeRobotDataset, as it's only required in LeRobotDatasetWriter.

* feat(default values): applying a consistent naming convention for default RGB cameras video encoder parameters

* fix(rollout): propagating VideoEncoderConfig to the latest recording modes

* chore(format): formatting code, fixing error messages and variable names

* fix(arguments order): reverting changes in arguments order in StreamingVideoEncoder

* chore(relative imports): switching to relative local imports within lerobot.datasets

* test(artifacts): cleaning up artifacts for the video encoding tests

* chore(docs): updating docs

* chore(fromat): formatting code

* fix(imports): refactoring the file architecture to avoid circular imports. VideoEncoderConfig is now defined in lerobot.configs and lazily imports av at runtime.

* fix(typos): fixing typos and small mistakes

* test(factories): updating factories

* feat(aggregate): updating dataset aggregation procedure. Encoding tuning paramters (crf, g,...) are ignored for validation and changed to None in the aggregated dataset if incompatible.

* docs(typos): fixing typos

* fix(deletion): reverting unwanted deletion

* fix(typos): fixing multiple typos

* feat(codec options): passing codec options to lerobot_edit_dataset episode deletion tool

* typo(typo): typo

* fix(typos): fixing remaining typos

* chore(rename): renaming camera_encoder_config to camera_encoder

* docs(clean): cleaning and formating docs

* docs(dataset): addind details about datasets

* chore(format): formatting code

* docs(warning): adding warning regarding encoding parameters modification

* fix(re-encoding): removing inconsistent re-encoding option in lerobot_edit_dataset

* typos(typos): typos

* chore(format): resolving prettier issues

* fix(h264_nvenc): fixing crf handling for h264_nvenc

* docs(clean): removing too technical parts of the docs

* fix(imports): fixing imports at the __init__ level

* fix(imports): fixing not very pretty imports in video config file

tests/datasets/test_datasets.py

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from PIL import Image
 from safetensors.torch import load_file
 from torchvision.transforms import v2
 
+from lerobot.configs import VALID_VIDEO_CODECS, VideoEncoderConfig
 from lerobot.configs.default import DatasetConfig
 from lerobot.configs.train import TrainPipelineConfig
 from lerobot.datasets import make_dataset
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@ from lerobot.datasets.utils import (
     DEFAULT_VIDEO_FILE_SIZE_IN_MB,
     create_branch,
 )
-from lerobot.datasets.video_utils import VALID_VIDEO_CODECS
 from lerobot.envs.factory import make_env_config
 from lerobot.policies.factory import make_policy_config
 from lerobot.robots import make_robot_from_config
@@ -1470,17 +1470,9 @@ def test_frames_in_current_file_calculation(tmp_path, empty_lerobot_dataset_fact
 
 
 def test_lerobot_dataset_vcodec_validation():
-    """Test that LeRobotDataset validates the vcodec parameter."""
-    # Test that invalid vcodec raises ValueError
+    """Invalid vcodec in encoder config is rejected at construction time."""
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Invalid vcodec"):
-        LeRobotDataset.__new__(LeRobotDataset)  # bypass __init__ to test validation directly
-        # Actually test via create since it's easier
-        LeRobotDataset.create(
-            repo_id="test/invalid_codec",
-            fps=30,
-            features={"observation.state": {"dtype": "float32", "shape": (2,), "names": ["x", "y"]}},
-            vcodec="invalid_codec",
-        )
+        VideoEncoderConfig(vcodec="invalid_codec")
 
 
 def test_valid_video_codecs_constant():