diff --git a/cmdutils.c b/cmdutils.c
index e7476bbcb3..f2e0651bb9 100644
--- a/cmdutils.c
+++ b/cmdutils.c
@@ -340,6 +340,29 @@ void parse_options(void *optctx, int argc, char **argv, const OptionDef *options
     }
 }
 
+int parse_optgroup(void *optctx, OptionGroup *g)
+{
+    int i, ret;
+
+    av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Parsing a group of options: %s %s.\n",
+           g->group_def->name, g->arg);
+
+    for (i = 0; i < g->nb_opts; i++) {
+        Option *o = &g->opts[i];
+
+        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Applying option %s (%s) with argument %s.\n",
+               o->key, o->opt->help, o->val);
+
+        ret = write_option(optctx, o->opt, o->key, o->val);
+        if (ret < 0)
+            return ret;
+    }
+
+    av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Successfully parsed a group of options.\n");
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 int locate_option(int argc, char **argv, const OptionDef *options,
                   const char *optname)
 {
@@ -416,6 +439,224 @@ int opt_default(void *optctx, const char *opt, const char *arg)
     return AVERROR_OPTION_NOT_FOUND;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Check whether given option is a group separator.
+ *
+ * @return index of the group definition that matched or -1 if none
+ */
+static int match_group_separator(const OptionGroupDef *groups, const char *opt)
+{
+    const OptionGroupDef *p = groups;
+
+    while (p->name) {
+        if (p->sep && !strcmp(p->sep, opt))
+            return p - groups;
+        p++;
+    }
+
+    return -1;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Finish parsing an option group.
+ *
+ * @param group_idx which group definition should this group belong to
+ * @param arg argument of the group delimiting option
+ */
+static void finish_group(OptionParseContext *octx, int group_idx,
+                         const char *arg)
+{
+    OptionGroupList *l = &octx->groups[group_idx];
+    OptionGroup *g;
+
+    GROW_ARRAY(l->groups, l->nb_groups);
+    g = &l->groups[l->nb_groups - 1];
+
+    *g             = octx->cur_group;
+    g->arg         = arg;
+    g->group_def   = l->group_def;
+#if CONFIG_SWSCALE
+    g->sws_opts    = sws_opts;
+#endif
+    g->codec_opts  = codec_opts;
+    g->format_opts = format_opts;
+
+    codec_opts  = NULL;
+    format_opts = NULL;
+#if CONFIG_SWSCALE
+    sws_opts    = NULL;
+#endif
+    init_opts();
+
+    memset(&octx->cur_group, 0, sizeof(octx->cur_group));
+}
+
+/*
+ * Add an option instance to currently parsed group.
+ */
+static void add_opt(OptionParseContext *octx, const OptionDef *opt,
+                    const char *key, const char *val)
+{
+    int global = !(opt->flags & (OPT_PERFILE | OPT_SPEC | OPT_OFFSET));
+    OptionGroup *g = global ? &octx->global_opts : &octx->cur_group;
+
+    GROW_ARRAY(g->opts, g->nb_opts);
+    g->opts[g->nb_opts - 1].opt = opt;
+    g->opts[g->nb_opts - 1].key = key;
+    g->opts[g->nb_opts - 1].val = val;
+}
+
+static void init_parse_context(OptionParseContext *octx,
+                               const OptionGroupDef *groups)
+{
+    static const OptionGroupDef global_group = { "global" };
+    const OptionGroupDef *g = groups;
+    int i;
+
+    memset(octx, 0, sizeof(*octx));
+
+    while (g->name)
+        g++;
+    octx->nb_groups = g - groups;
+    octx->groups    = av_mallocz(sizeof(*octx->groups) * octx->nb_groups);
+    if (!octx->groups)
+        exit(1);
+
+    for (i = 0; i < octx->nb_groups; i++)
+        octx->groups[i].group_def = &groups[i];
+
+    octx->global_opts.group_def = &global_group;
+    octx->global_opts.arg       = "";
+
+    init_opts();
+}
+
+void uninit_parse_context(OptionParseContext *octx)
+{
+    int i, j;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < octx->nb_groups; i++) {
+        OptionGroupList *l = &octx->groups[i];
+
+        for (j = 0; j < l->nb_groups; j++) {
+            av_freep(&l->groups[j].opts);
+            av_dict_free(&l->groups[j].codec_opts);
+            av_dict_free(&l->groups[j].format_opts);
+#if CONFIG_SWSCALE
+            sws_freeContext(l->groups[j].sws_opts);
+#endif
+        }
+        av_freep(&l->groups);
+    }
+    av_freep(&octx->groups);
+
+    av_freep(&octx->cur_group.opts);
+    av_freep(&octx->global_opts.opts);
+
+    uninit_opts();
+}
+
+int split_commandline(OptionParseContext *octx, int argc, char *argv[],
+                      const OptionDef *options,
+                      const OptionGroupDef *groups)
+{
+    int optindex = 1;
+
+    /* perform system-dependent conversions for arguments list */
+    prepare_app_arguments(&argc, &argv);
+
+    init_parse_context(octx, groups);
+    av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Splitting the commandline.\n");
+
+    while (optindex < argc) {
+        const char *opt = argv[optindex++], *arg;
+        const OptionDef *po;
+        int ret;
+
+        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Reading option '%s' ...", opt);
+
+        /* unnamed group separators, e.g. output filename */
+        if (opt[0] != '-' || !opt[1]) {
+            finish_group(octx, 0, opt);
+            av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, " matched as %s.\n", groups[0].name);
+            continue;
+        }
+        opt++;
+
+#define GET_ARG(arg)                                                           \
+do {                                                                           \
+    arg = argv[optindex++];                                                    \
+    if (!arg) {                                                                \
+        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Missing argument for option '%s'.\n", opt);\
+        return AVERROR(EINVAL);                                                \
+    }                                                                          \
+} while (0)
+
+        /* named group separators, e.g. -i */
+        if ((ret = match_group_separator(groups, opt)) >= 0) {
+            GET_ARG(arg);
+            finish_group(octx, ret, arg);
+            av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, " matched as %s with argument '%s'.\n",
+                   groups[ret].name, arg);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        /* normal options */
+        po = find_option(options, opt);
+        if (po->name) {
+            if (po->flags & OPT_EXIT) {
+                /* optional argument, e.g. -h */
+                arg = argv[optindex++];
+            } else if (po->flags & HAS_ARG) {
+                GET_ARG(arg);
+            } else {
+                arg = "1";
+            }
+
+            add_opt(octx, po, opt, arg);
+            av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, " matched as option '%s' (%s) with "
+                   "argument '%s'.\n", po->name, po->help, arg);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        /* AVOptions */
+        if (argv[optindex]) {
+            ret = opt_default(NULL, opt, argv[optindex]);
+            if (ret >= 0) {
+                av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, " matched as AVOption '%s' with "
+                       "argument '%s'.\n", opt, argv[optindex]);
+                optindex++;
+                continue;
+            } else if (ret != AVERROR_OPTION_NOT_FOUND) {
+                av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Error parsing option '%s' "
+                       "with argument '%s'.\n", opt, argv[optindex]);
+                return ret;
+            }
+        }
+
+        /* boolean -nofoo options */
+        if (opt[0] == 'n' && opt[1] == 'o' &&
+            (po = find_option(options, opt + 2)) &&
+            po->name && po->flags & OPT_BOOL) {
+            add_opt(octx, po, opt, "0");
+            av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, " matched as option '%s' (%s) with "
+                   "argument 0.\n", po->name, po->help);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unrecognized option '%s'.\n", opt);
+        return AVERROR_OPTION_NOT_FOUND;
+    }
+
+    if (octx->cur_group.nb_opts || codec_opts || format_opts)
+        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_WARNING, "Trailing options were found on the "
+               "commandline.\n");
+
+    av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Finished splitting the commandline.\n");
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 int opt_loglevel(void *optctx, const char *opt, const char *arg)
 {
     const struct { const char *name; int level; } log_levels[] = {
diff --git a/cmdutils.h b/cmdutils.h
index 8485a8ba61..1af30d7676 100644
--- a/cmdutils.h
+++ b/cmdutils.h
@@ -205,6 +205,94 @@ void parse_options(void *optctx, int argc, char **argv, const OptionDef *options
 int parse_option(void *optctx, const char *opt, const char *arg,
                  const OptionDef *options);
 
+/**
+ * An option extracted from the commandline.
+ * Cannot use AVDictionary because of options like -map which can be
+ * used multiple times.
+ */
+typedef struct Option {
+    const OptionDef  *opt;
+    const char       *key;
+    const char       *val;
+} Option;
+
+typedef struct OptionGroupDef {
+    /**< group name */
+    const char *name;
+    /**
+     * Option to be used as group separator. Can be NULL for groups which
+     * are terminated by a non-option argument (e.g. avconv output files)
+     */
+    const char *sep;
+} OptionGroupDef;
+
+typedef struct OptionGroup {
+    const OptionGroupDef *group_def;
+    const char *arg;
+
+    Option *opts;
+    int  nb_opts;
+
+    AVDictionary *codec_opts;
+    AVDictionary *format_opts;
+    struct SwsContext *sws_opts;
+} OptionGroup;
+
+/**
+ * A list of option groups that all have the same group type
+ * (e.g. input files or output files)
+ */
+typedef struct OptionGroupList {
+    const OptionGroupDef *group_def;
+
+    OptionGroup *groups;
+    int       nb_groups;
+} OptionGroupList;
+
+typedef struct OptionParseContext {
+    OptionGroup global_opts;
+
+    OptionGroupList *groups;
+    int           nb_groups;
+
+    /* parsing state */
+    OptionGroup cur_group;
+} OptionParseContext;
+
+/**
+ * Parse an options group and write results into optctx.
+ *
+ * @param optctx an app-specific options context. NULL for global options group
+ */
+int parse_optgroup(void *optctx, OptionGroup *g);
+
+/**
+ * Split the commandline into an intermediate form convenient for further
+ * processing.
+ *
+ * The commandline is assumed to be composed of options which either belong to a
+ * group (those with OPT_SPEC, OPT_OFFSET or OPT_PERFILE) or are global
+ * (everything else).
+ *
+ * A group (defined by an OptionGroupDef struct) is a sequence of options
+ * terminated by either a group separator option (e.g. -i) or a parameter that
+ * is not an option (doesn't start with -). A group without a separator option
+ * must always be first in the supplied groups list.
+ *
+ * All options within the same group are stored in one OptionGroup struct in an
+ * OptionGroupList, all groups with the same group definition are stored in one
+ * OptionGroupList in OptionParseContext.groups. The order of group lists is the
+ * same as the order of group definitions.
+ */
+int split_commandline(OptionParseContext *octx, int argc, char *argv[],
+                      const OptionDef *options,
+                      const OptionGroupDef *groups);
+
+/**
+ * Free all allocated memory in an OptionParseContext.
+ */
+void uninit_parse_context(OptionParseContext *octx);
+
 /**
  * Find the '-loglevel' option in the command line args and apply it.
  */