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FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)
NAME
ffmpeg - ffmpeg video converter
SYNOPSIS
ffmpeg [global_options] {[input_file_options] -i input_url} ... {[output_file_options] output_url} ...
DESCRIPTION
ffmpeg is a very fast video and audio converter that can also grab from a live audio/video source. It can also convert
between arbitrary sample rates and resize video on the fly with a high quality polyphase filter.
ffmpeg reads from an arbitrary number of input "files" (which can be regular files, pipes, network streams, grabbing
devices, etc.), specified by the "-i" option, and writes to an arbitrary number of output "files", which are specified by a
plain output url. Anything found on the command line which cannot be interpreted as an option is considered to be an output
url.
Each input or output url can, in principle, contain any number of streams of different types
(video/audio/subtitle/attachment/data). The allowed number and/or types of streams may be limited by the container format.
Selecting which streams from which inputs will go into which output is either done automatically or with the "-map" option
(see the Stream selection chapter).
To refer to input files in options, you must use their indices (0-based). E.g. the first input file is 0, the second is 1,
etc. Similarly, streams within a file are referred to by their indices. E.g. "2:3" refers to the fourth stream in the third
input file. Also see the Stream specifiers chapter.
As a general rule, options are applied to the next specified file. Therefore, order is important, and you can have the same
option on the command line multiple times. Each occurrence is then applied to the next input or output file. Exceptions
from this rule are the global options (e.g. verbosity level), which should be specified first.
Do not mix input and output files -- first specify all input files, then all output files. Also do not mix options which
belong to different files. All options apply ONLY to the next input or output file and are reset between files.
• To set the video bitrate of the output file to 64 kbit/s:
ffmpeg -i input.avi -b:v 64k -bufsize 64k output.avi
• To force the frame rate of the output file to 24 fps:
ffmpeg -i input.avi -r 24 output.avi
• To force the frame rate of the input file (valid for raw formats only) to 1 fps and the frame rate of the output file
to 24 fps:
ffmpeg -r 1 -i input.m2v -r 24 output.avi
The format option may be needed for raw input files.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The transcoding process in ffmpeg for each output can be described by the following diagram:
_______ ______________
| | | |
| input | demuxer | encoded data | decoder
| file | ---------> | packets | -----+
|_______| |______________| |
v
_________
| |
| decoded |
| frames |
|_________|
________ ______________ |
| | | | |
| output | <-------- | encoded data | <----+
| file | muxer | packets | encoder
|________| |______________|
ffmpeg calls the libavformat library (containing demuxers) to read input files and get packets containing encoded data from
them. When there are multiple input files, ffmpeg tries to keep them synchronized by tracking lowest timestamp on any
active input stream.
Encoded packets are then passed to the decoder (unless streamcopy is selected for the stream, see further for a
description). The decoder produces uncompressed frames (raw video/PCM audio/...) which can be processed further by
filtering (see next section). After filtering, the frames are passed to the encoder, which encodes them and outputs encoded
packets. Finally those are passed to the muxer, which writes the encoded packets to the output file.
Filtering
Before encoding, ffmpeg can process raw audio and video frames using filters from the libavfilter library. Several chained
filters form a filter graph. ffmpeg distinguishes between two types of filtergraphs: simple and complex.
Simple filtergraphs
Simple filtergraphs are those that have exactly one input and output, both of the same type. In the above diagram they can
be represented by simply inserting an additional step between decoding and encoding:
_________ ______________
| | | |
| decoded | | encoded data |
| frames |\ _ | packets |
|_________| \ /||______________|
\ __________ /
simple _\|| | / encoder
filtergraph | filtered |/
| frames |
|__________|
Simple filtergraphs are configured with the per-stream -filter option (with -vf and -af aliases for video and audio
respectively). A simple filtergraph for video can look for example like this:
_______ _____________ _______ ________
| | | | | | | |
| input | ---> | deinterlace | ---> | scale | ---> | output |
|_______| |_____________| |_______| |________|
Note that some filters change frame properties but not frame contents. E.g. the "fps" filter in the example above changes
number of frames, but does not touch the frame contents. Another example is the "setpts" filter, which only sets timestamps
and otherwise passes the frames unchanged.
Complex filtergraphs
Complex filtergraphs are those which cannot be described as simply a linear processing chain applied to one stream. This is
the case, for example, when the graph has more than one input and/or output, or when output stream type is different from
input. They can be represented with the following diagram:
_________
| |
| input 0 |\ __________
|_________| \ | |
\ _________ /| output 0 |
\ | | / |__________|
_________ \| complex | /
| | | |/
| input 1 |---->| filter |\
|_________| | | \ __________
/| graph | \ | |
/ | | \| output 1 |
_________ / |_________| |__________|
| | /
| input 2 |/
|_________|
Complex filtergraphs are configured with the -filter_complex option. Note that this option is global, since a complex
filtergraph, by its nature, cannot be unambiguously associated with a single stream or file.
The -lavfi option is equivalent to -filter_complex.
A trivial example of a complex filtergraph is the "overlay" filter, which has two video inputs and one video output,
containing one video overlaid on top of the other. Its audio counterpart is the "amix" filter.
Stream copy
Stream copy is a mode selected by supplying the "copy" parameter to the -codec option. It makes ffmpeg omit the decoding
and encoding step for the specified stream, so it does only demuxing and muxing. It is useful for changing the container
format or modifying container-level metadata. The diagram above will, in this case, simplify to this:
_______ ______________ ________
| | | | | |
| input | demuxer | encoded data | muxer | output |
| file | ---------> | packets | -------> | file |
|_______| |______________| |________|
Since there is no decoding or encoding, it is very fast and there is no quality loss. However, it might not work in some
cases because of many factors. Applying filters is obviously also impossible, since filters work on uncompressed data.
STREAM SELECTION
ffmpeg provides the "-map" option for manual control of stream selection in each output file. Users can skip "-map" and let
ffmpeg perform automatic stream selection as described below. The "-vn / -an / -sn / -dn" options can be used to skip
inclusion of video, audio, subtitle and data streams respectively, whether manually mapped or automatically selected,
except for those streams which are outputs of complex filtergraphs.
Description
The sub-sections that follow describe the various rules that are involved in stream selection. The examples that follow
next show how these rules are applied in practice.
While every effort is made to accurately reflect the behavior of the program, FFmpeg is under continuous development and
the code may have changed since the time of this writing.
Automatic stream selection
In the absence of any map options for a particular output file, ffmpeg inspects the output format to check which type of
streams can be included in it, viz. video, audio and/or subtitles. For each acceptable stream type, ffmpeg will pick one
stream, when available, from among all the inputs.
It will select that stream based upon the following criteria:
• for video, it is the stream with the highest resolution,
• for audio, it is the stream with the most channels,
• for subtitles, it is the first subtitle stream found but there's a caveat. The output format's default subtitle
encoder can be either text-based or image-based, and only a subtitle stream of the same type will be chosen.
In the case where several streams of the same type rate equally, the stream with the lowest index is chosen.
Data or attachment streams are not automatically selected and can only be included using "-map".
Manual stream selection
When "-map" is used, only user-mapped streams are included in that output file, with one possible exception for filtergraph
outputs described below.
Complex filtergraphs
If there are any complex filtergraph output streams with unlabeled pads, they will be added to the first output file. This
will lead to a fatal error if the stream type is not supported by the output format. In the absence of the map option, the
inclusion of these streams leads to the automatic stream selection of their types being skipped. If map options are
present, these filtergraph streams are included in addition to the mapped streams.
Complex filtergraph output streams with labeled pads must be mapped once and exactly once.
Stream handling
Stream handling is independent of stream selection, with an exception for subtitles described below. Stream handling is set
via the "-codec" option addressed to streams within a specific output file. In particular, codec options are applied by
ffmpeg after the stream selection process and thus do not influence the latter. If no "-codec" option is specified for a
stream type, ffmpeg will select the default encoder registered by the output file muxer.
An exception exists for subtitles. If a subtitle encoder is specified for an output file, the first subtitle stream found
of any type, text or image, will be included. ffmpeg does not validate if the specified encoder can convert the selected
stream or if the converted stream is acceptable within the output format. This applies generally as well: when the user
sets an encoder manually, the stream selection process cannot check if the encoded stream can be muxed into the output
file. If it cannot, ffmpeg will abort and all output files will fail to be processed.
Examples
The following examples illustrate the behavior, quirks and limitations of ffmpeg's stream selection methods.
They assume the following three input files.
input file 'A.avi'
stream 0: video 640x360
stream 1: audio 2 channels
input file 'B.mp4'
stream 0: video 1920x1080
stream 1: audio 2 channels
stream 2: subtitles (text)
stream 3: audio 5.1 channels
stream 4: subtitles (text)
input file 'C.mkv'
stream 0: video 1280x720
stream 1: audio 2 channels
stream 2: subtitles (image)
Example: automatic stream selection
ffmpeg -i A.avi -i B.mp4 out1.mkv out2.wav -map 1:a -c:a copy out3.mov
There are three output files specified, and for the first two, no "-map" options are set, so ffmpeg will select streams for
these two files automatically.
out1.mkv is a Matroska container file and accepts video, audio and subtitle streams, so ffmpeg will try to select one of
each type.For video, it will select "stream 0" from B.mp4, which has the highest resolution among all the input video
streams.For audio, it will select "stream 3" from B.mp4, since it has the greatest number of channels.For subtitles, it
will select "stream 2" from B.mp4, which is the first subtitle stream from among A.avi and B.mp4.
out2.wav accepts only audio streams, so only "stream 3" from B.mp4 is selected.
For out3.mov, since a "-map" option is set, no automatic stream selection will occur. The "-map 1:a" option will select all
audio streams from the second input B.mp4. No other streams will be included in this output file.
For the first two outputs, all included streams will be transcoded. The encoders chosen will be the default ones registered
by each output format, which may not match the codec of the selected input streams.
For the third output, codec option for audio streams has been set to "copy", so no decoding-filtering-encoding operations
will occur, or can occur. Packets of selected streams shall be conveyed from the input file and muxed within the output
file.
Example: automatic subtitles selection
ffmpeg -i C.mkv out1.mkv -c:s dvdsub -an out2.mkv
Although out1.mkv is a Matroska container file which accepts subtitle streams, only a video and audio stream shall be
selected. The subtitle stream of C.mkv is image-based and the default subtitle encoder of the Matroska muxer is text-based,
so a transcode operation for the subtitles is expected to fail and hence the stream isn't selected. However, in out2.mkv, a
subtitle encoder is specified in the command and so, the subtitle stream is selected, in addition to the video stream. The
presence of "-an" disables audio stream selection for out2.mkv.
Example: unlabeled filtergraph outputs
ffmpeg -i A.avi -i C.mkv -i B.mp4 -filter_complex "overlay" out1.mp4 out2.srt
A filtergraph is setup here using the "-filter_complex" option and consists of a single video filter. The "overlay" filter
requires exactly two video inputs, but none are specified, so the first two available video streams are used, those of
A.avi and C.mkv. The output pad of the filter has no label and so is sent to the first output file out1.mp4. Due to this,
automatic selection of the video stream is skipped, which would have selected the stream in B.mp4. The audio stream with
most channels viz. "stream 3" in B.mp4, is chosen automatically. No subtitle stream is chosen however, since the MP4 format
has no default subtitle encoder registered, and the user hasn't specified a subtitle encoder.
The 2nd output file, out2.srt, only accepts text-based subtitle streams. So, even though the first subtitle stream
available belongs to C.mkv, it is image-based and hence skipped. The selected stream, "stream 2" in B.mp4, is the first
text-based subtitle stream.
Example: labeled filtergraph outputs
ffmpeg -i A.avi -i B.mp4 -i C.mkv -filter_complex "[1:v]hue=s=0[outv];overlay;aresample" \
-map '[outv]' -an out1.mp4 \
out2.mkv \
-map '[outv]' -map 1:a:0 out3.mkv
The above command will fail, as the output pad labelled "[outv]" has been mapped twice. None of the output files shall be
processed.
ffmpeg -i A.avi -i B.mp4 -i C.mkv -filter_complex "[1:v]hue=s=0[outv];overlay;aresample" \
-an out1.mp4 \
out2.mkv \
-map 1:a:0 out3.mkv
This command above will also fail as the hue filter output has a label, "[outv]", and hasn't been mapped anywhere.
The command should be modified as follows,
ffmpeg -i A.avi -i B.mp4 -i C.mkv -filter_complex "[1:v]hue=s=0,split=2[outv1][outv2];overlay;aresample" \
-map '[outv1]' -an out1.mp4 \
out2.mkv \
-map '[outv2]' -map 1:a:0 out3.mkv
The video stream from B.mp4 is sent to the hue filter, whose output is cloned once using the split filter, and both outputs
labelled. Then a copy each is mapped to the first and third output files.
The overlay filter, requiring two video inputs, uses the first two unused video streams. Those are the streams from A.avi
and C.mkv. The overlay output isn't labelled, so it is sent to the first output file out1.mp4, regardless of the presence
of the "-map" option.
The aresample filter is sent the first unused audio stream, that of A.avi. Since this filter output is also unlabelled, it
too is mapped to the first output file. The presence of "-an" only suppresses automatic or manual stream selection of audio
streams, not outputs sent from filtergraphs. Both these mapped streams shall be ordered before the mapped stream in
out1.mp4.
The video, audio and subtitle streams mapped to "out2.mkv" are entirely determined by automatic stream selection.
out3.mkv consists of the cloned video output from the hue filter and the first audio stream from B.mp4.
OPTIONS
All the numerical options, if not specified otherwise, accept a string representing a number as input, which may be
followed by one of the SI unit prefixes, for example: 'K', 'M', or 'G'.
If 'i' is appended to the SI unit prefix, the complete prefix will be interpreted as a unit prefix for binary multiples,
which are based on powers of 1024 instead of powers of 1000. Appending 'B' to the SI unit prefix multiplies the value by 8.
This allows using, for example: 'KB', 'MiB', 'G' and 'B' as number suffixes.
Options which do not take arguments are boolean options, and set the corresponding value to true. They can be set to false
by prefixing the option name with "no". For example using "-nofoo" will set the boolean option with name "foo" to false.
Stream specifiers
Some options are applied per-stream, e.g. bitrate or codec. Stream specifiers are used to precisely specify which stream(s)
a given option belongs to.
A stream specifier is a string generally appended to the option name and separated from it by a colon. E.g. "-codec:a:1
ac3" contains the "a:1" stream specifier, which matches the second audio stream. Therefore, it would select the ac3 codec
for the second audio stream.
A stream specifier can match several streams, so that the option is applied to all of them. E.g. the stream specifier in
"-b:a 128k" matches all audio streams.
An empty stream specifier matches all streams. For example, "-codec copy" or "-codec: copy" would copy all the streams
without reencoding.
Possible forms of stream specifiers are:
stream_index
Matches the stream with this index. E.g. "-threads:1 4" would set the thread count for the second stream to 4. If
stream_index is used as an additional stream specifier (see below), then it selects stream number stream_index from the
matching streams. Stream numbering is based on the order of the streams as detected by libavformat except when a
program ID is also specified. In this case it is based on the ordering of the streams in the program.
stream_type[:additional_stream_specifier]
stream_type is one of following: 'v' or 'V' for video, 'a' for audio, 's' for subtitle, 'd' for data, and 't' for
attachments. 'v' matches all video streams, 'V' only matches video streams which are not attached pictures, video
thumbnails or cover arts. If additional_stream_specifier is used, then it matches streams which both have this type and
match the additional_stream_specifier. Otherwise, it matches all streams of the specified type.
p:program_id[:additional_stream_specifier]
Matches streams which are in the program with the id program_id. If additional_stream_specifier is used, then it
matches streams which both are part of the program and match the additional_stream_specifier.
#stream_id or i:stream_id
Match the stream by stream id (e.g. PID in MPEG-TS container).
m:key[:value]
Matches streams with the metadata tag key having the specified value. If value is not given, matches streams that
contain the given tag with any value.
u Matches streams with usable configuration, the codec must be defined and the essential information such as video
dimension or audio sample rate must be present.
Note that in ffmpeg, matching by metadata will only work properly for input files.
Generic options
These options are shared amongst the ff* tools.
-L Show license.
-h, -?, -help, --help [arg]
Show help. An optional parameter may be specified to print help about a specific item. If no argument is specified,
only basic (non advanced) tool options are shown.
Possible values of arg are:
long
Print advanced tool options in addition to the basic tool options.
full
Print complete list of options, including shared and private options for encoders, decoders, demuxers, muxers,
filters, etc.
decoder=decoder_name
Print detailed information about the decoder named decoder_name. Use the -decoders option to get a list of all
decoders.
encoder=encoder_name
Print detailed information about the encoder named encoder_name. Use the -encoders option to get a list of all
encoders.
demuxer=demuxer_name
Print detailed information about the demuxer named demuxer_name. Use the -formats option to get a list of all
demuxers and muxers.
muxer=muxer_name
Print detailed information about the muxer named muxer_name. Use the -formats option to get a list of all muxers
and demuxers.
filter=filter_name
Print detailed information about the filter named filter_name. Use the -filters option to get a list of all
filters.
bsf=bitstream_filter_name
Print detailed information about the bitstream filter named bitstream_filter_name. Use the -bsfs option to get a
list of all bitstream filters.
protocol=protocol_name
Print detailed information about the protocol named protocol_name. Use the -protocols option to get a list of all
protocols.
-version
Show version.
-buildconf
Show the build configuration, one option per line.
-formats
Show available formats (including devices).
-demuxers
Show available demuxers.
-muxers
Show available muxers.
-devices
Show available devices.
-codecs
Show all codecs known to libavcodec.
Note that the term 'codec' is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut for what is more correctly called a
media bitstream format.
-decoders
Show available decoders.
-encoders
Show all available encoders.
-bsfs
Show available bitstream filters.
-protocols
Show available protocols.
-filters
Show available libavfilter filters.
-pix_fmts
Show available pixel formats.
-sample_fmts
Show available sample formats.
-layouts
Show channel names and standard channel layouts.
-dispositions
Show stream dispositions.
-colors
Show recognized color names.
-sources device[,opt1=val1[,opt2=val2]...]
Show autodetected sources of the input device. Some devices may provide system-dependent source names that cannot be
autodetected. The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
ffmpeg -sources pulse,server=192.168.0.4
-sinks device[,opt1=val1[,opt2=val2]...]
Show autodetected sinks of the output device. Some devices may provide system-dependent sink names that cannot be
autodetected. The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
ffmpeg -sinks pulse,server=192.168.0.4
-loglevel [flags+]loglevel | -v [flags+]loglevel
Set logging level and flags used by the library.
The optional flags prefix can consist of the following values:
repeat
Indicates that repeated log output should not be compressed to the first line and the "Last message repeated n
times" line will be omitted.
level
Indicates that log output should add a "[level]" prefix to each message line. This can be used as an alternative to
log coloring, e.g. when dumping the log to file.
Flags can also be used alone by adding a '+'/'-' prefix to set/reset a single flag without affecting other flags or
changing loglevel. When setting both flags and loglevel, a '+' separator is expected between the last flags value and
before loglevel.
loglevel is a string or a number containing one of the following values:
quiet, -8
Show nothing at all; be silent.
panic, 0
Only show fatal errors which could lead the process to crash, such as an assertion failure. This is not currently
used for anything.
fatal, 8
Only show fatal errors. These are errors after which the process absolutely cannot continue.
error, 16
Show all errors, including ones which can be recovered from.
warning, 24
Show all warnings and errors. Any message related to possibly incorrect or unexpected events will be shown.
info, 32
Show informative messages during processing. This is in addition to warnings and errors. This is the default value.
verbose, 40
Same as "info", except more verbose.
debug, 48
Show everything, including debugging information.
trace, 56
For example to enable repeated log output, add the "level" prefix, and set loglevel to "verbose":
ffmpeg -loglevel repeat+level+verbose -i input output
Another example that enables repeated log output without affecting current state of "level" prefix flag or loglevel:
ffmpeg [...] -loglevel +repeat
By default the program logs to stderr. If coloring is supported by the terminal, colors are used to mark errors and
warnings. Log coloring can be disabled setting the environment variable AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR, or can be forced setting
the environment variable AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR.
-report
Dump full command line and log output to a file named "program-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.log" in the current directory. This
file can be useful for bug reports. It also implies "-loglevel debug".
Setting the environment variable FFREPORT to any value has the same effect. If the value is a ':'-separated key=value
sequence, these options will affect the report; option values must be escaped if they contain special characters or the
options delimiter ':' (see the ``Quoting and escaping'' section in the ffmpeg-utils manual).
The following options are recognized:
file
set the file name to use for the report; %p is expanded to the name of the program, %t is expanded to a timestamp,
"%%" is expanded to a plain "%"
level
set the log verbosity level using a numerical value (see "-loglevel").
For example, to output a report to a file named ffreport.log using a log level of 32 (alias for log level "info"):
FFREPORT=file=ffreport.log:level=32 ffmpeg -i input output
Errors in parsing the environment variable are not fatal, and will not appear in the report.
-hide_banner
Suppress printing banner.
All FFmpeg tools will normally show a copyright notice, build options and library versions. This option can be used to
suppress printing this information.
-cpuflags flags (global)
Allows setting and clearing cpu flags. This option is intended for testing. Do not use it unless you know what you're
doing.
ffmpeg -cpuflags -sse+mmx ...
ffmpeg -cpuflags mmx ...
ffmpeg -cpuflags 0 ...
Possible flags for this option are:
x86
mmx
mmxext
sse
sse2
sse2slow
sse3
sse3slow
ssse3
atom
sse4.1
sse4.2
avx
avx2
xop
fma3
fma4
3dnow
3dnowext
bmi1
bmi2
cmov
ARM
armv5te
armv6
armv6t2
vfp
vfpv3
neon
setend
AArch64
armv8
vfp
neon
PowerPC
altivec
Specific Processors
pentium2
pentium3
pentium4
k6
k62
athlon
athlonxp
k8
-cpucount count (global)
Override detection of CPU count. This option is intended for testing. Do not use it unless you know what you're doing.
ffmpeg -cpucount 2
-max_alloc bytes
Set the maximum size limit for allocating a block on the heap by ffmpeg's family of malloc functions. Exercise extreme
caution when using this option. Don't use if you do not understand the full consequence of doing so. Default is
INT_MAX.
AVOptions
These options are provided directly by the libavformat, libavdevice and libavcodec libraries. To see the list of available
AVOptions, use the -help option. They are separated into two categories:
generic
These options can be set for any container, codec or device. Generic options are listed under AVFormatContext options
for containers/devices and under AVCodecContext options for codecs.
private
These options are specific to the given container, device or codec. Private options are listed under their
corresponding containers/devices/codecs.
For example to write an ID3v2.3 header instead of a default ID3v2.4 to an MP3 file, use the id3v2_version private option of
the MP3 muxer:
ffmpeg -i input.flac -id3v2_version 3 out.mp3
All codec AVOptions are per-stream, and thus a stream specifier should be attached to them:
ffmpeg -i multichannel.mxf -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0 -map 0:a:0 -c:a:0 ac3 -b:a:0 640k -ac:a:1 2 -c:a:1 aac -b:2 128k out.mp4
In the above example, a multichannel audio stream is mapped twice for output. The first instance is encoded with codec ac3
and bitrate 640k. The second instance is downmixed to 2 channels and encoded with codec aac. A bitrate of 128k is
specified for it using absolute index of the output stream.
Note: the -nooption syntax cannot be used for boolean AVOptions, use -option 0/-option 1.
Note: the old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by prepending v/a/s to the options name is now obsolete
and will be removed soon.
Main options
-f fmt (input/output)
Force input or output file format. The format is normally auto detected for input files and guessed from the file
extension for output files, so this option is not needed in most cases.
-i url (input)
input file url
-y (global)
Overwrite output files without asking.
-n (global)
Do not overwrite output files, and exit immediately if a specified output file already exists.
-stream_loop number (input)
Set number of times input stream shall be looped. Loop 0 means no loop, loop -1 means infinite loop.
-recast_media (global)
Allow forcing a decoder of a different media type than the one detected or designated by the demuxer. Useful for
decoding media data muxed as data streams.
-c[:stream_specifier] codec (input/output,per-stream)
-codec[:stream_specifier] codec (input/output,per-stream)
Select an encoder (when used before an output file) or a decoder (when used before an input file) for one or more
streams. codec is the name of a decoder/encoder or a special value "copy" (output only) to indicate that the stream is
not to be re-encoded.
For example
ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -c:v libx264 -c:a copy OUTPUT
encodes all video streams with libx264 and copies all audio streams.
For each stream, the last matching "c" option is applied, so
ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -c copy -c:v:1 libx264 -c:a:137 libvorbis OUTPUT
will copy all the streams except the second video, which will be encoded with libx264, and the 138th audio, which will
be encoded with libvorbis.
-t duration (input/output)
When used as an input option (before "-i"), limit the duration of data read from the input file.
When used as an output option (before an output url), stop writing the output after its duration reaches duration.
duration must be a time duration specification, see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual.
-to and -t are mutually exclusive and -t has priority.
-to position (input/output)
Stop writing the output or reading the input at position. position must be a time duration specification, see the Time
duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual.
-to and -t are mutually exclusive and -t has priority.
-fs limit_size (output)
Set the file size limit, expressed in bytes. No further chunk of bytes is written after the limit is exceeded. The size
of the output file is slightly more than the requested file size.
-ss position (input/output)
When used as an input option (before "-i"), seeks in this input file to position. Note that in most formats it is not
possible to seek exactly, so ffmpeg will seek to the closest seek point before position. When transcoding and
-accurate_seek is enabled (the default), this extra segment between the seek point and position will be decoded and
discarded. When doing stream copy or when -noaccurate_seek is used, it will be preserved.
When used as an output option (before an output url), decodes but discards input until the timestamps reach position.
position must be a time duration specification, see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual.
-sseof position (input)
Like the "-ss" option but relative to the "end of file". That is negative values are earlier in the file, 0 is at EOF.
-isync input_index (input)
Assign an input as a sync source.
This will take the difference between the start times of the target and reference inputs and offset the timestamps of
the target file by that difference. The source timestamps of the two inputs should derive from the same clock source
for expected results. If "copyts" is set then "start_at_zero" must also be set. If either of the inputs has no starting
timestamp then no sync adjustment is made.
Acceptable values are those that refer to a valid ffmpeg input index. If the sync reference is the target index itself
or -1, then no adjustment is made to target timestamps. A sync reference may not itself be synced to any other input.
Default value is -1.
-itsoffset offset (input)
Set the input time offset.
offset must be a time duration specification, see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual.
The offset is added to the timestamps of the input files. Specifying a positive offset means that the corresponding
streams are delayed by the time duration specified in offset.
-itsscale scale (input,per-stream)
Rescale input timestamps. scale should be a floating point number.
-timestamp date (output)
Set the recording timestamp in the container.
date must be a date specification, see the Date section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual.
-metadata[:metadata_specifier] key=value (output,per-metadata)
Set a metadata key/value pair.
An optional metadata_specifier may be given to set metadata on streams, chapters or programs. See "-map_metadata"
documentation for details.
This option overrides metadata set with "-map_metadata". It is also possible to delete metadata by using an empty
value.
For example, for setting the title in the output file:
ffmpeg -i in.avi -metadata title="my title" out.flv
To set the language of the first audio stream:
ffmpeg -i INPUT -metadata:s:a:0 language=eng OUTPUT
-disposition[:stream_specifier] value (output,per-stream)
Sets the disposition for a stream.
By default, the disposition is copied from the input stream, unless the output stream this option applies to is fed by
a complex filtergraph - in that case the disposition is unset by default.
value is a sequence of items separated by '+' or '-'. The first item may also be prefixed with '+' or '-', in which
case this option modifies the default value. Otherwise (the first item is not prefixed) this options overrides the
default value. A '+' prefix adds the given disposition, '-' removes it. It is also possible to clear the disposition by
setting it to 0.
If no "-disposition" options were specified for an output file, ffmpeg will automatically set the 'default' disposition
on the first stream of each type, when there are multiple streams of this type in the output file and no stream of that
type is already marked as default.
The "-dispositions" option lists the known dispositions.
For example, to make the second audio stream the default stream:
ffmpeg -i in.mkv -c copy -disposition:a:1 default out.mkv
To make the second subtitle stream the default stream and remove the default disposition from the first subtitle
stream:
ffmpeg -i in.mkv -c copy -disposition:s:0 0 -disposition:s:1 default out.mkv
To add an embedded cover/thumbnail:
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -i IMAGE -map 0 -map 1 -c copy -c:v:1 png -disposition:v:1 attached_pic out.mp4
Not all muxers support embedded thumbnails, and those who do, only support a few formats, like JPEG or PNG.
-program [title=title:][program_num=program_num:]st=stream[:st=stream...] (output)
Creates a program with the specified title, program_num and adds the specified stream(s) to it.
-target type (output)
Specify target file type ("vcd", "svcd", "dvd", "dv", "dv50"). type may be prefixed with "pal-", "ntsc-" or "film-" to
use the corresponding standard. All the format options (bitrate, codecs, buffer sizes) are then set automatically. You
can just type:
ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd /tmp/vcd.mpg
Nevertheless you can specify additional options as long as you know they do not conflict with the standard, as in:
ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd -bf 2 /tmp/vcd.mpg
The parameters set for each target are as follows.
VCD
<pal>:
-f vcd -muxrate 1411200 -muxpreload 0.44 -packetsize 2324
-s 352x288 -r 25
-codec:v mpeg1video -g 15 -b:v 1150k -maxrate:v 1150k -minrate:v 1150k -bufsize:v 327680
-ar 44100 -ac 2
-codec:a mp2 -b:a 224k
<ntsc>:
-f vcd -muxrate 1411200 -muxpreload 0.44 -packetsize 2324
-s 352x240 -r 30000/1001
-codec:v mpeg1video -g 18 -b:v 1150k -maxrate:v 1150k -minrate:v 1150k -bufsize:v 327680
-ar 44100 -ac 2
-codec:a mp2 -b:a 224k
<film>:
-f vcd -muxrate 1411200 -muxpreload 0.44 -packetsize 2324
-s 352x240 -r 24000/1001
-codec:v mpeg1video -g 18 -b:v 1150k -maxrate:v 1150k -minrate:v 1150k -bufsize:v 327680
-ar 44100 -ac 2
-codec:a mp2 -b:a 224k
SVCD
<pal>:
-f svcd -packetsize 2324
-s 480x576 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 25
-codec:v mpeg2video -g 15 -b:v 2040k -maxrate:v 2516k -minrate:v 0 -bufsize:v 1835008 -scan_offset 1
-ar 44100
-codec:a mp2 -b:a 224k
<ntsc>:
-f svcd -packetsize 2324
-s 480x480 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 30000/1001
-codec:v mpeg2video -g 18 -b:v 2040k -maxrate:v 2516k -minrate:v 0 -bufsize:v 1835008 -scan_offset 1
-ar 44100
-codec:a mp2 -b:a 224k
<film>:
-f svcd -packetsize 2324
-s 480x480 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 24000/1001
-codec:v mpeg2video -g 18 -b:v 2040k -maxrate:v 2516k -minrate:v 0 -bufsize:v 1835008 -scan_offset 1
-ar 44100
-codec:a mp2 -b:a 224k
DVD
<pal>:
-f dvd -muxrate 10080k -packetsize 2048
-s 720x576 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 25
-codec:v mpeg2video -g 15 -b:v 6000k -maxrate:v 9000k -minrate:v 0 -bufsize:v 1835008
-ar 48000
-codec:a ac3 -b:a 448k
<ntsc>:
-f dvd -muxrate 10080k -packetsize 2048
-s 720x480 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 30000/1001
-codec:v mpeg2video -g 18 -b:v 6000k -maxrate:v 9000k -minrate:v 0 -bufsize:v 1835008
-ar 48000
-codec:a ac3 -b:a 448k
<film>:
-f dvd -muxrate 10080k -packetsize 2048
-s 720x480 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 24000/1001
-codec:v mpeg2video -g 18 -b:v 6000k -maxrate:v 9000k -minrate:v 0 -bufsize:v 1835008
-ar 48000
-codec:a ac3 -b:a 448k
DV
<pal>:
-f dv
-s 720x576 -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 25
-ar 48000 -ac 2
<ntsc>:
-f dv
-s 720x480 -pix_fmt yuv411p -r 30000/1001
-ar 48000 -ac 2
<film>:
-f dv
-s 720x480 -pix_fmt yuv411p -r 24000/1001
-ar 48000 -ac 2
The "dv50" target is identical to the "dv" target except that the pixel format set is "yuv422p" for all three
standards.
Any user-set value for a parameter above will override the target preset value. In that case, the output may not comply
with the target standard.
-dn (input/output)
As an input option, blocks all data streams of a file from being filtered or being automatically selected or mapped for
any output. See "-discard" option to disable streams individually.
As an output option, disables data recording i.e. automatic selection or mapping of any data stream. For full manual
control see the "-map" option.
-dframes number (output)
Set the number of data frames to output. This is an obsolete alias for "-frames:d", which you should use instead.
-frames[:stream_specifier] framecount (output,per-stream)
Stop writing to the stream after framecount frames.
-q[:stream_specifier] q (output,per-stream)
-qscale[:stream_specifier] q (output,per-stream)
Use fixed quality scale (VBR). The meaning of q/qscale is codec-dependent. If qscale is used without a
stream_specifier then it applies only to the video stream, this is to maintain compatibility with previous behavior and
as specifying the same codec specific value to 2 different codecs that is audio and video generally is not what is
intended when no stream_specifier is used.
-filter[:stream_specifier] filtergraph (output,per-stream)
Create the filtergraph specified by filtergraph and use it to filter the stream.
filtergraph is a description of the filtergraph to apply to the stream, and must have a single input and a single
output of the same type of the stream. In the filtergraph, the input is associated to the label "in", and the output to
the label "out". See the ffmpeg-filters manual for more information about the filtergraph syntax.
See the -filter_complex option if you want to create filtergraphs with multiple inputs and/or outputs.
-filter_script[:stream_specifier] filename (output,per-stream)
This option is similar to -filter, the only difference is that its argument is the name of the file from which a
filtergraph description is to be read.
-reinit_filter[:stream_specifier] integer (input,per-stream)
This boolean option determines if the filtergraph(s) to which this stream is fed gets reinitialized when input frame
parameters change mid-stream. This option is enabled by default as most video and all audio filters cannot handle
deviation in input frame properties. Upon reinitialization, existing filter state is lost, like e.g. the frame count
"n" reference available in some filters. Any frames buffered at time of reinitialization are lost. The properties
where a change triggers reinitialization are, for video, frame resolution or pixel format; for audio, sample format,
sample rate, channel count or channel layout.
-filter_threads nb_threads (global)
Defines how many threads are used to process a filter pipeline. Each pipeline will produce a thread pool with this many
threads available for parallel processing. The default is the number of available CPUs.
-pre[:stream_specifier] preset_name (output,per-stream)
Specify the preset for matching stream(s).
-stats (global)
Print encoding progress/statistics. It is on by default, to explicitly disable it you need to specify "-nostats".
-stats_period time (global)
Set period at which encoding progress/statistics are updated. Default is 0.5 seconds.
-progress url (global)
Send program-friendly progress information to url.
Progress information is written periodically and at the end of the encoding process. It is made of "key=value" lines.
key consists of only alphanumeric characters. The last key of a sequence of progress information is always "progress".
The update period is set using "-stats_period".
-stdin
Enable interaction on standard input. On by default unless standard input is used as an input. To explicitly disable
interaction you need to specify "-nostdin".
Disabling interaction on standard input is useful, for example, if ffmpeg is in the background process group. Roughly
the same result can be achieved with "ffmpeg ... < /dev/null" but it requires a shell.
-debug_ts (global)