ffmpeg command line quickies…..

Here are a bunch of ffmpeg command lines that will do just about everything you need.

  1. Getting info from a video file

    2. ffmpeg -i video.avi

  2. Turn a sequence of images into video

    3. ffmpeg -f image2 -i image%d.jpg video.mpg

  3. Turn a video into a sequence of images

    4. ffmpeg -i video.mpg image%d.jpg

  4. Encode video for Ipod/IPhone

    5. ffmpeg -i source_video_file.avi -acodec aac -ab 128kb -vcodec mpeg4 -b 1200kb -mbd 2 -flags +4mv -trell 1 -aic 2 -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -s 320x180 -title X output_file.mp4

  5. Encode video for PSP

    6. ffmpeg -i source_video_file.avi -b 300 -s 320x240 -vcodec xvid -ab 32 -ar 24000 -acodec aac output_file.mp4ORffmpeg -i "OriginalFile.avi" -f psp -r 29.97 -b 768k -ar 24000 -ab 64k -s 320x240 "OutputFile.mp4"

  6. Extract audio from a video file and save it as mp3 format

    7. ffmpeg -i source_video_file.avi -vn -ar 44100 -ac 2 -ab 192 -f mp3 output_file.mp3

  7. Convert a wave file to mp3

    8. ffmpeg -i original_audio_file.avi -vn -ar 44100 -ac 2 -ab 192 -f mp3 output_file.mp3

  8. Convert a avi video to mpeg

    9. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi output_file.mpg

  9. Convert a mpeg video to avi

    10. ffmpeg -i original_movie.mpg output_file.avi

  10. Convert a avi video to uncompressed animated gif

    11. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi output_file.gif

  11. Add audio to an existing video-only file (mix audio and video)

    12. ffmpeg -i son.wav -i original_movie.avi output_file.mpg

  12. Convert a avi video to flv (flash video)

    13. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi -ab 56 -ar 44100 -b 200 -r 15 -s 320x240 -f flv output_file.flv

  13. Convert a flv video to mpeg

    14. ffmpeg -i myFile.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320x240 myFile.mpg

  14. Convert a avi video to dv

    15. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi -s ntsc -r ntsc -aspect 4:3 -ar 48000 -ac 2 output_file.dvORffmpeg -i original_movie.avi -target ntsc-dv output_file.dv

  15. Convert a avi video to mpeg specifically for DVD creation

    16. ffmpeg -i source_video.avi -target ntsc-dvd -ps 2000000000 -aspect 16:9 finale_video.mpeg

  16. Compress a avi video to Divx

    17. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi -s 320x240 -vcodec msmpeg4v2 output_file.avi

  17. Convert a Ogg Theora video to mpeg specifically for DVD creation

    18. ffmpeg -i original_movie.ogm -s 720x576 -vcodec mpeg2video -acodec mp3 output_file.mpg

  18. Convert a avi video to mpeg2 for SVCD creation

    19. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi -target ntsc-svcd output_file.mpg

  19. Convert a avi video to mpeg2 for VCD creation

    20. ffmpeg -i original_movie.avi -target ntsc-vcd output_file.mpg

Many Ayromlou

, ,

21 responses to “ffmpeg command line quickies…..”

  1. One very important thing I just learned after two hours – I cannot write a .BAT file with “ffmpeg -i video.mpg image%d.jpg” and then run the batch file. If I do, I get the message “Unable to find a suitable output format for ‘imaged.jpg’. Instead, I must type that command on the actual command line prompt. At least, that’s how it works for me on Windows XP. Please let other people know about this potential pitfall.

  3. These are very helpful. I have a question. When creating a slideshow from jpg files, is it possible to specify the duration each image will remain displayed? What are the other options for this feature, ie. crossfading, etc.

    Thank you,
    David Hudach

  5. @ first “Anonymous”:

    I lost four hours!!!
    Thanks to you, now it working fine.

  6. Hi Many,

    I hope you can help me out. I use ffmpeg to convert .avi to .mpg. I have created a movie in matlab, used movie2avi command to put it into .avi format, and then use the basic ffmpeg -i input.avi output.mpg. The .mpg file plays in mplayer, yet it has no color, is slanted, and has the effect of playing next to a reflective mirror. Its really weird. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

    MB

  7. Hi Mbb,

    I would first of all try using vlc (www.videolan.org) to play both the avi file and the mpg file and see if that works. It might be the avi file that's flawed. Is there an option to output individual frames out of matlab. Because then you can use ffmpeg to "stitch" the frames directly to a mpg file. Sounds like movie2avi is using a avi codec that ffmpeg has trouble decoding.

    TTYL
    Many

    Hope this helps….

    TTYL
    Many

  8. Many,
    Thanks, your idea worked out very well. I converted the frames to images, then to jpegs, then used ffmpeg to get the mpg file. ~mbb

  9. Hi Many,
    So, I have one more small (hopefully) issue. I need to lower the default fps (-r) from 25 to 4 fps. I know I have to also change the bit rate (-b), yet whatever I input, ffmpeg does not like the ratio. Shed some light? Thanks again.
    ~mbb

  10. Mbb,

    Hmmm, gald you got the other part working. About framerates I think you want to go the otherway. You see, you really want to use -r on input and set it to 4 and use -r on output and set it to 15 or 30. That way the encoder will "hold" a single image for 0.25sec in the encoder buffer (rather than 1/30th of a sec), but still encode it for 30 frame playback. In essence you'll be repeating the same input file for 0.25sec rather than 1/30th of a sec. Don't know if this makes sense.

    I don't think you need to change the bitrate thisway.

    Hope this helps…..

    TTYL
    Many

  12. Can ffmpeg write a 32bit avi from png/tga image sequence ?
    ffmpeg -i Ball_%3d.tga -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt bgra ball.avi

    The above cmd fails, And I could write mpg file, but no Alpha in that.
    Can some one show me a successfull cmd line ?

    Thanks
    gaamaa

  13. Sorry Gaamaa I have no idea……Maybe someone else can fill in the answer here…..

  14. What a great resource! I have very little experience with FFmpeg, but using your site I managed learn quite a bit. For some reason i had an .avi that would not convert to an .mpg, so I cut it up into a bunch of jpegs, then reassebled the jpegs into an .mpg – worked like a charm, but i lost the audio, so i extracted the audio from the original .avi and added it to the new .mpg and it worked excpet the video and audio do not match up… Thanks for the great resource here.

  15. Thank you very much, I wasn't realizing that creating an animated gif was that easy ffmpeg -i input.swf -r 1 output.gif

  16. Thanks dude! your sequence of images example was exactly what I was looking for.

  17. I have a gif animation. Any idea how to convert it to flash video or swf?

  18. Hi Anonymous,

    Making flash video out of a animated gif? Hmmm, not sure…..I will take a look around and see if I can figure it out…..check back in about a week or so to see if I've added something to this article.

    TTYL
    Many

  19. does the -r flag for setting frame rate have a minimum value need? i tried using 0.044 but it not work

  20. rafhelp,

    Not sure what you mean. Minimum frame rate value would be 1, wouldn't it? what is 0.044 supposed to represent?

  21. First place where I've been where the info is not only useful, but presented in a visually pleasing manner. Congrats!

    I've tried to work with the ffmpeg command line ffmpeg -i filename.mpg filename.avi. Although it does the conversion, the ".avi" file video quality sucks. I've tried adding other parameters to no avail. I'm about to surrender.

    Could anyone tell me how to improve my video quality? Any guidance appreciated. Thanks!!!

Leave a Reply