1 \input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
2 @documentencoding UTF-8
4 @settitle ffmpeg Documentation
6 @center @titlefont{ffmpeg Documentation}
15 ffmpeg [@var{global_options}] @{[@var{input_file_options}] -i @file{input_file}@} ... @{[@var{output_file_options}] @file{output_file}@} ...
18 @c man begin DESCRIPTION
20 @command{ffmpeg} is a very fast video and audio converter that can also grab from
21 a live audio/video source. It can also convert between arbitrary sample
22 rates and resize video on the fly with a high quality polyphase filter.
24 @command{ffmpeg} reads from an arbitrary number of input "files" (which can be regular
25 files, pipes, network streams, grabbing devices, etc.), specified by the
26 @code{-i} option, and writes to an arbitrary number of output "files", which are
27 specified by a plain output filename. Anything found on the command line which
28 cannot be interpreted as an option is considered to be an output filename.
30 Each input or output file can, in principle, contain any number of streams of
31 different types (video/audio/subtitle/attachment/data). The allowed number and/or
32 types of streams may be limited by the container format. Selecting which
33 streams from which inputs will go into which output is either done automatically
34 or with the @code{-map} option (see the Stream selection chapter).
36 To refer to input files in options, you must use their indices (0-based). E.g.
37 the first input file is @code{0}, the second is @code{1}, etc. Similarly, streams
38 within a file are referred to by their indices. E.g. @code{2:3} refers to the
39 fourth stream in the third input file. Also see the Stream specifiers chapter.
41 As a general rule, options are applied to the next specified
42 file. Therefore, order is important, and you can have the same
43 option on the command line multiple times. Each occurrence is
44 then applied to the next input or output file.
45 Exceptions from this rule are the global options (e.g. verbosity level),
46 which should be specified first.
48 Do not mix input and output files -- first specify all input files, then all
49 output files. Also do not mix options which belong to different files. All
50 options apply ONLY to the next input or output file and are reset between files.
54 To set the video bitrate of the output file to 64 kbit/s:
56 ffmpeg -i input.avi -b:v 64k -bufsize 64k output.avi
60 To force the frame rate of the output file to 24 fps:
62 ffmpeg -i input.avi -r 24 output.avi
66 To force the frame rate of the input file (valid for raw formats only)
67 to 1 fps and the frame rate of the output file to 24 fps:
69 ffmpeg -r 1 -i input.m2v -r 24 output.avi
73 The format option may be needed for raw input files.
75 @c man end DESCRIPTION
77 @chapter Detailed description
78 @c man begin DETAILED DESCRIPTION
80 The transcoding process in @command{ffmpeg} for each output can be described by
81 the following diagram:
84 _______ ______________
86 | input | demuxer | encoded data | decoder
87 | file | ---------> | packets | -----+
88 |_______| |______________| |
95 ________ ______________ |
97 | output | <-------- | encoded data | <----+
98 | file | muxer | packets | encoder
99 |________| |______________|
104 @command{ffmpeg} calls the libavformat library (containing demuxers) to read
105 input files and get packets containing encoded data from them. When there are
106 multiple input files, @command{ffmpeg} tries to keep them synchronized by
107 tracking lowest timestamp on any active input stream.
109 Encoded packets are then passed to the decoder (unless streamcopy is selected
110 for the stream, see further for a description). The decoder produces
111 uncompressed frames (raw video/PCM audio/...) which can be processed further by
112 filtering (see next section). After filtering, the frames are passed to the
113 encoder, which encodes them and outputs encoded packets. Finally those are
114 passed to the muxer, which writes the encoded packets to the output file.
117 Before encoding, @command{ffmpeg} can process raw audio and video frames using
118 filters from the libavfilter library. Several chained filters form a filter
119 graph. @command{ffmpeg} distinguishes between two types of filtergraphs:
122 @subsection Simple filtergraphs
123 Simple filtergraphs are those that have exactly one input and output, both of
124 the same type. In the above diagram they can be represented by simply inserting
125 an additional step between decoding and encoding:
128 _________ ______________
130 | decoded | | encoded data |
131 | frames |\ _ | packets |
132 |_________| \ /||______________|
134 simple _\|| | / encoder
135 filtergraph | filtered |/
141 Simple filtergraphs are configured with the per-stream @option{-filter} option
142 (with @option{-vf} and @option{-af} aliases for video and audio respectively).
143 A simple filtergraph for video can look for example like this:
146 _______ _____________ _______ ________
148 | input | ---> | deinterlace | ---> | scale | ---> | output |
149 |_______| |_____________| |_______| |________|
153 Note that some filters change frame properties but not frame contents. E.g. the
154 @code{fps} filter in the example above changes number of frames, but does not
155 touch the frame contents. Another example is the @code{setpts} filter, which
156 only sets timestamps and otherwise passes the frames unchanged.
158 @subsection Complex filtergraphs
159 Complex filtergraphs are those which cannot be described as simply a linear
160 processing chain applied to one stream. This is the case, for example, when the graph has
161 more than one input and/or output, or when output stream type is different from
162 input. They can be represented with the following diagram:
167 | input 0 |\ __________
169 \ _________ /| output 0 |
171 _________ \| complex | /
173 | input 1 |---->| filter |\
174 |_________| | | \ __________
177 _________ / |_________| |__________|
184 Complex filtergraphs are configured with the @option{-filter_complex} option.
185 Note that this option is global, since a complex filtergraph, by its nature,
186 cannot be unambiguously associated with a single stream or file.
188 The @option{-lavfi} option is equivalent to @option{-filter_complex}.
190 A trivial example of a complex filtergraph is the @code{overlay} filter, which
191 has two video inputs and one video output, containing one video overlaid on top
192 of the other. Its audio counterpart is the @code{amix} filter.
195 Stream copy is a mode selected by supplying the @code{copy} parameter to the
196 @option{-codec} option. It makes @command{ffmpeg} omit the decoding and encoding
197 step for the specified stream, so it does only demuxing and muxing. It is useful
198 for changing the container format or modifying container-level metadata. The
199 diagram above will, in this case, simplify to this:
202 _______ ______________ ________
204 | input | demuxer | encoded data | muxer | output |
205 | file | ---------> | packets | -------> | file |
206 |_______| |______________| |________|
210 Since there is no decoding or encoding, it is very fast and there is no quality
211 loss. However, it might not work in some cases because of many factors. Applying
212 filters is obviously also impossible, since filters work on uncompressed data.
214 @c man end DETAILED DESCRIPTION
216 @chapter Stream selection
217 @c man begin STREAM SELECTION
219 By default, @command{ffmpeg} includes only one stream of each type (video, audio, subtitle)
220 present in the input files and adds them to each output file. It picks the
221 "best" of each based upon the following criteria: for video, it is the stream
222 with the highest resolution, for audio, it is the stream with the most channels, for
223 subtitles, it is the first subtitle stream. In the case where several streams of
224 the same type rate equally, the stream with the lowest index is chosen.
226 You can disable some of those defaults by using the @code{-vn/-an/-sn} options. For
227 full manual control, use the @code{-map} option, which disables the defaults just
230 @c man end STREAM SELECTION
235 @include fftools-common-opts.texi
237 @section Main options
241 @item -f @var{fmt} (@emph{input/output})
242 Force input or output file format. The format is normally auto detected for input
243 files and guessed from the file extension for output files, so this option is not
244 needed in most cases.
246 @item -i @var{filename} (@emph{input})
249 @item -y (@emph{global})
250 Overwrite output files without asking.
252 @item -n (@emph{global})
253 Do not overwrite output files, and exit immediately if a specified
254 output file already exists.
256 @item -stream_loop @var{number} (@emph{input})
257 Set number of times input stream shall be looped.
259 @item -c[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{codec} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
260 @itemx -codec[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{codec} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
261 Select an encoder (when used before an output file) or a decoder (when used
262 before an input file) for one or more streams. @var{codec} is the name of a
263 decoder/encoder or a special value @code{copy} (output only) to indicate that
264 the stream is not to be re-encoded.
268 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -c:v libx264 -c:a copy OUTPUT
270 encodes all video streams with libx264 and copies all audio streams.
272 For each stream, the last matching @code{c} option is applied, so
274 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -c copy -c:v:1 libx264 -c:a:137 libvorbis OUTPUT
276 will copy all the streams except the second video, which will be encoded with
277 libx264, and the 138th audio, which will be encoded with libvorbis.
279 @item -t @var{duration} (@emph{input/output})
280 When used as an input option (before @code{-i}), limit the @var{duration} of
281 data read from the input file.
283 When used as an output option (before an output filename), stop writing the
284 output after its duration reaches @var{duration}.
286 @var{duration} must be a time duration specification,
287 see @ref{time duration syntax,,the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual,ffmpeg-utils}.
289 -to and -t are mutually exclusive and -t has priority.
291 @item -to @var{position} (@emph{output})
292 Stop writing the output at @var{position}.
293 @var{position} must be a time duration specification,
294 see @ref{time duration syntax,,the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual,ffmpeg-utils}.
296 -to and -t are mutually exclusive and -t has priority.
298 @item -fs @var{limit_size} (@emph{output})
299 Set the file size limit, expressed in bytes.
301 @item -ss @var{position} (@emph{input/output})
302 When used as an input option (before @code{-i}), seeks in this input file to
303 @var{position}. Note that in most formats it is not possible to seek exactly,
304 so @command{ffmpeg} will seek to the closest seek point before @var{position}.
305 When transcoding and @option{-accurate_seek} is enabled (the default), this
306 extra segment between the seek point and @var{position} will be decoded and
307 discarded. When doing stream copy or when @option{-noaccurate_seek} is used, it
310 When used as an output option (before an output filename), decodes but discards
311 input until the timestamps reach @var{position}.
313 @var{position} must be a time duration specification,
314 see @ref{time duration syntax,,the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual,ffmpeg-utils}.
316 @item -sseof @var{position} (@emph{input/output})
318 Like the @code{-ss} option but relative to the "end of file". That is negative
319 values are earlier in the file, 0 is at EOF.
321 @item -itsoffset @var{offset} (@emph{input})
322 Set the input time offset.
324 @var{offset} must be a time duration specification,
325 see @ref{time duration syntax,,the Time duration section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual,ffmpeg-utils}.
327 The offset is added to the timestamps of the input files. Specifying
328 a positive offset means that the corresponding streams are delayed by
329 the time duration specified in @var{offset}.
331 @item -timestamp @var{date} (@emph{output})
332 Set the recording timestamp in the container.
334 @var{date} must be a date specification,
335 see @ref{date syntax,,the Date section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual,ffmpeg-utils}.
337 @item -metadata[:metadata_specifier] @var{key}=@var{value} (@emph{output,per-metadata})
338 Set a metadata key/value pair.
340 An optional @var{metadata_specifier} may be given to set metadata
341 on streams or chapters. See @code{-map_metadata} documentation for
344 This option overrides metadata set with @code{-map_metadata}. It is
345 also possible to delete metadata by using an empty value.
347 For example, for setting the title in the output file:
349 ffmpeg -i in.avi -metadata title="my title" out.flv
352 To set the language of the first audio stream:
354 ffmpeg -i INPUT -metadata:s:a:0 language=eng OUTPUT
357 @item -target @var{type} (@emph{output})
358 Specify target file type (@code{vcd}, @code{svcd}, @code{dvd}, @code{dv},
359 @code{dv50}). @var{type} may be prefixed with @code{pal-}, @code{ntsc-} or
360 @code{film-} to use the corresponding standard. All the format options
361 (bitrate, codecs, buffer sizes) are then set automatically. You can just type:
364 ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd /tmp/vcd.mpg
367 Nevertheless you can specify additional options as long as you know
368 they do not conflict with the standard, as in:
371 ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd -bf 2 /tmp/vcd.mpg
374 @item -dframes @var{number} (@emph{output})
375 Set the number of data frames to output. This is an alias for @code{-frames:d}.
377 @item -frames[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{framecount} (@emph{output,per-stream})
378 Stop writing to the stream after @var{framecount} frames.
380 @item -q[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{q} (@emph{output,per-stream})
381 @itemx -qscale[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{q} (@emph{output,per-stream})
382 Use fixed quality scale (VBR). The meaning of @var{q}/@var{qscale} is
384 If @var{qscale} is used without a @var{stream_specifier} then it applies only
385 to the video stream, this is to maintain compatibility with previous behavior
386 and as specifying the same codec specific value to 2 different codecs that is
387 audio and video generally is not what is intended when no stream_specifier is
390 @anchor{filter_option}
391 @item -filter[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{filtergraph} (@emph{output,per-stream})
392 Create the filtergraph specified by @var{filtergraph} and use it to
395 @var{filtergraph} is a description of the filtergraph to apply to
396 the stream, and must have a single input and a single output of the
397 same type of the stream. In the filtergraph, the input is associated
398 to the label @code{in}, and the output to the label @code{out}. See
399 the ffmpeg-filters manual for more information about the filtergraph
402 See the @ref{filter_complex_option,,-filter_complex option} if you
403 want to create filtergraphs with multiple inputs and/or outputs.
405 @item -filter_script[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{filename} (@emph{output,per-stream})
406 This option is similar to @option{-filter}, the only difference is that its
407 argument is the name of the file from which a filtergraph description is to be
410 @item -pre[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{preset_name} (@emph{output,per-stream})
411 Specify the preset for matching stream(s).
413 @item -stats (@emph{global})
414 Print encoding progress/statistics. It is on by default, to explicitly
415 disable it you need to specify @code{-nostats}.
417 @item -progress @var{url} (@emph{global})
418 Send program-friendly progress information to @var{url}.
420 Progress information is written approximately every second and at the end of
421 the encoding process. It is made of "@var{key}=@var{value}" lines. @var{key}
422 consists of only alphanumeric characters. The last key of a sequence of
423 progress information is always "progress".
426 Enable interaction on standard input. On by default unless standard input is
427 used as an input. To explicitly disable interaction you need to specify
430 Disabling interaction on standard input is useful, for example, if
431 ffmpeg is in the background process group. Roughly the same result can
432 be achieved with @code{ffmpeg ... < /dev/null} but it requires a
435 @item -debug_ts (@emph{global})
436 Print timestamp information. It is off by default. This option is
437 mostly useful for testing and debugging purposes, and the output
438 format may change from one version to another, so it should not be
439 employed by portable scripts.
441 See also the option @code{-fdebug ts}.
443 @item -attach @var{filename} (@emph{output})
444 Add an attachment to the output file. This is supported by a few formats
445 like Matroska for e.g. fonts used in rendering subtitles. Attachments
446 are implemented as a specific type of stream, so this option will add
447 a new stream to the file. It is then possible to use per-stream options
448 on this stream in the usual way. Attachment streams created with this
449 option will be created after all the other streams (i.e. those created
450 with @code{-map} or automatic mappings).
452 Note that for Matroska you also have to set the mimetype metadata tag:
454 ffmpeg -i INPUT -attach DejaVuSans.ttf -metadata:s:2 mimetype=application/x-truetype-font out.mkv
456 (assuming that the attachment stream will be third in the output file).
458 @item -dump_attachment[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{filename} (@emph{input,per-stream})
459 Extract the matching attachment stream into a file named @var{filename}. If
460 @var{filename} is empty, then the value of the @code{filename} metadata tag
463 E.g. to extract the first attachment to a file named 'out.ttf':
465 ffmpeg -dump_attachment:t:0 out.ttf -i INPUT
467 To extract all attachments to files determined by the @code{filename} tag:
469 ffmpeg -dump_attachment:t "" -i INPUT
472 Technical note -- attachments are implemented as codec extradata, so this
473 option can actually be used to extract extradata from any stream, not just
477 Disable automatically rotating video based on file metadata.
481 @section Video Options
484 @item -vframes @var{number} (@emph{output})
485 Set the number of video frames to output. This is an alias for @code{-frames:v}.
486 @item -r[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{fps} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
487 Set frame rate (Hz value, fraction or abbreviation).
489 As an input option, ignore any timestamps stored in the file and instead
490 generate timestamps assuming constant frame rate @var{fps}.
491 This is not the same as the @option{-framerate} option used for some input formats
492 like image2 or v4l2 (it used to be the same in older versions of FFmpeg).
493 If in doubt use @option{-framerate} instead of the input option @option{-r}.
495 As an output option, duplicate or drop input frames to achieve constant output
496 frame rate @var{fps}.
498 @item -s[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{size} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
501 As an input option, this is a shortcut for the @option{video_size} private
502 option, recognized by some demuxers for which the frame size is either not
503 stored in the file or is configurable -- e.g. raw video or video grabbers.
505 As an output option, this inserts the @code{scale} video filter to the
506 @emph{end} of the corresponding filtergraph. Please use the @code{scale} filter
507 directly to insert it at the beginning or some other place.
509 The format is @samp{wxh} (default - same as source).
511 @item -aspect[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{aspect} (@emph{output,per-stream})
512 Set the video display aspect ratio specified by @var{aspect}.
514 @var{aspect} can be a floating point number string, or a string of the
515 form @var{num}:@var{den}, where @var{num} and @var{den} are the
516 numerator and denominator of the aspect ratio. For example "4:3",
517 "16:9", "1.3333", and "1.7777" are valid argument values.
519 If used together with @option{-vcodec copy}, it will affect the aspect ratio
520 stored at container level, but not the aspect ratio stored in encoded
521 frames, if it exists.
523 @item -vn (@emph{output})
524 Disable video recording.
526 @item -vcodec @var{codec} (@emph{output})
527 Set the video codec. This is an alias for @code{-codec:v}.
529 @item -pass[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{n} (@emph{output,per-stream})
530 Select the pass number (1 or 2). It is used to do two-pass
531 video encoding. The statistics of the video are recorded in the first
532 pass into a log file (see also the option -passlogfile),
533 and in the second pass that log file is used to generate the video
534 at the exact requested bitrate.
535 On pass 1, you may just deactivate audio and set output to null,
536 examples for Windows and Unix:
538 ffmpeg -i foo.mov -c:v libxvid -pass 1 -an -f rawvideo -y NUL
539 ffmpeg -i foo.mov -c:v libxvid -pass 1 -an -f rawvideo -y /dev/null
542 @item -passlogfile[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{prefix} (@emph{output,per-stream})
543 Set two-pass log file name prefix to @var{prefix}, the default file name
544 prefix is ``ffmpeg2pass''. The complete file name will be
545 @file{PREFIX-N.log}, where N is a number specific to the output
548 @item -vf @var{filtergraph} (@emph{output})
549 Create the filtergraph specified by @var{filtergraph} and use it to
552 This is an alias for @code{-filter:v}, see the @ref{filter_option,,-filter option}.
555 @section Advanced Video options
558 @item -pix_fmt[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{format} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
559 Set pixel format. Use @code{-pix_fmts} to show all the supported
561 If the selected pixel format can not be selected, ffmpeg will print a
562 warning and select the best pixel format supported by the encoder.
563 If @var{pix_fmt} is prefixed by a @code{+}, ffmpeg will exit with an error
564 if the requested pixel format can not be selected, and automatic conversions
565 inside filtergraphs are disabled.
566 If @var{pix_fmt} is a single @code{+}, ffmpeg selects the same pixel format
567 as the input (or graph output) and automatic conversions are disabled.
569 @item -sws_flags @var{flags} (@emph{input/output})
574 @item -rc_override[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{override} (@emph{output,per-stream})
575 Rate control override for specific intervals, formatted as "int,int,int"
576 list separated with slashes. Two first values are the beginning and
577 end frame numbers, last one is quantizer to use if positive, or quality
581 Force interlacing support in encoder (MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 only).
582 Use this option if your input file is interlaced and you want
583 to keep the interlaced format for minimum losses.
584 The alternative is to deinterlace the input stream with
585 @option{-deinterlace}, but deinterlacing introduces losses.
587 Calculate PSNR of compressed frames.
589 Dump video coding statistics to @file{vstats_HHMMSS.log}.
590 @item -vstats_file @var{file}
591 Dump video coding statistics to @var{file}.
592 @item -top[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{n} (@emph{output,per-stream})
593 top=1/bottom=0/auto=-1 field first
594 @item -dc @var{precision}
596 @item -vtag @var{fourcc/tag} (@emph{output})
597 Force video tag/fourcc. This is an alias for @code{-tag:v}.
598 @item -qphist (@emph{global})
600 @item -vbsf @var{bitstream_filter}
603 @item -force_key_frames[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{time}[,@var{time}...] (@emph{output,per-stream})
604 @item -force_key_frames[:@var{stream_specifier}] expr:@var{expr} (@emph{output,per-stream})
605 Force key frames at the specified timestamps, more precisely at the first
606 frames after each specified time.
608 If the argument is prefixed with @code{expr:}, the string @var{expr}
609 is interpreted like an expression and is evaluated for each frame. A
610 key frame is forced in case the evaluation is non-zero.
612 If one of the times is "@code{chapters}[@var{delta}]", it is expanded into
613 the time of the beginning of all chapters in the file, shifted by
614 @var{delta}, expressed as a time in seconds.
615 This option can be useful to ensure that a seek point is present at a
616 chapter mark or any other designated place in the output file.
618 For example, to insert a key frame at 5 minutes, plus key frames 0.1 second
619 before the beginning of every chapter:
621 -force_key_frames 0:05:00,chapters-0.1
624 The expression in @var{expr} can contain the following constants:
627 the number of current processed frame, starting from 0
629 the number of forced frames
631 the number of the previous forced frame, it is @code{NAN} when no
632 keyframe was forced yet
634 the time of the previous forced frame, it is @code{NAN} when no
635 keyframe was forced yet
637 the time of the current processed frame
640 For example to force a key frame every 5 seconds, you can specify:
642 -force_key_frames expr:gte(t,n_forced*5)
645 To force a key frame 5 seconds after the time of the last forced one,
646 starting from second 13:
648 -force_key_frames expr:if(isnan(prev_forced_t),gte(t,13),gte(t,prev_forced_t+5))
651 Note that forcing too many keyframes is very harmful for the lookahead
652 algorithms of certain encoders: using fixed-GOP options or similar
653 would be more efficient.
655 @item -copyinkf[:@var{stream_specifier}] (@emph{output,per-stream})
656 When doing stream copy, copy also non-key frames found at the
659 @item -hwaccel[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{hwaccel} (@emph{input,per-stream})
660 Use hardware acceleration to decode the matching stream(s). The allowed values
661 of @var{hwaccel} are:
664 Do not use any hardware acceleration (the default).
667 Automatically select the hardware acceleration method.
670 Use Apple VDA hardware acceleration.
673 Use VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix) hardware acceleration.
676 Use DXVA2 (DirectX Video Acceleration) hardware acceleration.
679 Use the Intel QuickSync Video acceleration for video transcoding.
681 Unlike most other values, this option does not enable accelerated decoding (that
682 is used automatically whenever a qsv decoder is selected), but accelerated
683 transcoding, without copying the frames into the system memory.
685 For it to work, both the decoder and the encoder must support QSV acceleration
686 and no filters must be used.
689 This option has no effect if the selected hwaccel is not available or not
690 supported by the chosen decoder.
692 Note that most acceleration methods are intended for playback and will not be
693 faster than software decoding on modern CPUs. Additionally, @command{ffmpeg}
694 will usually need to copy the decoded frames from the GPU memory into the system
695 memory, resulting in further performance loss. This option is thus mainly
698 @item -hwaccel_device[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{hwaccel_device} (@emph{input,per-stream})
699 Select a device to use for hardware acceleration.
701 This option only makes sense when the @option{-hwaccel} option is also
702 specified. Its exact meaning depends on the specific hardware acceleration
707 For VDPAU, this option specifies the X11 display/screen to use. If this option
708 is not specified, the value of the @var{DISPLAY} environment variable is used
711 For DXVA2, this option should contain the number of the display adapter to use.
712 If this option is not specified, the default adapter is used.
715 For QSV, this option corresponds to the valus of MFX_IMPL_* . Allowed values
730 List all hardware acceleration methods supported in this build of ffmpeg.
734 @section Audio Options
737 @item -aframes @var{number} (@emph{output})
738 Set the number of audio frames to output. This is an alias for @code{-frames:a}.
739 @item -ar[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{freq} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
740 Set the audio sampling frequency. For output streams it is set by
741 default to the frequency of the corresponding input stream. For input
742 streams this option only makes sense for audio grabbing devices and raw
743 demuxers and is mapped to the corresponding demuxer options.
744 @item -aq @var{q} (@emph{output})
745 Set the audio quality (codec-specific, VBR). This is an alias for -q:a.
746 @item -ac[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{channels} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
747 Set the number of audio channels. For output streams it is set by
748 default to the number of input audio channels. For input streams
749 this option only makes sense for audio grabbing devices and raw demuxers
750 and is mapped to the corresponding demuxer options.
751 @item -an (@emph{output})
752 Disable audio recording.
753 @item -acodec @var{codec} (@emph{input/output})
754 Set the audio codec. This is an alias for @code{-codec:a}.
755 @item -sample_fmt[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{sample_fmt} (@emph{output,per-stream})
756 Set the audio sample format. Use @code{-sample_fmts} to get a list
757 of supported sample formats.
759 @item -af @var{filtergraph} (@emph{output})
760 Create the filtergraph specified by @var{filtergraph} and use it to
763 This is an alias for @code{-filter:a}, see the @ref{filter_option,,-filter option}.
766 @section Advanced Audio options
769 @item -atag @var{fourcc/tag} (@emph{output})
770 Force audio tag/fourcc. This is an alias for @code{-tag:a}.
771 @item -absf @var{bitstream_filter}
773 @item -guess_layout_max @var{channels} (@emph{input,per-stream})
774 If some input channel layout is not known, try to guess only if it
775 corresponds to at most the specified number of channels. For example, 2
776 tells to @command{ffmpeg} to recognize 1 channel as mono and 2 channels as
777 stereo but not 6 channels as 5.1. The default is to always try to guess. Use
778 0 to disable all guessing.
781 @section Subtitle options
784 @item -scodec @var{codec} (@emph{input/output})
785 Set the subtitle codec. This is an alias for @code{-codec:s}.
786 @item -sn (@emph{output})
787 Disable subtitle recording.
788 @item -sbsf @var{bitstream_filter}
792 @section Advanced Subtitle options
796 @item -fix_sub_duration
797 Fix subtitles durations. For each subtitle, wait for the next packet in the
798 same stream and adjust the duration of the first to avoid overlap. This is
799 necessary with some subtitles codecs, especially DVB subtitles, because the
800 duration in the original packet is only a rough estimate and the end is
801 actually marked by an empty subtitle frame. Failing to use this option when
802 necessary can result in exaggerated durations or muxing failures due to
803 non-monotonic timestamps.
805 Note that this option will delay the output of all data until the next
806 subtitle packet is decoded: it may increase memory consumption and latency a
809 @item -canvas_size @var{size}
810 Set the size of the canvas used to render subtitles.
814 @section Advanced options
817 @item -map [-]@var{input_file_id}[:@var{stream_specifier}][,@var{sync_file_id}[:@var{stream_specifier}]] | @var{[linklabel]} (@emph{output})
819 Designate one or more input streams as a source for the output file. Each input
820 stream is identified by the input file index @var{input_file_id} and
821 the input stream index @var{input_stream_id} within the input
822 file. Both indices start at 0. If specified,
823 @var{sync_file_id}:@var{stream_specifier} sets which input stream
824 is used as a presentation sync reference.
826 The first @code{-map} option on the command line specifies the
827 source for output stream 0, the second @code{-map} option specifies
828 the source for output stream 1, etc.
830 A @code{-} character before the stream identifier creates a "negative" mapping.
831 It disables matching streams from already created mappings.
833 An alternative @var{[linklabel]} form will map outputs from complex filter
834 graphs (see the @option{-filter_complex} option) to the output file.
835 @var{linklabel} must correspond to a defined output link label in the graph.
837 For example, to map ALL streams from the first input file to output
839 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 output
842 For example, if you have two audio streams in the first input file,
843 these streams are identified by "0:0" and "0:1". You can use
844 @code{-map} to select which streams to place in an output file. For
847 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0:1 out.wav
849 will map the input stream in @file{INPUT} identified by "0:1" to
850 the (single) output stream in @file{out.wav}.
852 For example, to select the stream with index 2 from input file
853 @file{a.mov} (specified by the identifier "0:2"), and stream with
854 index 6 from input @file{b.mov} (specified by the identifier "1:6"),
855 and copy them to the output file @file{out.mov}:
857 ffmpeg -i a.mov -i b.mov -c copy -map 0:2 -map 1:6 out.mov
860 To select all video and the third audio stream from an input file:
862 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0:v -map 0:a:2 OUTPUT
865 To map all the streams except the second audio, use negative mappings
867 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -map -0:a:1 OUTPUT
870 To pick the English audio stream:
872 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0:m:language:eng OUTPUT
875 Note that using this option disables the default mappings for this output file.
877 @item -ignore_unknown
878 Ignore input streams with unknown type instead of failing if copying
879 such streams is attempted.
882 Allow input streams with unknown type to be copied instead of failing if copying
883 such streams is attempted.
885 @item -map_channel [@var{input_file_id}.@var{stream_specifier}.@var{channel_id}|-1][:@var{output_file_id}.@var{stream_specifier}]
886 Map an audio channel from a given input to an output. If
887 @var{output_file_id}.@var{stream_specifier} is not set, the audio channel will
888 be mapped on all the audio streams.
890 Using "-1" instead of
891 @var{input_file_id}.@var{stream_specifier}.@var{channel_id} will map a muted
894 For example, assuming @var{INPUT} is a stereo audio file, you can switch the
895 two audio channels with the following command:
897 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map_channel 0.0.1 -map_channel 0.0.0 OUTPUT
900 If you want to mute the first channel and keep the second:
902 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map_channel -1 -map_channel 0.0.1 OUTPUT
905 The order of the "-map_channel" option specifies the order of the channels in
906 the output stream. The output channel layout is guessed from the number of
907 channels mapped (mono if one "-map_channel", stereo if two, etc.). Using "-ac"
908 in combination of "-map_channel" makes the channel gain levels to be updated if
909 input and output channel layouts don't match (for instance two "-map_channel"
910 options and "-ac 6").
912 You can also extract each channel of an input to specific outputs; the following
913 command extracts two channels of the @var{INPUT} audio stream (file 0, stream 0)
914 to the respective @var{OUTPUT_CH0} and @var{OUTPUT_CH1} outputs:
916 ffmpeg -i INPUT -map_channel 0.0.0 OUTPUT_CH0 -map_channel 0.0.1 OUTPUT_CH1
919 The following example splits the channels of a stereo input into two separate
920 streams, which are put into the same output file:
922 ffmpeg -i stereo.wav -map 0:0 -map 0:0 -map_channel 0.0.0:0.0 -map_channel 0.0.1:0.1 -y out.ogg
925 Note that currently each output stream can only contain channels from a single
926 input stream; you can't for example use "-map_channel" to pick multiple input
927 audio channels contained in different streams (from the same or different files)
928 and merge them into a single output stream. It is therefore not currently
929 possible, for example, to turn two separate mono streams into a single stereo
930 stream. However splitting a stereo stream into two single channel mono streams
933 If you need this feature, a possible workaround is to use the @emph{amerge}
934 filter. For example, if you need to merge a media (here @file{input.mkv}) with 2
935 mono audio streams into one single stereo channel audio stream (and keep the
936 video stream), you can use the following command:
938 ffmpeg -i input.mkv -filter_complex "[0:1] [0:2] amerge" -c:a pcm_s16le -c:v copy output.mkv
941 @item -map_metadata[:@var{metadata_spec_out}] @var{infile}[:@var{metadata_spec_in}] (@emph{output,per-metadata})
942 Set metadata information of the next output file from @var{infile}. Note that
943 those are file indices (zero-based), not filenames.
944 Optional @var{metadata_spec_in/out} parameters specify, which metadata to copy.
945 A metadata specifier can have the following forms:
948 global metadata, i.e. metadata that applies to the whole file
950 @item @var{s}[:@var{stream_spec}]
951 per-stream metadata. @var{stream_spec} is a stream specifier as described
952 in the @ref{Stream specifiers} chapter. In an input metadata specifier, the first
953 matching stream is copied from. In an output metadata specifier, all matching
954 streams are copied to.
956 @item @var{c}:@var{chapter_index}
957 per-chapter metadata. @var{chapter_index} is the zero-based chapter index.
959 @item @var{p}:@var{program_index}
960 per-program metadata. @var{program_index} is the zero-based program index.
962 If metadata specifier is omitted, it defaults to global.
964 By default, global metadata is copied from the first input file,
965 per-stream and per-chapter metadata is copied along with streams/chapters. These
966 default mappings are disabled by creating any mapping of the relevant type. A negative
967 file index can be used to create a dummy mapping that just disables automatic copying.
969 For example to copy metadata from the first stream of the input file to global metadata
972 ffmpeg -i in.ogg -map_metadata 0:s:0 out.mp3
975 To do the reverse, i.e. copy global metadata to all audio streams:
977 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -map_metadata:s:a 0:g out.mkv
979 Note that simple @code{0} would work as well in this example, since global
980 metadata is assumed by default.
982 @item -map_chapters @var{input_file_index} (@emph{output})
983 Copy chapters from input file with index @var{input_file_index} to the next
984 output file. If no chapter mapping is specified, then chapters are copied from
985 the first input file with at least one chapter. Use a negative file index to
986 disable any chapter copying.
988 @item -benchmark (@emph{global})
989 Show benchmarking information at the end of an encode.
990 Shows CPU time used and maximum memory consumption.
991 Maximum memory consumption is not supported on all systems,
992 it will usually display as 0 if not supported.
993 @item -benchmark_all (@emph{global})
994 Show benchmarking information during the encode.
995 Shows CPU time used in various steps (audio/video encode/decode).
996 @item -timelimit @var{duration} (@emph{global})
997 Exit after ffmpeg has been running for @var{duration} seconds.
998 @item -dump (@emph{global})
999 Dump each input packet to stderr.
1000 @item -hex (@emph{global})
1001 When dumping packets, also dump the payload.
1002 @item -re (@emph{input})
1003 Read input at native frame rate. Mainly used to simulate a grab device.
1004 or live input stream (e.g. when reading from a file). Should not be used
1005 with actual grab devices or live input streams (where it can cause packet
1007 By default @command{ffmpeg} attempts to read the input(s) as fast as possible.
1008 This option will slow down the reading of the input(s) to the native frame rate
1009 of the input(s). It is useful for real-time output (e.g. live streaming).
1011 Loop over the input stream. Currently it works only for image
1012 streams. This option is used for automatic FFserver testing.
1013 This option is deprecated, use -loop 1.
1014 @item -loop_output @var{number_of_times}
1015 Repeatedly loop output for formats that support looping such as animated GIF
1016 (0 will loop the output infinitely).
1017 This option is deprecated, use -loop.
1018 @item -vsync @var{parameter}
1020 For compatibility reasons old values can be specified as numbers.
1021 Newly added values will have to be specified as strings always.
1024 @item 0, passthrough
1025 Each frame is passed with its timestamp from the demuxer to the muxer.
1027 Frames will be duplicated and dropped to achieve exactly the requested
1028 constant frame rate.
1030 Frames are passed through with their timestamp or dropped so as to
1031 prevent 2 frames from having the same timestamp.
1033 As passthrough but destroys all timestamps, making the muxer generate
1034 fresh timestamps based on frame-rate.
1036 Chooses between 1 and 2 depending on muxer capabilities. This is the
1040 Note that the timestamps may be further modified by the muxer, after this.
1041 For example, in the case that the format option @option{avoid_negative_ts}
1044 With -map you can select from which stream the timestamps should be
1045 taken. You can leave either video or audio unchanged and sync the
1046 remaining stream(s) to the unchanged one.
1048 @item -frame_drop_threshold @var{parameter}
1049 Frame drop threshold, which specifies how much behind video frames can
1050 be before they are dropped. In frame rate units, so 1.0 is one frame.
1051 The default is -1.1. One possible usecase is to avoid framedrops in case
1052 of noisy timestamps or to increase frame drop precision in case of exact
1055 @item -async @var{samples_per_second}
1056 Audio sync method. "Stretches/squeezes" the audio stream to match the timestamps,
1057 the parameter is the maximum samples per second by which the audio is changed.
1058 -async 1 is a special case where only the start of the audio stream is corrected
1059 without any later correction.
1061 Note that the timestamps may be further modified by the muxer, after this.
1062 For example, in the case that the format option @option{avoid_negative_ts}
1065 This option has been deprecated. Use the @code{aresample} audio filter instead.
1068 Do not process input timestamps, but keep their values without trying
1069 to sanitize them. In particular, do not remove the initial start time
1072 Note that, depending on the @option{vsync} option or on specific muxer
1073 processing (e.g. in case the format option @option{avoid_negative_ts}
1074 is enabled) the output timestamps may mismatch with the input
1075 timestamps even when this option is selected.
1077 @item -start_at_zero
1078 When used with @option{copyts}, shift input timestamps so they start at zero.
1080 This means that using e.g. @code{-ss 50} will make output timestamps start at
1081 50 seconds, regardless of what timestamp the input file started at.
1083 @item -copytb @var{mode}
1084 Specify how to set the encoder timebase when stream copying. @var{mode} is an
1085 integer numeric value, and can assume one of the following values:
1089 Use the demuxer timebase.
1091 The time base is copied to the output encoder from the corresponding input
1092 demuxer. This is sometimes required to avoid non monotonically increasing
1093 timestamps when copying video streams with variable frame rate.
1096 Use the decoder timebase.
1098 The time base is copied to the output encoder from the corresponding input
1102 Try to make the choice automatically, in order to generate a sane output.
1105 Default value is -1.
1107 @item -shortest (@emph{output})
1108 Finish encoding when the shortest input stream ends.
1109 @item -dts_delta_threshold
1110 Timestamp discontinuity delta threshold.
1111 @item -muxdelay @var{seconds} (@emph{input})
1112 Set the maximum demux-decode delay.
1113 @item -muxpreload @var{seconds} (@emph{input})
1114 Set the initial demux-decode delay.
1115 @item -streamid @var{output-stream-index}:@var{new-value} (@emph{output})
1116 Assign a new stream-id value to an output stream. This option should be
1117 specified prior to the output filename to which it applies.
1118 For the situation where multiple output files exist, a streamid
1119 may be reassigned to a different value.
1121 For example, to set the stream 0 PID to 33 and the stream 1 PID to 36 for
1122 an output mpegts file:
1124 ffmpeg -i infile -streamid 0:33 -streamid 1:36 out.ts
1127 @item -bsf[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{bitstream_filters} (@emph{output,per-stream})
1128 Set bitstream filters for matching streams. @var{bitstream_filters} is
1129 a comma-separated list of bitstream filters. Use the @code{-bsfs} option
1130 to get the list of bitstream filters.
1132 ffmpeg -i h264.mp4 -c:v copy -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -an out.h264
1135 ffmpeg -i file.mov -an -vn -bsf:s mov2textsub -c:s copy -f rawvideo sub.txt
1138 @item -tag[:@var{stream_specifier}] @var{codec_tag} (@emph{input/output,per-stream})
1139 Force a tag/fourcc for matching streams.
1141 @item -timecode @var{hh}:@var{mm}:@var{ss}SEP@var{ff}
1142 Specify Timecode for writing. @var{SEP} is ':' for non drop timecode and ';'
1145 ffmpeg -i input.mpg -timecode 01:02:03.04 -r 30000/1001 -s ntsc output.mpg
1148 @anchor{filter_complex_option}
1149 @item -filter_complex @var{filtergraph} (@emph{global})
1150 Define a complex filtergraph, i.e. one with arbitrary number of inputs and/or
1151 outputs. For simple graphs -- those with one input and one output of the same
1152 type -- see the @option{-filter} options. @var{filtergraph} is a description of
1153 the filtergraph, as described in the ``Filtergraph syntax'' section of the
1154 ffmpeg-filters manual.
1156 Input link labels must refer to input streams using the
1157 @code{[file_index:stream_specifier]} syntax (i.e. the same as @option{-map}
1158 uses). If @var{stream_specifier} matches multiple streams, the first one will be
1159 used. An unlabeled input will be connected to the first unused input stream of
1162 Output link labels are referred to with @option{-map}. Unlabeled outputs are
1163 added to the first output file.
1165 Note that with this option it is possible to use only lavfi sources without
1168 For example, to overlay an image over video
1170 ffmpeg -i video.mkv -i image.png -filter_complex '[0:v][1:v]overlay[out]' -map
1173 Here @code{[0:v]} refers to the first video stream in the first input file,
1174 which is linked to the first (main) input of the overlay filter. Similarly the
1175 first video stream in the second input is linked to the second (overlay) input
1178 Assuming there is only one video stream in each input file, we can omit input
1179 labels, so the above is equivalent to
1181 ffmpeg -i video.mkv -i image.png -filter_complex 'overlay[out]' -map
1185 Furthermore we can omit the output label and the single output from the filter
1186 graph will be added to the output file automatically, so we can simply write
1188 ffmpeg -i video.mkv -i image.png -filter_complex 'overlay' out.mkv
1191 To generate 5 seconds of pure red video using lavfi @code{color} source:
1193 ffmpeg -filter_complex 'color=c=red' -t 5 out.mkv
1196 @item -lavfi @var{filtergraph} (@emph{global})
1197 Define a complex filtergraph, i.e. one with arbitrary number of inputs and/or
1198 outputs. Equivalent to @option{-filter_complex}.
1200 @item -filter_complex_script @var{filename} (@emph{global})
1201 This option is similar to @option{-filter_complex}, the only difference is that
1202 its argument is the name of the file from which a complex filtergraph
1203 description is to be read.
1205 @item -accurate_seek (@emph{input})
1206 This option enables or disables accurate seeking in input files with the
1207 @option{-ss} option. It is enabled by default, so seeking is accurate when
1208 transcoding. Use @option{-noaccurate_seek} to disable it, which may be useful
1209 e.g. when copying some streams and transcoding the others.
1211 @item -seek_timestamp (@emph{input})
1212 This option enables or disables seeking by timestamp in input files with the
1213 @option{-ss} option. It is disabled by default. If enabled, the argument
1214 to the @option{-ss} option is considered an actual timestamp, and is not
1215 offset by the start time of the file. This matters only for files which do
1216 not start from timestamp 0, such as transport streams.
1218 @item -thread_queue_size @var{size} (@emph{input})
1219 This option sets the maximum number of queued packets when reading from the
1220 file or device. With low latency / high rate live streams, packets may be
1221 discarded if they are not read in a timely manner; raising this value can
1224 @item -override_ffserver (@emph{global})
1225 Overrides the input specifications from @command{ffserver}. Using this
1226 option you can map any input stream to @command{ffserver} and control
1227 many aspects of the encoding from @command{ffmpeg}. Without this
1228 option @command{ffmpeg} will transmit to @command{ffserver} what is
1229 requested by @command{ffserver}.
1231 The option is intended for cases where features are needed that cannot be
1232 specified to @command{ffserver} but can be to @command{ffmpeg}.
1234 @item -sdp_file @var{file} (@emph{global})
1235 Print sdp information to @var{file}.
1236 This allows dumping sdp information when at least one output isn't an
1239 @item -discard (@emph{input})
1240 Allows discarding specific streams or frames of streams at the demuxer.
1241 Not all demuxers support this.
1248 Default, which discards no frames.
1251 Discard all non-reference frames.
1254 Discard all bidirectional frames.
1257 Discard all frames excepts keyframes.
1263 @item -abort_on @var{flags} (@emph{global})
1264 Stop and abort on various conditions. The following flags are available:
1268 No packets were passed to the muxer, the output is empty.
1271 @item -xerror (@emph{global})
1272 Stop and exit on error
1276 As a special exception, you can use a bitmap subtitle stream as input: it
1277 will be converted into a video with the same size as the largest video in
1278 the file, or 720x576 if no video is present. Note that this is an
1279 experimental and temporary solution. It will be removed once libavfilter has
1280 proper support for subtitles.
1282 For example, to hardcode subtitles on top of a DVB-T recording stored in
1283 MPEG-TS format, delaying the subtitles by 1 second:
1285 ffmpeg -i input.ts -filter_complex \
1286 '[#0x2ef] setpts=PTS+1/TB [sub] ; [#0x2d0] [sub] overlay' \
1287 -sn -map '#0x2dc' output.mkv
1289 (0x2d0, 0x2dc and 0x2ef are the MPEG-TS PIDs of respectively the video,
1290 audio and subtitles streams; 0:0, 0:3 and 0:7 would have worked too)
1292 @section Preset files
1293 A preset file contains a sequence of @var{option}=@var{value} pairs,
1294 one for each line, specifying a sequence of options which would be
1295 awkward to specify on the command line. Lines starting with the hash
1296 ('#') character are ignored and are used to provide comments. Check
1297 the @file{presets} directory in the FFmpeg source tree for examples.
1299 There are two types of preset files: ffpreset and avpreset files.
1301 @subsection ffpreset files
1302 ffpreset files are specified with the @code{vpre}, @code{apre},
1303 @code{spre}, and @code{fpre} options. The @code{fpre} option takes the
1304 filename of the preset instead of a preset name as input and can be
1305 used for any kind of codec. For the @code{vpre}, @code{apre}, and
1306 @code{spre} options, the options specified in a preset file are
1307 applied to the currently selected codec of the same type as the preset
1310 The argument passed to the @code{vpre}, @code{apre}, and @code{spre}
1311 preset options identifies the preset file to use according to the
1314 First ffmpeg searches for a file named @var{arg}.ffpreset in the
1315 directories @file{$FFMPEG_DATADIR} (if set), and @file{$HOME/.ffmpeg}, and in
1316 the datadir defined at configuration time (usually @file{PREFIX/share/ffmpeg})
1317 or in a @file{ffpresets} folder along the executable on win32,
1318 in that order. For example, if the argument is @code{libvpx-1080p}, it will
1319 search for the file @file{libvpx-1080p.ffpreset}.
1321 If no such file is found, then ffmpeg will search for a file named
1322 @var{codec_name}-@var{arg}.ffpreset in the above-mentioned
1323 directories, where @var{codec_name} is the name of the codec to which
1324 the preset file options will be applied. For example, if you select
1325 the video codec with @code{-vcodec libvpx} and use @code{-vpre 1080p},
1326 then it will search for the file @file{libvpx-1080p.ffpreset}.
1328 @subsection avpreset files
1329 avpreset files are specified with the @code{pre} option. They work similar to
1330 ffpreset files, but they only allow encoder- specific options. Therefore, an
1331 @var{option}=@var{value} pair specifying an encoder cannot be used.
1333 When the @code{pre} option is specified, ffmpeg will look for files with the
1334 suffix .avpreset in the directories @file{$AVCONV_DATADIR} (if set), and
1335 @file{$HOME/.avconv}, and in the datadir defined at configuration time (usually
1336 @file{PREFIX/share/ffmpeg}), in that order.
1338 First ffmpeg searches for a file named @var{codec_name}-@var{arg}.avpreset in
1339 the above-mentioned directories, where @var{codec_name} is the name of the codec
1340 to which the preset file options will be applied. For example, if you select the
1341 video codec with @code{-vcodec libvpx} and use @code{-pre 1080p}, then it will
1342 search for the file @file{libvpx-1080p.avpreset}.
1344 If no such file is found, then ffmpeg will search for a file named
1345 @var{arg}.avpreset in the same directories.
1350 @c man begin EXAMPLES
1352 @section Video and Audio grabbing
1354 If you specify the input format and device then ffmpeg can grab video
1358 ffmpeg -f oss -i /dev/dsp -f video4linux2 -i /dev/video0 /tmp/out.mpg
1361 Or with an ALSA audio source (mono input, card id 1) instead of OSS:
1363 ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 1 -i hw:1 -f video4linux2 -i /dev/video0 /tmp/out.mpg
1366 Note that you must activate the right video source and channel before
1367 launching ffmpeg with any TV viewer such as
1368 @uref{http://linux.bytesex.org/xawtv/, xawtv} by Gerd Knorr. You also
1369 have to set the audio recording levels correctly with a
1372 @section X11 grabbing
1374 Grab the X11 display with ffmpeg via
1377 ffmpeg -f x11grab -video_size cif -framerate 25 -i :0.0 /tmp/out.mpg
1380 0.0 is display.screen number of your X11 server, same as
1381 the DISPLAY environment variable.
1384 ffmpeg -f x11grab -video_size cif -framerate 25 -i :0.0+10,20 /tmp/out.mpg
1387 0.0 is display.screen number of your X11 server, same as the DISPLAY environment
1388 variable. 10 is the x-offset and 20 the y-offset for the grabbing.
1390 @section Video and Audio file format conversion
1392 Any supported file format and protocol can serve as input to ffmpeg:
1397 You can use YUV files as input:
1400 ffmpeg -i /tmp/test%d.Y /tmp/out.mpg
1403 It will use the files:
1405 /tmp/test0.Y, /tmp/test0.U, /tmp/test0.V,
1406 /tmp/test1.Y, /tmp/test1.U, /tmp/test1.V, etc...
1409 The Y files use twice the resolution of the U and V files. They are
1410 raw files, without header. They can be generated by all decent video
1411 decoders. You must specify the size of the image with the @option{-s} option
1412 if ffmpeg cannot guess it.
1415 You can input from a raw YUV420P file:
1418 ffmpeg -i /tmp/test.yuv /tmp/out.avi
1421 test.yuv is a file containing raw YUV planar data. Each frame is composed
1422 of the Y plane followed by the U and V planes at half vertical and
1423 horizontal resolution.
1426 You can output to a raw YUV420P file:
1429 ffmpeg -i mydivx.avi hugefile.yuv
1433 You can set several input files and output files:
1436 ffmpeg -i /tmp/a.wav -s 640x480 -i /tmp/a.yuv /tmp/a.mpg
1439 Converts the audio file a.wav and the raw YUV video file a.yuv
1443 You can also do audio and video conversions at the same time:
1446 ffmpeg -i /tmp/a.wav -ar 22050 /tmp/a.mp2
1449 Converts a.wav to MPEG audio at 22050 Hz sample rate.
1452 You can encode to several formats at the same time and define a
1453 mapping from input stream to output streams:
1456 ffmpeg -i /tmp/a.wav -map 0:a -b:a 64k /tmp/a.mp2 -map 0:a -b:a 128k /tmp/b.mp2
1459 Converts a.wav to a.mp2 at 64 kbits and to b.mp2 at 128 kbits. '-map
1460 file:index' specifies which input stream is used for each output
1461 stream, in the order of the definition of output streams.
1464 You can transcode decrypted VOBs:
1467 ffmpeg -i snatch_1.vob -f avi -c:v mpeg4 -b:v 800k -g 300 -bf 2 -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 128k snatch.avi
1470 This is a typical DVD ripping example; the input is a VOB file, the
1471 output an AVI file with MPEG-4 video and MP3 audio. Note that in this
1472 command we use B-frames so the MPEG-4 stream is DivX5 compatible, and
1473 GOP size is 300 which means one intra frame every 10 seconds for 29.97fps
1474 input video. Furthermore, the audio stream is MP3-encoded so you need
1475 to enable LAME support by passing @code{--enable-libmp3lame} to configure.
1476 The mapping is particularly useful for DVD transcoding
1477 to get the desired audio language.
1479 NOTE: To see the supported input formats, use @code{ffmpeg -formats}.
1482 You can extract images from a video, or create a video from many images:
1484 For extracting images from a video:
1486 ffmpeg -i foo.avi -r 1 -s WxH -f image2 foo-%03d.jpeg
1489 This will extract one video frame per second from the video and will
1490 output them in files named @file{foo-001.jpeg}, @file{foo-002.jpeg},
1491 etc. Images will be rescaled to fit the new WxH values.
1493 If you want to extract just a limited number of frames, you can use the
1494 above command in combination with the -vframes or -t option, or in
1495 combination with -ss to start extracting from a certain point in time.
1497 For creating a video from many images:
1499 ffmpeg -f image2 -framerate 12 -i foo-%03d.jpeg -s WxH foo.avi
1502 The syntax @code{foo-%03d.jpeg} specifies to use a decimal number
1503 composed of three digits padded with zeroes to express the sequence
1504 number. It is the same syntax supported by the C printf function, but
1505 only formats accepting a normal integer are suitable.
1507 When importing an image sequence, -i also supports expanding
1508 shell-like wildcard patterns (globbing) internally, by selecting the
1509 image2-specific @code{-pattern_type glob} option.
1511 For example, for creating a video from filenames matching the glob pattern
1514 ffmpeg -f image2 -pattern_type glob -framerate 12 -i 'foo-*.jpeg' -s WxH foo.avi
1518 You can put many streams of the same type in the output:
1521 ffmpeg -i test1.avi -i test2.avi -map 1:1 -map 1:0 -map 0:1 -map 0:0 -c copy -y test12.nut
1524 The resulting output file @file{test12.nut} will contain the first four streams
1525 from the input files in reverse order.
1528 To force CBR video output:
1530 ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -b 4000k -minrate 4000k -maxrate 4000k -bufsize 1835k out.m2v
1534 The four options lmin, lmax, mblmin and mblmax use 'lambda' units,
1535 but you may use the QP2LAMBDA constant to easily convert from 'q' units:
1537 ffmpeg -i src.ext -lmax 21*QP2LAMBDA dst.ext
1543 @include config.texi
1545 @ifset config-avutil
1548 @ifset config-avcodec
1549 @include codecs.texi
1550 @include bitstream_filters.texi
1552 @ifset config-avformat
1553 @include formats.texi
1554 @include protocols.texi
1556 @ifset config-avdevice
1557 @include devices.texi
1559 @ifset config-swresample
1560 @include resampler.texi
1562 @ifset config-swscale
1563 @include scaler.texi
1565 @ifset config-avfilter
1566 @include filters.texi
1574 @url{ffmpeg.html,ffmpeg}
1576 @ifset config-not-all
1577 @url{ffmpeg-all.html,ffmpeg-all},
1579 @url{ffplay.html,ffplay}, @url{ffprobe.html,ffprobe}, @url{ffserver.html,ffserver},
1580 @url{ffmpeg-utils.html,ffmpeg-utils},
1581 @url{ffmpeg-scaler.html,ffmpeg-scaler},
1582 @url{ffmpeg-resampler.html,ffmpeg-resampler},
1583 @url{ffmpeg-codecs.html,ffmpeg-codecs},
1584 @url{ffmpeg-bitstream-filters.html,ffmpeg-bitstream-filters},
1585 @url{ffmpeg-formats.html,ffmpeg-formats},
1586 @url{ffmpeg-devices.html,ffmpeg-devices},
1587 @url{ffmpeg-protocols.html,ffmpeg-protocols},
1588 @url{ffmpeg-filters.html,ffmpeg-filters}
1595 @ifset config-not-all
1598 ffplay(1), ffprobe(1), ffserver(1),
1599 ffmpeg-utils(1), ffmpeg-scaler(1), ffmpeg-resampler(1),
1600 ffmpeg-codecs(1), ffmpeg-bitstream-filters(1), ffmpeg-formats(1),
1601 ffmpeg-devices(1), ffmpeg-protocols(1), ffmpeg-filters(1)
1604 @include authors.texi
1609 @settitle ffmpeg video converter