1 All the numerical options, if not specified otherwise, accept a string
2 representing a number as input, which may be followed by one of the SI
3 unit prefixes, for example: 'K', 'M', or 'G'.
5 If 'i' is appended to the SI unit prefix, the complete prefix will be
6 interpreted as a unit prefix for binary multiples, which are based on
7 powers of 1024 instead of powers of 1000. Appending 'B' to the SI unit
8 prefix multiplies the value by 8. This allows using, for example:
9 'KB', 'MiB', 'G' and 'B' as number suffixes.
11 Options which do not take arguments are boolean options, and set the
12 corresponding value to true. They can be set to false by prefixing
13 the option name with "no". For example using "-nofoo"
14 will set the boolean option with name "foo" to false.
16 @anchor{Stream specifiers}
17 @section Stream specifiers
18 Some options are applied per-stream, e.g. bitrate or codec. Stream specifiers
19 are used to precisely specify which stream(s) a given option belongs to.
21 A stream specifier is a string generally appended to the option name and
22 separated from it by a colon. E.g. @code{-codec:a:1 ac3} contains the
23 @code{a:1} stream specifier, which matches the second audio stream. Therefore, it
24 would select the ac3 codec for the second audio stream.
26 A stream specifier can match several streams, so that the option is applied to all
27 of them. E.g. the stream specifier in @code{-b:a 128k} matches all audio
30 An empty stream specifier matches all streams. For example, @code{-codec copy}
31 or @code{-codec: copy} would copy all the streams without reencoding.
33 Possible forms of stream specifiers are:
35 @item @var{stream_index}
36 Matches the stream with this index. E.g. @code{-threads:1 4} would set the
37 thread count for the second stream to 4.
38 @item @var{stream_type}[:@var{stream_index}]
39 @var{stream_type} is one of following: 'v' or 'V' for video, 'a' for audio, 's'
40 for subtitle, 'd' for data, and 't' for attachments. 'v' matches all video
41 streams, 'V' only matches video streams which are not attached pictures, video
42 thumbnails or cover arts. If @var{stream_index} is given, then it matches
43 stream number @var{stream_index} of this type. Otherwise, it matches all
45 @item p:@var{program_id}[:@var{stream_index}]
46 If @var{stream_index} is given, then it matches the stream with number @var{stream_index}
47 in the program with the id @var{program_id}. Otherwise, it matches all streams in the
49 @item #@var{stream_id} or i:@var{stream_id}
50 Match the stream by stream id (e.g. PID in MPEG-TS container).
51 @item m:@var{key}[:@var{value}]
52 Matches streams with the metadata tag @var{key} having the specified value. If
53 @var{value} is not given, matches streams that contain the given tag with any
56 Matches streams with usable configuration, the codec must be defined and the
57 essential information such as video dimension or audio sample rate must be present.
59 Note that in @command{ffmpeg}, matching by metadata will only work properly for
63 @section Generic options
65 These options are shared amongst the ff* tools.
72 @item -h, -?, -help, --help [@var{arg}]
73 Show help. An optional parameter may be specified to print help about a specific
74 item. If no argument is specified, only basic (non advanced) tool
77 Possible values of @var{arg} are:
80 Print advanced tool options in addition to the basic tool options.
83 Print complete list of options, including shared and private options
84 for encoders, decoders, demuxers, muxers, filters, etc.
86 @item decoder=@var{decoder_name}
87 Print detailed information about the decoder named @var{decoder_name}. Use the
88 @option{-decoders} option to get a list of all decoders.
90 @item encoder=@var{encoder_name}
91 Print detailed information about the encoder named @var{encoder_name}. Use the
92 @option{-encoders} option to get a list of all encoders.
94 @item demuxer=@var{demuxer_name}
95 Print detailed information about the demuxer named @var{demuxer_name}. Use the
96 @option{-formats} option to get a list of all demuxers and muxers.
98 @item muxer=@var{muxer_name}
99 Print detailed information about the muxer named @var{muxer_name}. Use the
100 @option{-formats} option to get a list of all muxers and demuxers.
102 @item filter=@var{filter_name}
103 Print detailed information about the filter name @var{filter_name}. Use the
104 @option{-filters} option to get a list of all filters.
111 Show available formats (including devices).
114 Show available demuxers.
117 Show available muxers.
120 Show available devices.
123 Show all codecs known to libavcodec.
125 Note that the term 'codec' is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut
126 for what is more correctly called a media bitstream format.
129 Show available decoders.
132 Show all available encoders.
135 Show available bitstream filters.
138 Show available protocols.
141 Show available libavfilter filters.
144 Show available pixel formats.
147 Show available sample formats.
150 Show channel names and standard channel layouts.
153 Show recognized color names.
155 @item -sources @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
156 Show autodetected sources of the intput device.
157 Some devices may provide system-dependent source names that cannot be autodetected.
158 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
160 ffmpeg -sources pulse,server=192.168.0.4
163 @item -sinks @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
164 Show autodetected sinks of the output device.
165 Some devices may provide system-dependent sink names that cannot be autodetected.
166 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
168 ffmpeg -sinks pulse,server=192.168.0.4
171 @item -loglevel [repeat+]@var{loglevel} | -v [repeat+]@var{loglevel}
172 Set the logging level used by the library.
173 Adding "repeat+" indicates that repeated log output should not be compressed
174 to the first line and the "Last message repeated n times" line will be
175 omitted. "repeat" can also be used alone.
176 If "repeat" is used alone, and with no prior loglevel set, the default
177 loglevel will be used. If multiple loglevel parameters are given, using
178 'repeat' will not change the loglevel.
179 @var{loglevel} is a string or a number containing one of the following values:
182 Show nothing at all; be silent.
184 Only show fatal errors which could lead the process to crash, such as
185 an assertion failure. This is not currently used for anything.
187 Only show fatal errors. These are errors after which the process absolutely
190 Show all errors, including ones which can be recovered from.
192 Show all warnings and errors. Any message related to possibly
193 incorrect or unexpected events will be shown.
195 Show informative messages during processing. This is in addition to
196 warnings and errors. This is the default value.
198 Same as @code{info}, except more verbose.
200 Show everything, including debugging information.
204 By default the program logs to stderr. If coloring is supported by the
205 terminal, colors are used to mark errors and warnings. Log coloring
206 can be disabled setting the environment variable
207 @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR} or @env{NO_COLOR}, or can be forced setting
208 the environment variable @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR}.
209 The use of the environment variable @env{NO_COLOR} is deprecated and
210 will be dropped in a future FFmpeg version.
213 Dump full command line and console output to a file named
214 @code{@var{program}-@var{YYYYMMDD}-@var{HHMMSS}.log} in the current
216 This file can be useful for bug reports.
217 It also implies @code{-loglevel verbose}.
219 Setting the environment variable @env{FFREPORT} to any value has the
220 same effect. If the value is a ':'-separated key=value sequence, these
221 options will affect the report; option values must be escaped if they
222 contain special characters or the options delimiter ':' (see the
223 ``Quoting and escaping'' section in the ffmpeg-utils manual).
225 The following options are recognized:
228 set the file name to use for the report; @code{%p} is expanded to the name
229 of the program, @code{%t} is expanded to a timestamp, @code{%%} is expanded
232 set the log verbosity level using a numerical value (see @code{-loglevel}).
235 For example, to output a report to a file named @file{ffreport.log}
236 using a log level of @code{32} (alias for log level @code{info}):
239 FFREPORT=file=ffreport.log:level=32 ffmpeg -i input output
242 Errors in parsing the environment variable are not fatal, and will not
243 appear in the report.
246 Suppress printing banner.
248 All FFmpeg tools will normally show a copyright notice, build options
249 and library versions. This option can be used to suppress printing
252 @item -cpuflags flags (@emph{global})
253 Allows setting and clearing cpu flags. This option is intended
254 for testing. Do not use it unless you know what you're doing.
256 ffmpeg -cpuflags -sse+mmx ...
257 ffmpeg -cpuflags mmx ...
258 ffmpeg -cpuflags 0 ...
260 Possible flags for this option are:
306 @item Specific Processors
320 This option is used to benchmark all available OpenCL devices and print the
321 results. This option is only available when FFmpeg has been compiled with
322 @code{--enable-opencl}.
324 When FFmpeg is configured with @code{--enable-opencl}, the options for the
325 global OpenCL context are set via @option{-opencl_options}. See the
326 "OpenCL Options" section in the ffmpeg-utils manual for the complete list of
327 supported options. Amongst others, these options include the ability to select
328 a specific platform and device to run the OpenCL code on. By default, FFmpeg
329 will run on the first device of the first platform. While the options for the
330 global OpenCL context provide flexibility to the user in selecting the OpenCL
331 device of their choice, most users would probably want to select the fastest
332 OpenCL device for their system.
334 This option assists the selection of the most efficient configuration by
335 identifying the appropriate device for the user's system. The built-in
336 benchmark is run on all the OpenCL devices and the performance is measured for
337 each device. The devices in the results list are sorted based on their
338 performance with the fastest device listed first. The user can subsequently
339 invoke @command{ffmpeg} using the device deemed most appropriate via
340 @option{-opencl_options} to obtain the best performance for the OpenCL
343 Typical usage to use the fastest OpenCL device involve the following steps.
349 Note down the platform ID (@var{pidx}) and device ID (@var{didx}) of the first
350 i.e. fastest device in the list.
351 Select the platform and device using the command:
353 ffmpeg -opencl_options platform_idx=@var{pidx}:device_idx=@var{didx} ...
356 @item -opencl_options options (@emph{global})
357 Set OpenCL environment options. This option is only available when
358 FFmpeg has been compiled with @code{--enable-opencl}.
360 @var{options} must be a list of @var{key}=@var{value} option pairs
361 separated by ':'. See the ``OpenCL Options'' section in the
362 ffmpeg-utils manual for the list of supported options.
367 These options are provided directly by the libavformat, libavdevice and
368 libavcodec libraries. To see the list of available AVOptions, use the
369 @option{-help} option. They are separated into two categories:
372 These options can be set for any container, codec or device. Generic options
373 are listed under AVFormatContext options for containers/devices and under
374 AVCodecContext options for codecs.
376 These options are specific to the given container, device or codec. Private
377 options are listed under their corresponding containers/devices/codecs.
380 For example to write an ID3v2.3 header instead of a default ID3v2.4 to
381 an MP3 file, use the @option{id3v2_version} private option of the MP3
384 ffmpeg -i input.flac -id3v2_version 3 out.mp3
387 All codec AVOptions are per-stream, and thus a stream specifier
388 should be attached to them.
390 Note: the @option{-nooption} syntax cannot be used for boolean
391 AVOptions, use @option{-option 0}/@option{-option 1}.
393 Note: the old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by
394 prepending v/a/s to the options name is now obsolete and will be