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. If @var{stream_index} is used as an
38 additional stream specifier (see below), then it selects stream number
39 @var{stream_index} from the matching streams.
40 @item @var{stream_type}[:@var{additional_stream_specifier}]
41 @var{stream_type} is one of following: 'v' or 'V' for video, 'a' for audio, 's'
42 for subtitle, 'd' for data, and 't' for attachments. 'v' matches all video
43 streams, 'V' only matches video streams which are not attached pictures, video
44 thumbnails or cover arts. If @var{additional_stream_specifier} is used, then
45 it matches streams which both have this type and match the
46 @var{additional_stream_specifier}. Otherwise, it matches all streams of the
48 @item p:@var{program_id}[:@var{additional_stream_specifier}]
49 Matches streams which are in the program with the id @var{program_id}. If
50 @var{additional_stream_specifier} is used, then it matches streams which both
51 are part of the program and match the @var{additional_stream_specifier}.
53 @item #@var{stream_id} or i:@var{stream_id}
54 Match the stream by stream id (e.g. PID in MPEG-TS container).
55 @item m:@var{key}[:@var{value}]
56 Matches streams with the metadata tag @var{key} having the specified value. If
57 @var{value} is not given, matches streams that contain the given tag with any
60 Matches streams with usable configuration, the codec must be defined and the
61 essential information such as video dimension or audio sample rate must be present.
63 Note that in @command{ffmpeg}, matching by metadata will only work properly for
67 @section Generic options
69 These options are shared amongst the ff* tools.
76 @item -h, -?, -help, --help [@var{arg}]
77 Show help. An optional parameter may be specified to print help about a specific
78 item. If no argument is specified, only basic (non advanced) tool
81 Possible values of @var{arg} are:
84 Print advanced tool options in addition to the basic tool options.
87 Print complete list of options, including shared and private options
88 for encoders, decoders, demuxers, muxers, filters, etc.
90 @item decoder=@var{decoder_name}
91 Print detailed information about the decoder named @var{decoder_name}. Use the
92 @option{-decoders} option to get a list of all decoders.
94 @item encoder=@var{encoder_name}
95 Print detailed information about the encoder named @var{encoder_name}. Use the
96 @option{-encoders} option to get a list of all encoders.
98 @item demuxer=@var{demuxer_name}
99 Print detailed information about the demuxer named @var{demuxer_name}. Use the
100 @option{-formats} option to get a list of all demuxers and muxers.
102 @item muxer=@var{muxer_name}
103 Print detailed information about the muxer named @var{muxer_name}. Use the
104 @option{-formats} option to get a list of all muxers and demuxers.
106 @item filter=@var{filter_name}
107 Print detailed information about the filter name @var{filter_name}. Use the
108 @option{-filters} option to get a list of all filters.
115 Show available formats (including devices).
118 Show available demuxers.
121 Show available muxers.
124 Show available devices.
127 Show all codecs known to libavcodec.
129 Note that the term 'codec' is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut
130 for what is more correctly called a media bitstream format.
133 Show available decoders.
136 Show all available encoders.
139 Show available bitstream filters.
142 Show available protocols.
145 Show available libavfilter filters.
148 Show available pixel formats.
151 Show available sample formats.
154 Show channel names and standard channel layouts.
157 Show recognized color names.
159 @item -sources @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
160 Show autodetected sources of the input device.
161 Some devices may provide system-dependent source names that cannot be autodetected.
162 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
164 ffmpeg -sources pulse,server=192.168.0.4
167 @item -sinks @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
168 Show autodetected sinks of the output device.
169 Some devices may provide system-dependent sink names that cannot be autodetected.
170 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
172 ffmpeg -sinks pulse,server=192.168.0.4
175 @item -loglevel [@var{flags}+]@var{loglevel} | -v [@var{flags}+]@var{loglevel}
176 Set logging level and flags used by the library.
178 The optional @var{flags} prefix can consist of the following values:
181 Indicates that repeated log output should not be compressed to the first line
182 and the "Last message repeated n times" line will be omitted.
184 Indicates that log output should add a @code{[level]} prefix to each message
185 line. This can be used as an alternative to log coloring, e.g. when dumping the
188 Flags can also be used alone by adding a '+'/'-' prefix to set/reset a single
189 flag without affecting other @var{flags} or changing @var{loglevel}. When
190 setting both @var{flags} and @var{loglevel}, a '+' separator is expected
191 between the last @var{flags} value and before @var{loglevel}.
193 @var{loglevel} is a string or a number containing one of the following values:
196 Show nothing at all; be silent.
198 Only show fatal errors which could lead the process to crash, such as
199 an assertion failure. This is not currently used for anything.
201 Only show fatal errors. These are errors after which the process absolutely
204 Show all errors, including ones which can be recovered from.
206 Show all warnings and errors. Any message related to possibly
207 incorrect or unexpected events will be shown.
209 Show informative messages during processing. This is in addition to
210 warnings and errors. This is the default value.
212 Same as @code{info}, except more verbose.
214 Show everything, including debugging information.
218 For example to enable repeated log output, add the @code{level} prefix, and set
219 @var{loglevel} to @code{verbose}:
221 ffmpeg -loglevel repeat+level+verbose -i input output
223 Another example that enables repeated log output without affecting current
224 state of @code{level} prefix flag or @var{loglevel}:
226 ffmpeg [...] -loglevel +repeat
229 By default the program logs to stderr. If coloring is supported by the
230 terminal, colors are used to mark errors and warnings. Log coloring
231 can be disabled setting the environment variable
232 @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR} or @env{NO_COLOR}, or can be forced setting
233 the environment variable @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR}.
234 The use of the environment variable @env{NO_COLOR} is deprecated and
235 will be dropped in a future FFmpeg version.
238 Dump full command line and console output to a file named
239 @code{@var{program}-@var{YYYYMMDD}-@var{HHMMSS}.log} in the current
241 This file can be useful for bug reports.
242 It also implies @code{-loglevel verbose}.
244 Setting the environment variable @env{FFREPORT} to any value has the
245 same effect. If the value is a ':'-separated key=value sequence, these
246 options will affect the report; option values must be escaped if they
247 contain special characters or the options delimiter ':' (see the
248 ``Quoting and escaping'' section in the ffmpeg-utils manual).
250 The following options are recognized:
253 set the file name to use for the report; @code{%p} is expanded to the name
254 of the program, @code{%t} is expanded to a timestamp, @code{%%} is expanded
257 set the log verbosity level using a numerical value (see @code{-loglevel}).
260 For example, to output a report to a file named @file{ffreport.log}
261 using a log level of @code{32} (alias for log level @code{info}):
264 FFREPORT=file=ffreport.log:level=32 ffmpeg -i input output
267 Errors in parsing the environment variable are not fatal, and will not
268 appear in the report.
271 Suppress printing banner.
273 All FFmpeg tools will normally show a copyright notice, build options
274 and library versions. This option can be used to suppress printing
277 @item -cpuflags flags (@emph{global})
278 Allows setting and clearing cpu flags. This option is intended
279 for testing. Do not use it unless you know what you're doing.
281 ffmpeg -cpuflags -sse+mmx ...
282 ffmpeg -cpuflags mmx ...
283 ffmpeg -cpuflags 0 ...
285 Possible flags for this option are:
331 @item Specific Processors
347 These options are provided directly by the libavformat, libavdevice and
348 libavcodec libraries. To see the list of available AVOptions, use the
349 @option{-help} option. They are separated into two categories:
352 These options can be set for any container, codec or device. Generic options
353 are listed under AVFormatContext options for containers/devices and under
354 AVCodecContext options for codecs.
356 These options are specific to the given container, device or codec. Private
357 options are listed under their corresponding containers/devices/codecs.
360 For example to write an ID3v2.3 header instead of a default ID3v2.4 to
361 an MP3 file, use the @option{id3v2_version} private option of the MP3
364 ffmpeg -i input.flac -id3v2_version 3 out.mp3
367 All codec AVOptions are per-stream, and thus a stream specifier
368 should be attached to them:
370 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
373 In the above example, a multichannel audio stream is mapped twice for output.
374 The first instance is encoded with codec ac3 and bitrate 640k.
375 The second instance is downmixed to 2 channels and encoded with codec aac. A bitrate of 128k is specified for it using
376 absolute index of the output stream.
378 Note: the @option{-nooption} syntax cannot be used for boolean
379 AVOptions, use @option{-option 0}/@option{-option 1}.
381 Note: the old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by
382 prepending v/a/s to the options name is now obsolete and will be