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' for video, 'a' for audio, 's' for subtitle,
40 'd' for data, and 't' for attachments. If @var{stream_index} is given, then it matches
41 stream number @var{stream_index} of this type. Otherwise, it matches all
43 @item p:@var{program_id}[:@var{stream_index}]
44 If @var{stream_index} is given, then it matches the stream with number @var{stream_index}
45 in the program with the id @var{program_id}. Otherwise, it matches all streams in the
47 @item #@var{stream_id} or i:@var{stream_id}
48 Match the stream by stream id (e.g. PID in MPEG-TS container).
49 @item m:@var{key}[:@var{value}]
50 Matches streams with the metadata tag @var{key} having the specified value. If
51 @var{value} is not given, matches streams that contain the given tag with any
54 Matches streams with usable configuration, the codec must be defined and the
55 essential information such as video dimension or audio sample rate must be present.
57 Note that in @command{ffmpeg}, matching by metadata will only work properly for
61 @section Generic options
63 These options are shared amongst the ff* tools.
70 @item -h, -?, -help, --help [@var{arg}]
71 Show help. An optional parameter may be specified to print help about a specific
72 item. If no argument is specified, only basic (non advanced) tool
75 Possible values of @var{arg} are:
78 Print advanced tool options in addition to the basic tool options.
81 Print complete list of options, including shared and private options
82 for encoders, decoders, demuxers, muxers, filters, etc.
84 @item decoder=@var{decoder_name}
85 Print detailed information about the decoder named @var{decoder_name}. Use the
86 @option{-decoders} option to get a list of all decoders.
88 @item encoder=@var{encoder_name}
89 Print detailed information about the encoder named @var{encoder_name}. Use the
90 @option{-encoders} option to get a list of all encoders.
92 @item demuxer=@var{demuxer_name}
93 Print detailed information about the demuxer named @var{demuxer_name}. Use the
94 @option{-formats} option to get a list of all demuxers and muxers.
96 @item muxer=@var{muxer_name}
97 Print detailed information about the muxer named @var{muxer_name}. Use the
98 @option{-formats} option to get a list of all muxers and demuxers.
100 @item filter=@var{filter_name}
101 Print detailed information about the filter name @var{filter_name}. Use the
102 @option{-filters} option to get a list of all filters.
109 Show available formats (including devices).
112 Show available devices.
115 Show all codecs known to libavcodec.
117 Note that the term 'codec' is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut
118 for what is more correctly called a media bitstream format.
121 Show available decoders.
124 Show all available encoders.
127 Show available bitstream filters.
130 Show available protocols.
133 Show available libavfilter filters.
136 Show available pixel formats.
139 Show available sample formats.
142 Show channel names and standard channel layouts.
145 Show recognized color names.
147 @item -sources @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
148 Show autodetected sources of the intput device.
149 Some devices may provide system-dependent source names that cannot be autodetected.
150 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
152 ffmpeg -sources pulse,server=192.168.0.4
155 @item -sinks @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
156 Show autodetected sinks of the output device.
157 Some devices may provide system-dependent sink names that cannot be autodetected.
158 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
160 ffmpeg -sinks pulse,server=192.168.0.4
163 @item -loglevel [repeat+]@var{loglevel} | -v [repeat+]@var{loglevel}
164 Set the logging level used by the library.
165 Adding "repeat+" indicates that repeated log output should not be compressed
166 to the first line and the "Last message repeated n times" line will be
167 omitted. "repeat" can also be used alone.
168 If "repeat" is used alone, and with no prior loglevel set, the default
169 loglevel will be used. If multiple loglevel parameters are given, using
170 'repeat' will not change the loglevel.
171 @var{loglevel} is a string or a number containing one of the following values:
174 Show nothing at all; be silent.
176 Only show fatal errors which could lead the process to crash, such as
177 and assert failure. This is not currently used for anything.
179 Only show fatal errors. These are errors after which the process absolutely
180 cannot continue after.
182 Show all errors, including ones which can be recovered from.
184 Show all warnings and errors. Any message related to possibly
185 incorrect or unexpected events will be shown.
187 Show informative messages during processing. This is in addition to
188 warnings and errors. This is the default value.
190 Same as @code{info}, except more verbose.
192 Show everything, including debugging information.
195 By default the program logs to stderr, if coloring is supported by the
196 terminal, colors are used to mark errors and warnings. Log coloring
197 can be disabled setting the environment variable
198 @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR} or @env{NO_COLOR}, or can be forced setting
199 the environment variable @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR}.
200 The use of the environment variable @env{NO_COLOR} is deprecated and
201 will be dropped in a following FFmpeg version.
204 Dump full command line and console output to a file named
205 @code{@var{program}-@var{YYYYMMDD}-@var{HHMMSS}.log} in the current
207 This file can be useful for bug reports.
208 It also implies @code{-loglevel verbose}.
210 Setting the environment variable @env{FFREPORT} to any value has the
211 same effect. If the value is a ':'-separated key=value sequence, these
212 options will affect the report; option values must be escaped if they
213 contain special characters or the options delimiter ':' (see the
214 ``Quoting and escaping'' section in the ffmpeg-utils manual).
216 The following options are recognized:
219 set the file name to use for the report; @code{%p} is expanded to the name
220 of the program, @code{%t} is expanded to a timestamp, @code{%%} is expanded
223 set the log verbosity level using a numerical value (see @code{-loglevel}).
226 For example, to output a report to a file named @file{ffreport.log}
227 using a log level of @code{32} (alias for log level @code{info}):
230 FFREPORT=file=ffreport.log:level=32 ffmpeg -i input output
233 Errors in parsing the environment variable are not fatal, and will not
234 appear in the report.
237 Suppress printing banner.
239 All FFmpeg tools will normally show a copyright notice, build options
240 and library versions. This option can be used to suppress printing
243 @item -cpuflags flags (@emph{global})
244 Allows setting and clearing cpu flags. This option is intended
245 for testing. Do not use it unless you know what you're doing.
247 ffmpeg -cpuflags -sse+mmx ...
248 ffmpeg -cpuflags mmx ...
249 ffmpeg -cpuflags 0 ...
251 Possible flags for this option are:
286 @item Specific Processors
300 This option is used to benchmark all available OpenCL devices and print the
301 results. This option is only available when FFmpeg has been compiled with
302 @code{--enable-opencl}.
304 When FFmpeg is configured with @code{--enable-opencl}, the options for the
305 global OpenCL context are set via @option{-opencl_options}. See the
306 "OpenCL Options" section in the ffmpeg-utils manual for the complete list of
307 supported options. Amongst others, these options include the ability to select
308 a specific platform and device to run the OpenCL code on. By default, FFmpeg
309 will run on the first device of the first platform. While the options for the
310 global OpenCL context provide flexibility to the user in selecting the OpenCL
311 device of their choice, most users would probably want to select the fastest
312 OpenCL device for their system.
314 This option assists the selection of the most efficient configuration by
315 identifying the appropriate device for the user's system. The built-in
316 benchmark is run on all the OpenCL devices and the performance is measured for
317 each device. The devices in the results list are sorted based on their
318 performance with the fastest device listed first. The user can subsequently
319 invoke @command{ffmpeg} using the device deemed most appropriate via
320 @option{-opencl_options} to obtain the best performance for the OpenCL
323 Typical usage to use the fastest OpenCL device involve the following steps.
329 Note down the platform ID (@var{pidx}) and device ID (@var{didx}) of the first
330 i.e. fastest device in the list.
331 Select the platform and device using the command:
333 ffmpeg -opencl_options platform_idx=@var{pidx}:device_idx=@var{didx} ...
336 @item -opencl_options options (@emph{global})
337 Set OpenCL environment options. This option is only available when
338 FFmpeg has been compiled with @code{--enable-opencl}.
340 @var{options} must be a list of @var{key}=@var{value} option pairs
341 separated by ':'. See the ``OpenCL Options'' section in the
342 ffmpeg-utils manual for the list of supported options.
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 Note: the @option{-nooption} syntax cannot be used for boolean
371 AVOptions, use @option{-option 0}/@option{-option 1}.
373 Note: the old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by
374 prepending v/a/s to the options name is now obsolete and will be