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 devices.
117 Show all codecs known to libavcodec.
119 Note that the term 'codec' is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut
120 for what is more correctly called a media bitstream format.
123 Show available decoders.
126 Show all available encoders.
129 Show available bitstream filters.
132 Show available protocols.
135 Show available libavfilter filters.
138 Show available pixel formats.
141 Show available sample formats.
144 Show channel names and standard channel layouts.
147 Show recognized color names.
149 @item -sources @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
150 Show autodetected sources of the intput device.
151 Some devices may provide system-dependent source names that cannot be autodetected.
152 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
154 ffmpeg -sources pulse,server=192.168.0.4
157 @item -sinks @var{device}[,@var{opt1}=@var{val1}[,@var{opt2}=@var{val2}]...]
158 Show autodetected sinks of the output device.
159 Some devices may provide system-dependent sink names that cannot be autodetected.
160 The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
162 ffmpeg -sinks pulse,server=192.168.0.4
165 @item -loglevel [repeat+]@var{loglevel} | -v [repeat+]@var{loglevel}
166 Set the logging level used by the library.
167 Adding "repeat+" indicates that repeated log output should not be compressed
168 to the first line and the "Last message repeated n times" line will be
169 omitted. "repeat" can also be used alone.
170 If "repeat" is used alone, and with no prior loglevel set, the default
171 loglevel will be used. If multiple loglevel parameters are given, using
172 'repeat' will not change the loglevel.
173 @var{loglevel} is a string or a number containing one of the following values:
176 Show nothing at all; be silent.
178 Only show fatal errors which could lead the process to crash, such as
179 and assert failure. This is not currently used for anything.
181 Only show fatal errors. These are errors after which the process absolutely
182 cannot continue after.
184 Show all errors, including ones which can be recovered from.
186 Show all warnings and errors. Any message related to possibly
187 incorrect or unexpected events will be shown.
189 Show informative messages during processing. This is in addition to
190 warnings and errors. This is the default value.
192 Same as @code{info}, except more verbose.
194 Show everything, including debugging information.
198 By default the program logs to stderr, if coloring is supported by the
199 terminal, colors are used to mark errors and warnings. Log coloring
200 can be disabled setting the environment variable
201 @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR} or @env{NO_COLOR}, or can be forced setting
202 the environment variable @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR}.
203 The use of the environment variable @env{NO_COLOR} is deprecated and
204 will be dropped in a following FFmpeg version.
207 Dump full command line and console output to a file named
208 @code{@var{program}-@var{YYYYMMDD}-@var{HHMMSS}.log} in the current
210 This file can be useful for bug reports.
211 It also implies @code{-loglevel verbose}.
213 Setting the environment variable @env{FFREPORT} to any value has the
214 same effect. If the value is a ':'-separated key=value sequence, these
215 options will affect the report; option values must be escaped if they
216 contain special characters or the options delimiter ':' (see the
217 ``Quoting and escaping'' section in the ffmpeg-utils manual).
219 The following options are recognized:
222 set the file name to use for the report; @code{%p} is expanded to the name
223 of the program, @code{%t} is expanded to a timestamp, @code{%%} is expanded
226 set the log verbosity level using a numerical value (see @code{-loglevel}).
229 For example, to output a report to a file named @file{ffreport.log}
230 using a log level of @code{32} (alias for log level @code{info}):
233 FFREPORT=file=ffreport.log:level=32 ffmpeg -i input output
236 Errors in parsing the environment variable are not fatal, and will not
237 appear in the report.
240 Suppress printing banner.
242 All FFmpeg tools will normally show a copyright notice, build options
243 and library versions. This option can be used to suppress printing
246 @item -cpuflags flags (@emph{global})
247 Allows setting and clearing cpu flags. This option is intended
248 for testing. Do not use it unless you know what you're doing.
250 ffmpeg -cpuflags -sse+mmx ...
251 ffmpeg -cpuflags mmx ...
252 ffmpeg -cpuflags 0 ...
254 Possible flags for this option are:
300 @item Specific Processors
314 This option is used to benchmark all available OpenCL devices and print the
315 results. This option is only available when FFmpeg has been compiled with
316 @code{--enable-opencl}.
318 When FFmpeg is configured with @code{--enable-opencl}, the options for the
319 global OpenCL context are set via @option{-opencl_options}. See the
320 "OpenCL Options" section in the ffmpeg-utils manual for the complete list of
321 supported options. Amongst others, these options include the ability to select
322 a specific platform and device to run the OpenCL code on. By default, FFmpeg
323 will run on the first device of the first platform. While the options for the
324 global OpenCL context provide flexibility to the user in selecting the OpenCL
325 device of their choice, most users would probably want to select the fastest
326 OpenCL device for their system.
328 This option assists the selection of the most efficient configuration by
329 identifying the appropriate device for the user's system. The built-in
330 benchmark is run on all the OpenCL devices and the performance is measured for
331 each device. The devices in the results list are sorted based on their
332 performance with the fastest device listed first. The user can subsequently
333 invoke @command{ffmpeg} using the device deemed most appropriate via
334 @option{-opencl_options} to obtain the best performance for the OpenCL
337 Typical usage to use the fastest OpenCL device involve the following steps.
343 Note down the platform ID (@var{pidx}) and device ID (@var{didx}) of the first
344 i.e. fastest device in the list.
345 Select the platform and device using the command:
347 ffmpeg -opencl_options platform_idx=@var{pidx}:device_idx=@var{didx} ...
350 @item -opencl_options options (@emph{global})
351 Set OpenCL environment options. This option is only available when
352 FFmpeg has been compiled with @code{--enable-opencl}.
354 @var{options} must be a list of @var{key}=@var{value} option pairs
355 separated by ':'. See the ``OpenCL Options'' section in the
356 ffmpeg-utils manual for the list of supported options.
361 These options are provided directly by the libavformat, libavdevice and
362 libavcodec libraries. To see the list of available AVOptions, use the
363 @option{-help} option. They are separated into two categories:
366 These options can be set for any container, codec or device. Generic options
367 are listed under AVFormatContext options for containers/devices and under
368 AVCodecContext options for codecs.
370 These options are specific to the given container, device or codec. Private
371 options are listed under their corresponding containers/devices/codecs.
374 For example to write an ID3v2.3 header instead of a default ID3v2.4 to
375 an MP3 file, use the @option{id3v2_version} private option of the MP3
378 ffmpeg -i input.flac -id3v2_version 3 out.mp3
381 All codec AVOptions are per-stream, and thus a stream specifier
382 should be attached to them.
384 Note: the @option{-nooption} syntax cannot be used for boolean
385 AVOptions, use @option{-option 0}/@option{-option 1}.
387 Note: the old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by
388 prepending v/a/s to the options name is now obsolete and will be