4 Muxers are configured elements in FFmpeg which allow writing
5 multimedia streams to a particular type of file.
7 When you configure your FFmpeg build, all the supported muxers
8 are enabled by default. You can list all available muxers using the
9 configure option @code{--list-muxers}.
11 You can disable all the muxers with the configure option
12 @code{--disable-muxers} and selectively enable / disable single muxers
13 with the options @code{--enable-muxer=@var{MUXER}} /
14 @code{--disable-muxer=@var{MUXER}}.
16 The option @code{-formats} of the ff* tools will display the list of
19 A description of some of the currently available muxers follows.
24 Audio Interchange File Format muxer.
28 It accepts the following options:
32 Enable ID3v2 tags writing when set to 1. Default is 0 (disabled).
35 Select ID3v2 version to write. Currently only version 3 and 4 (aka.
36 ID3v2.3 and ID3v2.4) are supported. The default is version 4.
43 Advanced Systems Format muxer.
45 Note that Windows Media Audio (wma) and Windows Media Video (wmv) use this
50 It accepts the following options:
54 Set the muxer packet size. By tuning this setting you may reduce data
55 fragmentation or muxer overhead depending on your source. Default value is
56 3200, minimum is 100, maximum is 64k.
63 Chromaprint fingerprinter
65 This muxer feeds audio data to the Chromaprint library, which generates
66 a fingerprint for the provided audio data. It takes a single signed
67 native-endian 16-bit raw audio stream.
72 @item silence_threshold
73 Threshold for detecting silence, ranges from 0 to 32767. -1 for default
74 (required for use with the AcoustID service).
77 Algorithm index to fingerprint with.
80 Format to output the fingerprint as. Accepts the following options:
83 Binary raw fingerprint
86 Binary compressed fingerprint
89 Base64 compressed fingerprint
98 CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) testing format.
100 This muxer computes and prints the Adler-32 CRC of all the input audio
101 and video frames. By default audio frames are converted to signed
102 16-bit raw audio and video frames to raw video before computing the
105 The output of the muxer consists of a single line of the form:
106 CRC=0x@var{CRC}, where @var{CRC} is a hexadecimal number 0-padded to
107 8 digits containing the CRC for all the decoded input frames.
109 See also the @ref{framecrc} muxer.
113 For example to compute the CRC of the input, and store it in the file
116 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f crc out.crc
119 You can print the CRC to stdout with the command:
121 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f crc -
124 You can select the output format of each frame with @command{ffmpeg} by
125 specifying the audio and video codec and format. For example to
126 compute the CRC of the input audio converted to PCM unsigned 8-bit
127 and the input video converted to MPEG-2 video, use the command:
129 ffmpeg -i INPUT -c:a pcm_u8 -c:v mpeg2video -f crc -
135 Per-packet CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) testing format.
137 This muxer computes and prints the Adler-32 CRC for each audio
138 and video packet. By default audio frames are converted to signed
139 16-bit raw audio and video frames to raw video before computing the
142 The output of the muxer consists of a line for each audio and video
145 @var{stream_index}, @var{packet_dts}, @var{packet_pts}, @var{packet_duration}, @var{packet_size}, 0x@var{CRC}
148 @var{CRC} is a hexadecimal number 0-padded to 8 digits containing the
153 For example to compute the CRC of the audio and video frames in
154 @file{INPUT}, converted to raw audio and video packets, and store it
155 in the file @file{out.crc}:
157 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f framecrc out.crc
160 To print the information to stdout, use the command:
162 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f framecrc -
165 With @command{ffmpeg}, you can select the output format to which the
166 audio and video frames are encoded before computing the CRC for each
167 packet by specifying the audio and video codec. For example, to
168 compute the CRC of each decoded input audio frame converted to PCM
169 unsigned 8-bit and of each decoded input video frame converted to
170 MPEG-2 video, use the command:
172 ffmpeg -i INPUT -c:a pcm_u8 -c:v mpeg2video -f framecrc -
175 See also the @ref{crc} muxer.
180 Per-packet MD5 testing format.
182 This muxer computes and prints the MD5 hash for each audio
183 and video packet. By default audio frames are converted to signed
184 16-bit raw audio and video frames to raw video before computing the
187 The output of the muxer consists of a line for each audio and video
190 @var{stream_index}, @var{packet_dts}, @var{packet_pts}, @var{packet_duration}, @var{packet_size}, @var{MD5}
193 @var{MD5} is a hexadecimal number representing the computed MD5 hash
198 For example to compute the MD5 of the audio and video frames in
199 @file{INPUT}, converted to raw audio and video packets, and store it
200 in the file @file{out.md5}:
202 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f framemd5 out.md5
205 To print the information to stdout, use the command:
207 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f framemd5 -
210 See also the @ref{md5} muxer.
217 It accepts the following options:
221 Set the number of times to loop the output. Use @code{-1} for no loop, @code{0}
222 for looping indefinitely (default).
225 Force the delay (expressed in centiseconds) after the last frame. Each frame
226 ends with a delay until the next frame. The default is @code{-1}, which is a
227 special value to tell the muxer to re-use the previous delay. In case of a
228 loop, you might want to customize this value to mark a pause for instance.
231 For example, to encode a gif looping 10 times, with a 5 seconds delay between
234 ffmpeg -i INPUT -loop 10 -final_delay 500 out.gif
237 Note 1: if you wish to extract the frames in separate GIF files, you need to
238 force the @ref{image2} muxer:
240 ffmpeg -i INPUT -c:v gif -f image2 "out%d.gif"
243 Note 2: the GIF format has a very small time base: the delay between two frames
244 can not be smaller than one centi second.
249 Apple HTTP Live Streaming muxer that segments MPEG-TS according to
250 the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) specification.
252 It creates a playlist file, and one or more segment files. The output filename
253 specifies the playlist filename.
255 By default, the muxer creates a file for each segment produced. These files
256 have the same name as the playlist, followed by a sequential number and a
259 For example, to convert an input file with @command{ffmpeg}:
261 ffmpeg -i in.nut out.m3u8
263 This example will produce the playlist, @file{out.m3u8}, and segment files:
264 @file{out0.ts}, @file{out1.ts}, @file{out2.ts}, etc.
266 See also the @ref{segment} muxer, which provides a more generic and
267 flexible implementation of a segmenter, and can be used to perform HLS
272 This muxer supports the following options:
275 @item hls_time @var{seconds}
276 Set the segment length in seconds. Default value is 2.
278 @item hls_list_size @var{size}
279 Set the maximum number of playlist entries. If set to 0 the list file
280 will contain all the segments. Default value is 5.
282 @item hls_ts_options @var{options_list}
283 Set output format options using a :-separated list of key=value
284 parameters. Values containing @code{:} special characters must be
287 @item hls_wrap @var{wrap}
288 Set the number after which the segment filename number (the number
289 specified in each segment file) wraps. If set to 0 the number will be
290 never wrapped. Default value is 0.
292 This option is useful to avoid to fill the disk with many segment
293 files, and limits the maximum number of segment files written to disk
296 @item start_number @var{number}
297 Start the playlist sequence number from @var{number}. Default value is
300 @item hls_allow_cache @var{allowcache}
301 Explicitly set whether the client MAY (1) or MUST NOT (0) cache media segments.
303 @item hls_base_url @var{baseurl}
304 Append @var{baseurl} to every entry in the playlist.
305 Useful to generate playlists with absolute paths.
307 Note that the playlist sequence number must be unique for each segment
308 and it is not to be confused with the segment filename sequence number
309 which can be cyclic, for example if the @option{wrap} option is
312 @item hls_segment_filename @var{filename}
313 Set the segment filename. Unless hls_flags single_file is set @var{filename}
314 is used as a string format with the segment number:
316 ffmpeg in.nut -hls_segment_filename 'file%03d.ts' out.m3u8
318 This example will produce the playlist, @file{out.m3u8}, and segment files:
319 @file{file000.ts}, @file{file001.ts}, @file{file002.ts}, etc.
322 Use strftime on @var{filename} to expand the segment filename with localtime.
323 The segment number (%d) is not available in this mode.
325 ffmpeg in.nut -use_localtime 1 -hls_segment_filename 'file-%Y%m%d-%s.ts' out.m3u8
327 This example will produce the playlist, @file{out.m3u8}, and segment files:
328 @file{file-20160215-1455569023.ts}, @file{file-20160215-1455569024.ts}, etc.
330 @item use_localtime_mkdir
331 Used together with -use_localtime, it will create up to one subdirectory which
332 is expanded in @var{filename}.
334 ffmpeg in.nut -use_localtime 1 -use_localtime_mkdir 1 -hls_segment_filename '%Y%m%d/file-%Y%m%d-%s.ts' out.m3u8
336 This example will create a directory 201560215 (if it does not exist), and then
337 produce the playlist, @file{out.m3u8}, and segment files:
338 @file{201560215/file-20160215-1455569023.ts}, @file{201560215/file-20160215-1455569024.ts}, etc.
341 @item hls_key_info_file @var{key_info_file}
342 Use the information in @var{key_info_file} for segment encryption. The first
343 line of @var{key_info_file} specifies the key URI written to the playlist. The
344 key URL is used to access the encryption key during playback. The second line
345 specifies the path to the key file used to obtain the key during the encryption
346 process. The key file is read as a single packed array of 16 octets in binary
347 format. The optional third line specifies the initialization vector (IV) as a
348 hexadecimal string to be used instead of the segment sequence number (default)
349 for encryption. Changes to @var{key_info_file} will result in segment
350 encryption with the new key/IV and an entry in the playlist for the new key
353 Key info file format:
362 http://server/file.key
367 Example key file paths:
375 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF
378 Key info file example:
380 http://server/file.key
382 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF
385 Example shell script:
389 openssl rand 16 > file.key
390 echo $BASE_URL/file.key > file.keyinfo
391 echo file.key >> file.keyinfo
392 echo $(openssl rand -hex 16) >> file.keyinfo
393 ffmpeg -f lavfi -re -i testsrc -c:v h264 -hls_flags delete_segments \
394 -hls_key_info_file file.keyinfo out.m3u8
397 @item hls_flags single_file
398 If this flag is set, the muxer will store all segments in a single MPEG-TS
399 file, and will use byte ranges in the playlist. HLS playlists generated with
400 this way will have the version number 4.
403 ffmpeg -i in.nut -hls_flags single_file out.m3u8
405 Will produce the playlist, @file{out.m3u8}, and a single segment file,
408 @item hls_flags delete_segments
409 Segment files removed from the playlist are deleted after a period of time
410 equal to the duration of the segment plus the duration of the playlist.
418 Microsoft's icon file format (ICO) has some strict limitations that should be noted:
422 Size cannot exceed 256 pixels in any dimension
425 Only BMP and PNG images can be stored
428 If a BMP image is used, it must be one of the following pixel formats:
430 BMP Bit Depth FFmpeg Pixel Format
440 If a BMP image is used, it must use the BITMAPINFOHEADER DIB header
443 If a PNG image is used, it must use the rgba pixel format
451 The image file muxer writes video frames to image files.
453 The output filenames are specified by a pattern, which can be used to
454 produce sequentially numbered series of files.
455 The pattern may contain the string "%d" or "%0@var{N}d", this string
456 specifies the position of the characters representing a numbering in
457 the filenames. If the form "%0@var{N}d" is used, the string
458 representing the number in each filename is 0-padded to @var{N}
459 digits. The literal character '%' can be specified in the pattern with
462 If the pattern contains "%d" or "%0@var{N}d", the first filename of
463 the file list specified will contain the number 1, all the following
464 numbers will be sequential.
466 The pattern may contain a suffix which is used to automatically
467 determine the format of the image files to write.
469 For example the pattern "img-%03d.bmp" will specify a sequence of
470 filenames of the form @file{img-001.bmp}, @file{img-002.bmp}, ...,
471 @file{img-010.bmp}, etc.
472 The pattern "img%%-%d.jpg" will specify a sequence of filenames of the
473 form @file{img%-1.jpg}, @file{img%-2.jpg}, ..., @file{img%-10.jpg},
478 The following example shows how to use @command{ffmpeg} for creating a
479 sequence of files @file{img-001.jpeg}, @file{img-002.jpeg}, ...,
480 taking one image every second from the input video:
482 ffmpeg -i in.avi -vsync 1 -r 1 -f image2 'img-%03d.jpeg'
485 Note that with @command{ffmpeg}, if the format is not specified with the
486 @code{-f} option and the output filename specifies an image file
487 format, the image2 muxer is automatically selected, so the previous
488 command can be written as:
490 ffmpeg -i in.avi -vsync 1 -r 1 'img-%03d.jpeg'
493 Note also that the pattern must not necessarily contain "%d" or
494 "%0@var{N}d", for example to create a single image file
495 @file{img.jpeg} from the input video you can employ the command:
497 ffmpeg -i in.avi -f image2 -frames:v 1 img.jpeg
500 The @option{strftime} option allows you to expand the filename with
501 date and time information. Check the documentation of
502 the @code{strftime()} function for the syntax.
504 For example to generate image files from the @code{strftime()}
505 "%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S" pattern, the following @command{ffmpeg} command
508 ffmpeg -f v4l2 -r 1 -i /dev/video0 -f image2 -strftime 1 "%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S.jpg"
515 Start the sequence from the specified number. Default value is 0.
518 If set to 1, the filename will always be interpreted as just a
519 filename, not a pattern, and the corresponding file will be continuously
520 overwritten with new images. Default value is 0.
523 If set to 1, expand the filename with date and time information from
524 @code{strftime()}. Default value is 0.
527 The image muxer supports the .Y.U.V image file format. This format is
528 special in that that each image frame consists of three files, for
529 each of the YUV420P components. To read or write this image file format,
530 specify the name of the '.Y' file. The muxer will automatically open the
531 '.U' and '.V' files as required.
535 Matroska container muxer.
537 This muxer implements the matroska and webm container specs.
541 The recognized metadata settings in this muxer are:
545 Set title name provided to a single track.
548 Specify the language of the track in the Matroska languages form.
550 The language can be either the 3 letters bibliographic ISO-639-2 (ISO
551 639-2/B) form (like "fre" for French), or a language code mixed with a
552 country code for specialities in languages (like "fre-ca" for Canadian
556 Set stereo 3D video layout of two views in a single video track.
558 The following values are recognized:
563 Both views are arranged side by side, Left-eye view is on the left
565 Both views are arranged in top-bottom orientation, Left-eye view is at bottom
567 Both views are arranged in top-bottom orientation, Left-eye view is on top
568 @item checkerboard_rl
569 Each view is arranged in a checkerboard interleaved pattern, Left-eye view being first
570 @item checkerboard_lr
571 Each view is arranged in a checkerboard interleaved pattern, Right-eye view being first
572 @item row_interleaved_rl
573 Each view is constituted by a row based interleaving, Right-eye view is first row
574 @item row_interleaved_lr
575 Each view is constituted by a row based interleaving, Left-eye view is first row
576 @item col_interleaved_rl
577 Both views are arranged in a column based interleaving manner, Right-eye view is first column
578 @item col_interleaved_lr
579 Both views are arranged in a column based interleaving manner, Left-eye view is first column
580 @item anaglyph_cyan_red
581 All frames are in anaglyph format viewable through red-cyan filters
583 Both views are arranged side by side, Right-eye view is on the left
584 @item anaglyph_green_magenta
585 All frames are in anaglyph format viewable through green-magenta filters
587 Both eyes laced in one Block, Left-eye view is first
589 Both eyes laced in one Block, Right-eye view is first
593 For example a 3D WebM clip can be created using the following command line:
595 ffmpeg -i sample_left_right_clip.mpg -an -c:v libvpx -metadata stereo_mode=left_right -y stereo_clip.webm
600 This muxer supports the following options:
603 @item reserve_index_space
604 By default, this muxer writes the index for seeking (called cues in Matroska
605 terms) at the end of the file, because it cannot know in advance how much space
606 to leave for the index at the beginning of the file. However for some use cases
607 -- e.g. streaming where seeking is possible but slow -- it is useful to put the
608 index at the beginning of the file.
610 If this option is set to a non-zero value, the muxer will reserve a given amount
611 of space in the file header and then try to write the cues there when the muxing
612 finishes. If the available space does not suffice, muxing will fail. A safe size
613 for most use cases should be about 50kB per hour of video.
615 Note that cues are only written if the output is seekable and this option will
616 have no effect if it is not.
624 This muxer computes and prints the MD5 hash of all the input audio
625 and video frames. By default audio frames are converted to signed
626 16-bit raw audio and video frames to raw video before computing the
627 hash. Timestamps are ignored.
629 The output of the muxer consists of a single line of the form:
630 MD5=@var{MD5}, where @var{MD5} is a hexadecimal number representing
631 the computed MD5 hash.
633 For example to compute the MD5 hash of the input converted to raw
634 audio and video, and store it in the file @file{out.md5}:
636 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f md5 out.md5
639 You can print the MD5 to stdout with the command:
641 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f md5 -
644 See also the @ref{framemd5} muxer.
646 @section mov, mp4, ismv
648 MOV/MP4/ISMV (Smooth Streaming) muxer.
650 The mov/mp4/ismv muxer supports fragmentation. Normally, a MOV/MP4
651 file has all the metadata about all packets stored in one location
652 (written at the end of the file, it can be moved to the start for
653 better playback by adding @var{faststart} to the @var{movflags}, or
654 using the @command{qt-faststart} tool). A fragmented
655 file consists of a number of fragments, where packets and metadata
656 about these packets are stored together. Writing a fragmented
657 file has the advantage that the file is decodable even if the
658 writing is interrupted (while a normal MOV/MP4 is undecodable if
659 it is not properly finished), and it requires less memory when writing
660 very long files (since writing normal MOV/MP4 files stores info about
661 every single packet in memory until the file is closed). The downside
662 is that it is less compatible with other applications.
666 Fragmentation is enabled by setting one of the AVOptions that define
667 how to cut the file into fragments:
670 @item -moov_size @var{bytes}
671 Reserves space for the moov atom at the beginning of the file instead of placing the
672 moov atom at the end. If the space reserved is insufficient, muxing will fail.
673 @item -movflags frag_keyframe
674 Start a new fragment at each video keyframe.
675 @item -frag_duration @var{duration}
676 Create fragments that are @var{duration} microseconds long.
677 @item -frag_size @var{size}
678 Create fragments that contain up to @var{size} bytes of payload data.
679 @item -movflags frag_custom
680 Allow the caller to manually choose when to cut fragments, by
681 calling @code{av_write_frame(ctx, NULL)} to write a fragment with
682 the packets written so far. (This is only useful with other
683 applications integrating libavformat, not from @command{ffmpeg}.)
684 @item -min_frag_duration @var{duration}
685 Don't create fragments that are shorter than @var{duration} microseconds long.
688 If more than one condition is specified, fragments are cut when
689 one of the specified conditions is fulfilled. The exception to this is
690 @code{-min_frag_duration}, which has to be fulfilled for any of the other
693 Additionally, the way the output file is written can be adjusted
694 through a few other options:
697 @item -movflags empty_moov
698 Write an initial moov atom directly at the start of the file, without
699 describing any samples in it. Generally, an mdat/moov pair is written
700 at the start of the file, as a normal MOV/MP4 file, containing only
701 a short portion of the file. With this option set, there is no initial
702 mdat atom, and the moov atom only describes the tracks but has
705 This option is implicitly set when writing ismv (Smooth Streaming) files.
706 @item -movflags separate_moof
707 Write a separate moof (movie fragment) atom for each track. Normally,
708 packets for all tracks are written in a moof atom (which is slightly
709 more efficient), but with this option set, the muxer writes one moof/mdat
710 pair for each track, making it easier to separate tracks.
712 This option is implicitly set when writing ismv (Smooth Streaming) files.
713 @item -movflags faststart
714 Run a second pass moving the index (moov atom) to the beginning of the file.
715 This operation can take a while, and will not work in various situations such
716 as fragmented output, thus it is not enabled by default.
717 @item -movflags rtphint
718 Add RTP hinting tracks to the output file.
719 @item -movflags disable_chpl
720 Disable Nero chapter markers (chpl atom). Normally, both Nero chapters
721 and a QuickTime chapter track are written to the file. With this option
722 set, only the QuickTime chapter track will be written. Nero chapters can
723 cause failures when the file is reprocessed with certain tagging programs, like
724 mp3Tag 2.61a and iTunes 11.3, most likely other versions are affected as well.
725 @item -movflags omit_tfhd_offset
726 Do not write any absolute base_data_offset in tfhd atoms. This avoids
727 tying fragments to absolute byte positions in the file/streams.
728 @item -movflags default_base_moof
729 Similarly to the omit_tfhd_offset, this flag avoids writing the
730 absolute base_data_offset field in tfhd atoms, but does so by using
731 the new default-base-is-moof flag instead. This flag is new from
732 14496-12:2012. This may make the fragments easier to parse in certain
733 circumstances (avoiding basing track fragment location calculations
734 on the implicit end of the previous track fragment).
739 Smooth Streaming content can be pushed in real time to a publishing
740 point on IIS with this muxer. Example:
742 ffmpeg -re @var{<normal input/transcoding options>} -movflags isml+frag_keyframe -f ismv http://server/publishingpoint.isml/Streams(Encoder1)
745 @subsection Audible AAX
747 Audible AAX files are encrypted M4B files, and they can be decrypted by specifying a 4 byte activation secret.
749 ffmpeg -activation_bytes 1CEB00DA -i test.aax -vn -c:a copy output.mp4
754 The MP3 muxer writes a raw MP3 stream with the following optional features:
757 An ID3v2 metadata header at the beginning (enabled by default). Versions 2.3 and
758 2.4 are supported, the @code{id3v2_version} private option controls which one is
759 used (3 or 4). Setting @code{id3v2_version} to 0 disables the ID3v2 header
762 The muxer supports writing attached pictures (APIC frames) to the ID3v2 header.
763 The pictures are supplied to the muxer in form of a video stream with a single
764 packet. There can be any number of those streams, each will correspond to a
765 single APIC frame. The stream metadata tags @var{title} and @var{comment} map
766 to APIC @var{description} and @var{picture type} respectively. See
767 @url{http://id3.org/id3v2.4.0-frames} for allowed picture types.
769 Note that the APIC frames must be written at the beginning, so the muxer will
770 buffer the audio frames until it gets all the pictures. It is therefore advised
771 to provide the pictures as soon as possible to avoid excessive buffering.
774 A Xing/LAME frame right after the ID3v2 header (if present). It is enabled by
775 default, but will be written only if the output is seekable. The
776 @code{write_xing} private option can be used to disable it. The frame contains
777 various information that may be useful to the decoder, like the audio duration
781 A legacy ID3v1 tag at the end of the file (disabled by default). It may be
782 enabled with the @code{write_id3v1} private option, but as its capabilities are
783 very limited, its usage is not recommended.
788 Write an mp3 with an ID3v2.3 header and an ID3v1 footer:
790 ffmpeg -i INPUT -id3v2_version 3 -write_id3v1 1 out.mp3
793 To attach a picture to an mp3 file select both the audio and the picture stream
796 ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -i cover.png -c copy -map 0 -map 1
797 -metadata:s:v title="Album cover" -metadata:s:v comment="Cover (Front)" out.mp3
800 Write a "clean" MP3 without any extra features:
802 ffmpeg -i input.wav -write_xing 0 -id3v2_version 0 out.mp3
807 MPEG transport stream muxer.
809 This muxer implements ISO 13818-1 and part of ETSI EN 300 468.
811 The recognized metadata settings in mpegts muxer are @code{service_provider}
812 and @code{service_name}. If they are not set the default for
813 @code{service_provider} is "FFmpeg" and the default for
814 @code{service_name} is "Service01".
818 The muxer options are:
821 @item -mpegts_original_network_id @var{number}
822 Set the original_network_id (default 0x0001). This is unique identifier
823 of a network in DVB. Its main use is in the unique identification of a
824 service through the path Original_Network_ID, Transport_Stream_ID.
825 @item -mpegts_transport_stream_id @var{number}
826 Set the transport_stream_id (default 0x0001). This identifies a
828 @item -mpegts_service_id @var{number}
829 Set the service_id (default 0x0001) also known as program in DVB.
830 @item -mpegts_service_type @var{number}
831 Set the program service_type (default @var{digital_tv}), see below
832 a list of pre defined values.
833 @item -mpegts_pmt_start_pid @var{number}
834 Set the first PID for PMT (default 0x1000, max 0x1f00).
835 @item -mpegts_start_pid @var{number}
836 Set the first PID for data packets (default 0x0100, max 0x0f00).
837 @item -mpegts_m2ts_mode @var{number}
838 Enable m2ts mode if set to 1. Default value is -1 which disables m2ts mode.
839 @item -muxrate @var{number}
840 Set a constant muxrate (default VBR).
841 @item -pcr_period @var{numer}
842 Override the default PCR retransmission time (default 20ms), ignored
843 if variable muxrate is selected.
844 @item pat_period @var{number}
845 Maximal time in seconds between PAT/PMT tables.
846 @item sdt_period @var{number}
847 Maximal time in seconds between SDT tables.
848 @item -pes_payload_size @var{number}
849 Set minimum PES packet payload in bytes.
850 @item -mpegts_flags @var{flags}
851 Set flags (see below).
852 @item -mpegts_copyts @var{number}
853 Preserve original timestamps, if value is set to 1. Default value is -1, which
854 results in shifting timestamps so that they start from 0.
855 @item -tables_version @var{number}
856 Set PAT, PMT and SDT version (default 0, valid values are from 0 to 31, inclusively).
857 This option allows updating stream structure so that standard consumer may
858 detect the change. To do so, reopen output AVFormatContext (in case of API
859 usage) or restart ffmpeg instance, cyclically changing tables_version value:
861 ffmpeg -i source1.ts -codec copy -f mpegts -tables_version 0 udp://1.1.1.1:1111
862 ffmpeg -i source2.ts -codec copy -f mpegts -tables_version 1 udp://1.1.1.1:1111
864 ffmpeg -i source3.ts -codec copy -f mpegts -tables_version 31 udp://1.1.1.1:1111
865 ffmpeg -i source1.ts -codec copy -f mpegts -tables_version 0 udp://1.1.1.1:1111
866 ffmpeg -i source2.ts -codec copy -f mpegts -tables_version 1 udp://1.1.1.1:1111
871 Option mpegts_service_type accepts the following values:
875 Any hexdecimal value between 0x01 to 0xff as defined in ETSI 300 468.
879 Digital Radio service.
882 @item advanced_codec_digital_radio
883 Advanced Codec Digital Radio service.
884 @item mpeg2_digital_hdtv
885 MPEG2 Digital HDTV service.
886 @item advanced_codec_digital_sdtv
887 Advanced Codec Digital SDTV service.
888 @item advanced_codec_digital_hdtv
889 Advanced Codec Digital HDTV service.
892 Option mpegts_flags may take a set of such flags:
896 Reemit PAT/PMT before writing the next packet.
898 Use LATM packetization for AAC.
899 @item pat_pmt_at_frames
900 Reemit PAT and PMT at each video frame.
902 Conform to System B (DVB) instead of System A (ATSC).
908 ffmpeg -i file.mpg -c copy \
909 -mpegts_original_network_id 0x1122 \
910 -mpegts_transport_stream_id 0x3344 \
911 -mpegts_service_id 0x5566 \
912 -mpegts_pmt_start_pid 0x1500 \
913 -mpegts_start_pid 0x150 \
914 -metadata service_provider="Some provider" \
915 -metadata service_name="Some Channel" \
919 @section mxf, mxf_d10
925 The muxer options are:
928 @item store_user_comments @var{bool}
929 Set if user comments should be stored if available or never.
930 IRT D-10 does not allow user comments. The default is thus to write them for
931 mxf but not for mxf_d10
938 This muxer does not generate any output file, it is mainly useful for
939 testing or benchmarking purposes.
941 For example to benchmark decoding with @command{ffmpeg} you can use the
944 ffmpeg -benchmark -i INPUT -f null out.null
947 Note that the above command does not read or write the @file{out.null}
948 file, but specifying the output file is required by the @command{ffmpeg}
951 Alternatively you can write the command as:
953 ffmpeg -benchmark -i INPUT -f null -
959 @item -syncpoints @var{flags}
960 Change the syncpoint usage in nut:
962 @item @var{default} use the normal low-overhead seeking aids.
963 @item @var{none} do not use the syncpoints at all, reducing the overhead but making the stream non-seekable;
964 Use of this option is not recommended, as the resulting files are very damage
965 sensitive and seeking is not possible. Also in general the overhead from
966 syncpoints is negligible. Note, -@code{write_index} 0 can be used to disable
967 all growing data tables, allowing to mux endless streams with limited memory
968 and without these disadvantages.
969 @item @var{timestamped} extend the syncpoint with a wallclock field.
971 The @var{none} and @var{timestamped} flags are experimental.
972 @item -write_index @var{bool}
973 Write index at the end, the default is to write an index.
977 ffmpeg -i INPUT -f_strict experimental -syncpoints none - | processor
985 @item -page_duration @var{duration}
986 Preferred page duration, in microseconds. The muxer will attempt to create
987 pages that are approximately @var{duration} microseconds long. This allows the
988 user to compromise between seek granularity and container overhead. The default
989 is 1 second. A value of 0 will fill all segments, making pages as large as
990 possible. A value of 1 will effectively use 1 packet-per-page in most
991 situations, giving a small seek granularity at the cost of additional container
993 @item -serial_offset @var{value}
994 Serial value from which to set the streams serial number.
995 Setting it to different and sufficiently large values ensures that the produced
996 ogg files can be safely chained.
1001 @section segment, stream_segment, ssegment
1003 Basic stream segmenter.
1005 This muxer outputs streams to a number of separate files of nearly
1006 fixed duration. Output filename pattern can be set in a fashion
1007 similar to @ref{image2}, or by using a @code{strftime} template if
1008 the @option{strftime} option is enabled.
1010 @code{stream_segment} is a variant of the muxer used to write to
1011 streaming output formats, i.e. which do not require global headers,
1012 and is recommended for outputting e.g. to MPEG transport stream segments.
1013 @code{ssegment} is a shorter alias for @code{stream_segment}.
1015 Every segment starts with a keyframe of the selected reference stream,
1016 which is set through the @option{reference_stream} option.
1018 Note that if you want accurate splitting for a video file, you need to
1019 make the input key frames correspond to the exact splitting times
1020 expected by the segmenter, or the segment muxer will start the new
1021 segment with the key frame found next after the specified start
1024 The segment muxer works best with a single constant frame rate video.
1026 Optionally it can generate a list of the created segments, by setting
1027 the option @var{segment_list}. The list type is specified by the
1028 @var{segment_list_type} option. The entry filenames in the segment
1029 list are set by default to the basename of the corresponding segment
1032 See also the @ref{hls} muxer, which provides a more specific
1033 implementation for HLS segmentation.
1037 The segment muxer supports the following options:
1040 @item reference_stream @var{specifier}
1041 Set the reference stream, as specified by the string @var{specifier}.
1042 If @var{specifier} is set to @code{auto}, the reference is chosen
1043 automatically. Otherwise it must be a stream specifier (see the ``Stream
1044 specifiers'' chapter in the ffmpeg manual) which specifies the
1045 reference stream. The default value is @code{auto}.
1047 @item segment_format @var{format}
1048 Override the inner container format, by default it is guessed by the filename
1051 @item segment_format_options @var{options_list}
1052 Set output format options using a :-separated list of key=value
1053 parameters. Values containing the @code{:} special character must be
1056 @item segment_list @var{name}
1057 Generate also a listfile named @var{name}. If not specified no
1058 listfile is generated.
1060 @item segment_list_flags @var{flags}
1061 Set flags affecting the segment list generation.
1063 It currently supports the following flags:
1066 Allow caching (only affects M3U8 list files).
1069 Allow live-friendly file generation.
1072 @item segment_list_size @var{size}
1073 Update the list file so that it contains at most @var{size}
1074 segments. If 0 the list file will contain all the segments. Default
1077 @item segment_list_entry_prefix @var{prefix}
1078 Prepend @var{prefix} to each entry. Useful to generate absolute paths.
1079 By default no prefix is applied.
1081 @item segment_list_type @var{type}
1082 Select the listing format.
1084 The following values are recognized:
1087 Generate a flat list for the created segments, one segment per line.
1090 Generate a list for the created segments, one segment per line,
1091 each line matching the format (comma-separated values):
1093 @var{segment_filename},@var{segment_start_time},@var{segment_end_time}
1096 @var{segment_filename} is the name of the output file generated by the
1097 muxer according to the provided pattern. CSV escaping (according to
1098 RFC4180) is applied if required.
1100 @var{segment_start_time} and @var{segment_end_time} specify
1101 the segment start and end time expressed in seconds.
1103 A list file with the suffix @code{".csv"} or @code{".ext"} will
1104 auto-select this format.
1106 @samp{ext} is deprecated in favor or @samp{csv}.
1109 Generate an ffconcat file for the created segments. The resulting file
1110 can be read using the FFmpeg @ref{concat} demuxer.
1112 A list file with the suffix @code{".ffcat"} or @code{".ffconcat"} will
1113 auto-select this format.
1116 Generate an extended M3U8 file, version 3, compliant with
1117 @url{http://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming}.
1119 A list file with the suffix @code{".m3u8"} will auto-select this format.
1122 If not specified the type is guessed from the list file name suffix.
1124 @item segment_time @var{time}
1125 Set segment duration to @var{time}, the value must be a duration
1126 specification. Default value is "2". See also the
1127 @option{segment_times} option.
1129 Note that splitting may not be accurate, unless you force the
1130 reference stream key-frames at the given time. See the introductory
1131 notice and the examples below.
1133 @item segment_atclocktime @var{1|0}
1134 If set to "1" split at regular clock time intervals starting from 00:00
1135 o'clock. The @var{time} value specified in @option{segment_time} is
1136 used for setting the length of the splitting interval.
1138 For example with @option{segment_time} set to "900" this makes it possible
1139 to create files at 12:00 o'clock, 12:15, 12:30, etc.
1141 Default value is "0".
1143 @item segment_clocktime_offset @var{duration}
1144 Delay the segment splitting times with the specified duration when using
1145 @option{segment_atclocktime}.
1147 For example with @option{segment_time} set to "900" and
1148 @option{segment_clocktime_offset} set to "300" this makes it possible to
1149 create files at 12:05, 12:20, 12:35, etc.
1151 Default value is "0".
1153 @item segment_clocktime_wrap_duration @var{duration}
1154 Force the segmenter to only start a new segment if a packet reaches the muxer
1155 within the specified duration after the segmenting clock time. This way you
1156 can make the segmenter more resilient to backward local time jumps, such as
1157 leap seconds or transition to standard time from daylight savings time.
1159 Assuming that the delay between the packets of your source is less than 0.5
1160 second you can detect a leap second by specifying 0.5 as the duration.
1162 Default is the maximum possible duration which means starting a new segment
1163 regardless of the elapsed time since the last clock time.
1165 @item segment_time_delta @var{delta}
1166 Specify the accuracy time when selecting the start time for a
1167 segment, expressed as a duration specification. Default value is "0".
1169 When delta is specified a key-frame will start a new segment if its
1170 PTS satisfies the relation:
1172 PTS >= start_time - time_delta
1175 This option is useful when splitting video content, which is always
1176 split at GOP boundaries, in case a key frame is found just before the
1177 specified split time.
1179 In particular may be used in combination with the @file{ffmpeg} option
1180 @var{force_key_frames}. The key frame times specified by
1181 @var{force_key_frames} may not be set accurately because of rounding
1182 issues, with the consequence that a key frame time may result set just
1183 before the specified time. For constant frame rate videos a value of
1184 1/(2*@var{frame_rate}) should address the worst case mismatch between
1185 the specified time and the time set by @var{force_key_frames}.
1187 @item segment_times @var{times}
1188 Specify a list of split points. @var{times} contains a list of comma
1189 separated duration specifications, in increasing order. See also
1190 the @option{segment_time} option.
1192 @item segment_frames @var{frames}
1193 Specify a list of split video frame numbers. @var{frames} contains a
1194 list of comma separated integer numbers, in increasing order.
1196 This option specifies to start a new segment whenever a reference
1197 stream key frame is found and the sequential number (starting from 0)
1198 of the frame is greater or equal to the next value in the list.
1200 @item segment_wrap @var{limit}
1201 Wrap around segment index once it reaches @var{limit}.
1203 @item segment_start_number @var{number}
1204 Set the sequence number of the first segment. Defaults to @code{0}.
1206 @item strftime @var{1|0}
1207 Use the @code{strftime} function to define the name of the new
1208 segments to write. If this is selected, the output segment name must
1209 contain a @code{strftime} function template. Default value is
1212 @item break_non_keyframes @var{1|0}
1213 If enabled, allow segments to start on frames other than keyframes. This
1214 improves behavior on some players when the time between keyframes is
1215 inconsistent, but may make things worse on others, and can cause some oddities
1216 during seeking. Defaults to @code{0}.
1218 @item reset_timestamps @var{1|0}
1219 Reset timestamps at the begin of each segment, so that each segment
1220 will start with near-zero timestamps. It is meant to ease the playback
1221 of the generated segments. May not work with some combinations of
1222 muxers/codecs. It is set to @code{0} by default.
1224 @item initial_offset @var{offset}
1225 Specify timestamp offset to apply to the output packet timestamps. The
1226 argument must be a time duration specification, and defaults to 0.
1229 @subsection Examples
1233 Remux the content of file @file{in.mkv} to a list of segments
1234 @file{out-000.nut}, @file{out-001.nut}, etc., and write the list of
1235 generated segments to @file{out.list}:
1237 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -codec copy -map 0 -f segment -segment_list out.list out%03d.nut
1241 Segment input and set output format options for the output segments:
1243 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -f segment -segment_time 10 -segment_format_options movflags=+faststart out%03d.mp4
1247 Segment the input file according to the split points specified by the
1248 @var{segment_times} option:
1250 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -codec copy -map 0 -f segment -segment_list out.csv -segment_times 1,2,3,5,8,13,21 out%03d.nut
1254 Use the @command{ffmpeg} @option{force_key_frames}
1255 option to force key frames in the input at the specified location, together
1256 with the segment option @option{segment_time_delta} to account for
1257 possible roundings operated when setting key frame times.
1259 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -force_key_frames 1,2,3,5,8,13,21 -codec:v mpeg4 -codec:a pcm_s16le -map 0 \
1260 -f segment -segment_list out.csv -segment_times 1,2,3,5,8,13,21 -segment_time_delta 0.05 out%03d.nut
1262 In order to force key frames on the input file, transcoding is
1266 Segment the input file by splitting the input file according to the
1267 frame numbers sequence specified with the @option{segment_frames} option:
1269 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -codec copy -map 0 -f segment -segment_list out.csv -segment_frames 100,200,300,500,800 out%03d.nut
1273 Convert the @file{in.mkv} to TS segments using the @code{libx264}
1274 and @code{libfaac} encoders:
1276 ffmpeg -i in.mkv -map 0 -codec:v libx264 -codec:a libfaac -f ssegment -segment_list out.list out%03d.ts
1280 Segment the input file, and create an M3U8 live playlist (can be used
1281 as live HLS source):
1283 ffmpeg -re -i in.mkv -codec copy -map 0 -f segment -segment_list playlist.m3u8 \
1284 -segment_list_flags +live -segment_time 10 out%03d.mkv
1288 @section smoothstreaming
1290 Smooth Streaming muxer generates a set of files (Manifest, chunks) suitable for serving with conventional web server.
1294 Specify the number of fragments kept in the manifest. Default 0 (keep all).
1296 @item extra_window_size
1297 Specify the number of fragments kept outside of the manifest before removing from disk. Default 5.
1299 @item lookahead_count
1300 Specify the number of lookahead fragments. Default 2.
1302 @item min_frag_duration
1303 Specify the minimum fragment duration (in microseconds). Default 5000000.
1305 @item remove_at_exit
1306 Specify whether to remove all fragments when finished. Default 0 (do not remove).
1312 The tee muxer can be used to write the same data to several files or any
1313 other kind of muxer. It can be used, for example, to both stream a video to
1314 the network and save it to disk at the same time.
1316 It is different from specifying several outputs to the @command{ffmpeg}
1317 command-line tool because the audio and video data will be encoded only once
1318 with the tee muxer; encoding can be a very expensive process. It is not
1319 useful when using the libavformat API directly because it is then possible
1320 to feed the same packets to several muxers directly.
1322 The slave outputs are specified in the file name given to the muxer,
1323 separated by '|'. If any of the slave name contains the '|' separator,
1324 leading or trailing spaces or any special character, it must be
1325 escaped (see @ref{quoting_and_escaping,,the "Quoting and escaping"
1326 section in the ffmpeg-utils(1) manual,ffmpeg-utils}).
1328 Muxer options can be specified for each slave by prepending them as a list of
1329 @var{key}=@var{value} pairs separated by ':', between square brackets. If
1330 the options values contain a special character or the ':' separator, they
1331 must be escaped; note that this is a second level escaping.
1333 The following special options are also recognized:
1336 Specify the format name. Useful if it cannot be guessed from the
1339 @item bsfs[/@var{spec}]
1340 Specify a list of bitstream filters to apply to the specified
1343 It is possible to specify to which streams a given bitstream filter
1344 applies, by appending a stream specifier to the option separated by
1345 @code{/}. @var{spec} must be a stream specifier (see @ref{Format
1346 stream specifiers}). If the stream specifier is not specified, the
1347 bitstream filters will be applied to all streams in the output.
1349 Several bitstream filters can be specified, separated by ",".
1352 Select the streams that should be mapped to the slave output,
1353 specified by a stream specifier. If not specified, this defaults to
1354 all the input streams. You may use multiple stream specifiers
1355 separated by commas (@code{,}) e.g.: @code{a:0,v}
1358 @subsection Examples
1362 Encode something and both archive it in a WebM file and stream it
1363 as MPEG-TS over UDP (the streams need to be explicitly mapped):
1365 ffmpeg -i ... -c:v libx264 -c:a mp2 -f tee -map 0:v -map 0:a
1366 "archive-20121107.mkv|[f=mpegts]udp://10.0.1.255:1234/"
1370 Use @command{ffmpeg} to encode the input, and send the output
1371 to three different destinations. The @code{dump_extra} bitstream
1372 filter is used to add extradata information to all the output video
1373 keyframes packets, as requested by the MPEG-TS format. The select
1374 option is applied to @file{out.aac} in order to make it contain only
1377 ffmpeg -i ... -map 0 -flags +global_header -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -strict experimental
1378 -f tee "[bsfs/v=dump_extra]out.ts|[movflags=+faststart]out.mp4|[select=a]out.aac"
1382 As below, but select only stream @code{a:1} for the audio output. Note
1383 that a second level escaping must be performed, as ":" is a special
1384 character used to separate options.
1386 ffmpeg -i ... -map 0 -flags +global_header -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -strict experimental
1387 -f tee "[bsfs/v=dump_extra]out.ts|[movflags=+faststart]out.mp4|[select=\'a:1\']out.aac"
1391 Note: some codecs may need different options depending on the output format;
1392 the auto-detection of this can not work with the tee muxer. The main example
1393 is the @option{global_header} flag.
1395 @section webm_dash_manifest
1397 WebM DASH Manifest muxer.
1399 This muxer implements the WebM DASH Manifest specification to generate the DASH
1400 manifest XML. It also supports manifest generation for DASH live streams.
1402 For more information see:
1406 WebM DASH Specification: @url{https://sites.google.com/a/webmproject.org/wiki/adaptive-streaming/webm-dash-specification}
1408 ISO DASH Specification: @url{http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/c065274_ISO_IEC_23009-1_2014.zip}
1413 This muxer supports the following options:
1416 @item adaptation_sets
1417 This option has the following syntax: "id=x,streams=a,b,c id=y,streams=d,e" where x and y are the
1418 unique identifiers of the adaptation sets and a,b,c,d and e are the indices of the corresponding
1419 audio and video streams. Any number of adaptation sets can be added using this option.
1422 Set this to 1 to create a live stream DASH Manifest. Default: 0.
1424 @item chunk_start_index
1425 Start index of the first chunk. This will go in the @samp{startNumber} attribute
1426 of the @samp{SegmentTemplate} element in the manifest. Default: 0.
1428 @item chunk_duration_ms
1429 Duration of each chunk in milliseconds. This will go in the @samp{duration}
1430 attribute of the @samp{SegmentTemplate} element in the manifest. Default: 1000.
1432 @item utc_timing_url
1433 URL of the page that will return the UTC timestamp in ISO format. This will go
1434 in the @samp{value} attribute of the @samp{UTCTiming} element in the manifest.
1437 @item time_shift_buffer_depth
1438 Smallest time (in seconds) shifting buffer for which any Representation is
1439 guaranteed to be available. This will go in the @samp{timeShiftBufferDepth}
1440 attribute of the @samp{MPD} element. Default: 60.
1442 @item minimum_update_period
1443 Minimum update period (in seconds) of the manifest. This will go in the
1444 @samp{minimumUpdatePeriod} attribute of the @samp{MPD} element. Default: 0.
1450 ffmpeg -f webm_dash_manifest -i video1.webm \
1451 -f webm_dash_manifest -i video2.webm \
1452 -f webm_dash_manifest -i audio1.webm \
1453 -f webm_dash_manifest -i audio2.webm \
1454 -map 0 -map 1 -map 2 -map 3 \
1456 -f webm_dash_manifest \
1457 -adaptation_sets "id=0,streams=0,1 id=1,streams=2,3" \
1463 WebM Live Chunk Muxer.
1465 This muxer writes out WebM headers and chunks as separate files which can be
1466 consumed by clients that support WebM Live streams via DASH.
1470 This muxer supports the following options:
1473 @item chunk_start_index
1474 Index of the first chunk (defaults to 0).
1477 Filename of the header where the initialization data will be written.
1479 @item audio_chunk_duration
1480 Duration of each audio chunk in milliseconds (defaults to 5000).
1485 ffmpeg -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 \
1489 -s 640x360 -keyint_min 30 -g 30 \
1491 -header webm_live_video_360.hdr \
1492 -chunk_start_index 1 \
1493 webm_live_video_360_%d.chk \
1498 -header webm_live_audio_128.hdr \
1499 -chunk_start_index 1 \
1500 -audio_chunk_duration 1000 \
1501 webm_live_audio_128_%d.chk