\input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
-@settitle FFmpeg Documentation
+@settitle ffmpeg Documentation
@titlepage
-@center @titlefont{FFmpeg Documentation}
+@center @titlefont{ffmpeg Documentation}
@end titlepage
@top
@chapter Description
@c man begin DESCRIPTION
-FFmpeg is a very fast video and audio converter. It can also grab from
-a live audio/video source.
+ffmpeg is a very fast video and audio converter that can also grab from
+a live audio/video source. It can also convert between arbitrary sample
+rates and resize video on the fly with a high quality polyphase filter.
The command line interface is designed to be intuitive, in the sense
-that FFmpeg tries to figure out all parameters that can possibly be
+that ffmpeg tries to figure out all parameters that can possibly be
derived automatically. You usually only have to specify the target
bitrate you want.
-FFmpeg can also convert from any sample rate to any other, and resize
-video on the fly with a high quality polyphase filter.
-
As a general rule, options are applied to the next specified
file. Therefore, order is important, and you can have the same
option on the command line multiple times. Each occurrence is
The format option may be needed for raw input files.
-By default, FFmpeg tries to convert as losslessly as possible: It
+By default ffmpeg tries to convert as losslessly as possible: It
uses the same audio and video parameters for the outputs as the one
specified for the inputs.
@item -r @var{fps}
Set frame rate (Hz value, fraction or abbreviation), (default = 25).
@item -s @var{size}
-Set frame size. The format is @samp{wxh} (ffserver default = 160x128, ffmpeg default = same as source).
+Set frame size. The format is @samp{wxh} (ffserver default = 160x128).
+There is no default for input streams,
+for output streams it is set by default to the size of the source stream.
+If the input file has video streams with different resolutions, the behaviour is undefined.
The following abbreviations are recognized:
@table @samp
@item sqcif
Force video codec to @var{codec}. Use the @code{copy} special value to
tell that the raw codec data must be copied as is.
@item -sameq
-Use same video quality as source (implies VBR).
+Use same quantizer as source (implies VBR).
@item -pass @var{n}
Select the pass number (1 or 2). It is used to do two-pass
macroblock decision
@table @samp
@item 0
-FF_MB_DECISION_SIMPLE: Use mb_cmp (cannot change it yet in FFmpeg).
+FF_MB_DECISION_SIMPLE: Use mb_cmp (cannot change it yet in ffmpeg).
@item 1
FF_MB_DECISION_BITS: Choose the one which needs the fewest bits.
@item 2
@section Video and Audio grabbing
-FFmpeg can grab video and audio from devices given that you specify the input
-format and device.
+If you specify the input format and device then ffmpeg can grab video
+and audio directly.
@example
ffmpeg -f oss -i /dev/dsp -f video4linux2 -i /dev/video0 /tmp/out.mpg
@end example
Note that you must activate the right video source and channel before
-launching FFmpeg with any TV viewer such as xawtv
+launching ffmpeg with any TV viewer such as xawtv
(@url{http://linux.bytesex.org/xawtv/}) by Gerd Knorr. You also
have to set the audio recording levels correctly with a
standard mixer.
@section X11 grabbing
-FFmpeg can grab the X11 display.
+Grab the X11 display with ffmpeg via
@example
ffmpeg -f x11grab -s cif -r 25 -i :0.0 /tmp/out.mpg
@section Video and Audio file format conversion
-FFmpeg can use any supported file format and protocol as input:
+Any supported file format and protocol can serve as input to ffmpeg:
Examples:
@itemize
The Y files use twice the resolution of the U and V files. They are
raw files, without header. They can be generated by all decent video
decoders. You must specify the size of the image with the @option{-s} option
-if FFmpeg cannot guess it.
+if ffmpeg cannot guess it.
@item
You can input from a raw YUV420P file:
@ignore
@setfilename ffmpeg
-@settitle FFmpeg video converter
+@settitle ffmpeg video converter
@c man begin SEEALSO
ffplay(1), ffprobe(1), ffserver(1) and the FFmpeg HTML documentation