FFmpeg

FFmpeg#

  1. Basics

  2. References & External Resources

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Basics#

  • Video Conversion, Video Editing

  • open-source command line tool for Linux, Windows, and OS-X

  • options are written before the file they refer to

    • e.g. ffmpeg -framerate 5 -i IMG_%4d.jpg -shortest-codec:v mpeg4 -q:v 3 out.mp4

Video Conversion#

  • ffmpeg -i anyinput.xx anyoutout.xx

  • MP4 to MOV

    • ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -acodec copy -vcodec copy -f mov out.mov

  • MOV to MP4

    • ffmpeg -i in.mov -acodec copy -vcodec copy out.mp4, or ffmpeg -i input.mov -q:v 0 output.mp4

  • MOV to MP4 with h265 Compression

    • default medium preset, default 28 crf

    • ffmpeg -i in.mov -c:v libx265 -preset slow -crf 25 -acodec copy out.mp4

  • Changing Resolution

    • ffmpeg -i in.mp4  -vf "scale=1920:1080" -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset veryslow -c:a copy "out.mp4"

Video Editing#

  • Cut using Start Time and Duration

    • ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -ss 00:00:01 -t 00:01:00 -c copy out.mp4

    • -c copy: copy the video and audio streams without re-encoding, faster and maintain quality

  • Cut using Start and End Time

    • ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -ss 00:00:01 -to 00:01:00 -c copy out.mp4

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References & External Resources#

  • Koch, Michael. (2024). An Introduction to FFmpeg, DaVinci Resolve, Timelapse and Fulldome Video Production, Special Effects, Color Grading, Streaming, Audio Processing, Canon 6D, Canon 5D-MK4, Panasonic LUMIX GH5S, Kodak PIXPRO SP360 4K, Ricoh Theta V, Synthesizers, Image Processing and Astronomy Software. Available at: https://www.astro-electronic.de/FFmpeg_Book.pdf

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